DLA Piper is a law firm with offices in over 40 countries across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.[5]
It was founded in 2005 through the merger between three law firms: San Diego–based Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich LLP, Baltimore-based Piper Rudnick LLP and United Kingdom–based DLA LLP. DLA Piper is now composed of multiple partnerships operating under a shared global network in an organizational structure known as a Swiss Verein.[6]
DLA Piper was formed in 2005 after a merger between DLA, Piper Rudnick, and Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich.[13][14] The merger created one of the largest law firms in the world at the time and the largest firm in the UK.[15] In 2006 the firm's name was shortened from DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US LLP to DLA Piper.[16] In 2005, DLA Piper launched New Perimeter, an international pro bono initiative that provides legal assistance in underserved regions.[17]
Throughout this period, the firm continued to open offices in Mexico City and São Paulo, as well as expanding its presence in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.[18][19][20][21] The firm also grew in the Australasian region through a series of mergers and acquisitions, including an exclusive alliance with Australian firm Phillips Fox in 2006.[22][23] Also in 2006, DLA Piper expanded its Middle Eastern presence by opening an outpost in Doha, Qatar,[24] later opening an office in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in 2008.[25]
In 2008, DLA Piper opened an office in Kuwait as a joint venture with Kuwaiti law firm Al Wagayan, Al Awadhi & Al Saif to provide legal services to international and local clients operating under the DLA Piper Kuwait moniker.[26] In the US, the firm expanded into markets such as Houston, Texas, where it opened a practice focused on energy law in 2008.[27]
In 2010, DLA Piper entered into an cooperative agreement with Brazilian firm Campos Mello Advogados, located in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.[28] In 2011, DLA Phillips Fox (Australia) integrated with DLA Piper to become DLA Piper Australia.[29] DLA Phillips Fox (New Zealand) followed suit, becoming DLA Piper New Zealand in 2015.[30] By February 2012, DLA became the largest firm in the world by headcount with over 4,000 attorneys,[31] and opened an office in Paris through a partnership with Frieh Bouhenic.[32]
In 2013–2014, the firm expanded to Seoul, Indonesia, Namibia, Algeria and Mexico City.[33][34][35][36] In 2014, it named Simon Levine managing partner, Global co-Chair and Global co-CEO.[37] His term was extended through 2024 to align with the appointment of Frank Ryan as Americas Chair, Global co-Chair and Global co-CEO in 2021.[38] In 2016, DLA Piper opened an office in San Juan, Puerto Rico.[39] The Portuguese firm ABBC[40] and the Danish firm LETT joined DLA Piper in March 2017.[41] In 2019, DLA Piper opened its Dublin office.[42] In 2023, DLA Piper entered into the digital space and launched TOKO, a blockchain-based tokenisation platform with its Aldersgate Digital Ledger Solutions (DLS) group.[43]
In 2021, DLA Piper was the third largest law firm in the United States by revenue.[44]
In June 2025, former UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, joined the law firm as a consultant.[45]
DLA Piper has 80 offices in more than 40 countries across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Australasia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.[46]
DLA Piper employees were the twelfth-largest donor to President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign.[47] According to OpenSecrets, DLA Piper employees donated $2.19 million to federal candidates during the 2012 election cycle, 73% to Democrats.[48] By comparison, during that same period Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld employees donated $2.56 million, 66% to Democrats,[48] while oil conglomerate ExxonMobil employees donated $2.66 million, 88% to Republicans.[49] Since 1990, DLA Piper has contributed $16.97 million to federal campaigns, and spent over $1 million on lobbying since 2002.[50]
In 2010, DLA Piper represented Paul Ceglia in his claim that he hired Mark Zuckerberg to create a website that became Facebook and that under the agreement, Ceglia was entitled to ownership of 84 percent of Facebook, then worth multiple billions of dollars.[51] Zuckerberg and Facebook responded that Ceglia had hired Zuckerberg to work on an unrelated site, but Ceglia had fraudulently altered that contract to make it appear to cover Facebook. A DLA Piper attorney told the Wall Street Journal that although he had not seen the original document, he had "absolutely 100% confidence that [Mr. Ceglia's] agreement is authentic."[52] Ceglia's document was later found to be fraudulent, and in 2014, Facebook and Zuckerberg sued DLA Piper and others, claiming Ceglia's lawyers "knew or should have known that the [initial] lawsuit was a fraud."[53] The suit was later dismissed.[54][55]
In June 2020, Squire Patton Boggs filed Ferrellgas Partners LP et al. v. DLA Piper LLP US in Kansas,[56] on behalf of former firm client Ferrellgas, for a breach of fiduciary duty.[57][58]
