2024 DIVERSITY DATABASE UNDERWRITER DLA Piper LLP (US)

With approximately 4,300 lawyers in 90-plus offices (including relationship firms) around the globe, DLA Piper is one of the largest law firms—both by headcount and by revenue—in the world.

From Big to Ginormous

DLA Piper is a law firm empire. Its massive growth is the result of the tripartite merger among the U.K. firm DLA, Chicago-/Baltimore-based Piper Rudnick, and California’s Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich in 2005. A whirlwind of acquisitions followed. Firm growth was spurred by healthy real estate, litigation, corporate, and private equity practices and the absorption of entire departments from rival firms. In September 2006, the firm trimmed its name, rendering DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary to DLA Piper, a change reflecting its new emphasis on global brand building. The firm’s 2011 merger with DLA Phillips Fox in Australia pushed the firm to over 4,000 attorneys, expanding the already super-sized firm to megafirm status. After merging with Davis LLP, the firm introduced its platform into Canada; expanded into Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Puerto Rico. It then increased its entertainment, real estate, and other region-specific sector practices through a merger with Liner LLP in Los Angeles.

Give Them Privacy

DLA Piper advises clients across more than a dozen industries and 10 major practice areas (with a host of subpractices). With newly introduced artificial intelligence, proptech, fintech, and blockchain and digital assets practices and a top-notch practice in data protection, privacy, and security, DLA Piper has its finger on the pulse of the modern business world. The firm places among the top 10 firms in Vault’s Privacy & Data Security rankings, and its lawyers handle everything from compliance, data mapping and data security, and consumer protection regulation to global data transfer management and lobbying.

With more than 400 lawyers globally, DLA Piper’s real estate department is another major segment of the firm, helping clients with real estate litigation and a host of other issues, including financing, development, asset management, real estate investment trusts, and construction. DLA Piper also produces a publication called the Real Estate Gazette, which compiles articles on legislation and case law affecting the real estate world.

The firm’s employment practice is also highly regarded. The attorneys in this department reach across the globe to offer both local and cross-border counsel. These attorneys advise on discrimination, employee benefits, global employment law compliance, global governance and compliance, labor relations, litigation, and workforce restructuring, among other areas.v

• DLA Piper successfully defended Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and BMW of North America, LLC, in a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Paice LLC and the Abell Foundation, Inc., in the U.S. District Court of Maryland (May 2023).
• DLA Piper advised T-Mobile US, Inc., in its acquisition of spectrum licenses in the 600-MHz band from Comcast in exchange for a total cash consideration of between $1.2 billion and $3.3 billion (Sept. 2023).
• DLA Piper achieved a significant defense victory for Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company in a lawsuit filed by Marina Pacific Hotel and Suites, marking the conclusion of the first COVID-19 business interruption trial in California (May 2023).
• DLA Piper advised Qatar Sports Investments in connection with its landmark strategic partnership and investment deal with Arctos Sports Partners in which Arctos acquired a minority equity stake in Paris Saint-Germain (Dec. 2023).

• Most Innovative Law Firms North America, 2024—Financial Times
• Best of the Best Leading Edge Law Firms, 2024—BTI Consulting
• No. 1 for combined global deal volume, 2024—PitchBook
• Leaders in Tech Law: Best Use of Artificial Intelligence, 2024—Legalweek
• Practice Group of the Year, Real Estate and Product Liability, 2024—Law360