DLA Piper Could Jettison Some Smaller Clients, Lawyers with the Wrong Business Fit
Former Linklaters chief Tony Angel comes to DLA Piper as global co-chairman with a reputation for taking business concepts and applying them to law firms.
At Linklaters, Angel focused on doing more profitable work for fewer, larger clients, the American Lawyer reports in an article published by the Am Law Daily. He also had success integrating Linklater’s businesses, an asset in a law firm formed by a merger between Piper Rudnick and DLA, both products of previous law firm mergers.
A strategic plan adopted last spring calls for DLA Piper partners to focus on providing services to large clients across a greater number of practice areas and locations, the story says. That means some smaller clients will be jettisoned.
“Some of our clients are too small to fit that model, so continuing to [represent] them doesn’t make sense for them or us—even if the work is profitable,” Angel tells the American Lawyer.
Some DLA Piper lawyers and offices could get the same treatment. “There will inevitably be areas of the business that doesn’t fit, and there may well be instances where it’s better for people to part company than trying to get oil and water to mix,” Angel told the publication.
