40 Facts About DLA Piper

The Formation and Global Presence of DLA Piper

DLA Piper is a giant in the legal world, known for its extensive reach and impressive history. Let's dive into some key facts about its formation and global presence.

1. Founding and Merger: DLA Piper was born in 2005 from the merger of three major law firms: Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich LLP from San Diego, Piper Rudnick LLP from Baltimore, and DLA (now DLA LLP) from the UK.

2. Global Presence: With offices in over 40 countries, DLA Piper offers a wide range of legal services to businesses worldwide.

3. Revenue and Ranking: In 2021, DLA Piper was the third-largest law firm in the United States by revenue, showcasing its financial strength and market position.

4. Structure: The firm operates under a shared global board and is structured as a Swiss Verein, allowing for greater flexibility and collaboration across its global offices.

5. Partnerships: DLA Piper consists of two partnerships: DLA LLP and DLA Piper (UK) LLP. These partnerships work together under a shared global board to manage the firm's operations.

Strategic Expansions and Collaborations

DLA Piper has strategically expanded its reach through various partnerships and integrations. Here are some notable examples.

6. Cooperative Agreements: In 2010, DLA Piper entered into a cooperative agreement with Brazilian firm Campos Mello Avogados, expanding its presence in Brazil.

7. Integration with Local Firms: In 2011, DLA Phillips Fox (Australia) integrated with DLA Piper, becoming DLA Piper Australia. This was followed by DLA Phillips Fox (New Zealand) becoming DLA Piper New Zealand in 2015.

8. Global Expansion: By February 2012, DLA Piper became the largest firm in the world, reflecting its rapid global expansion and strategic partnerships.

Client Base and Legal Services

DLA Piper serves a diverse range of clients and offers specialized legal services across various practice areas.

9. Client Base: The firm serves multinational corporations, financial institutions, and government entities, providing a wide range of legal services from corporate law to litigation and dispute resolution.

10. Legal Services: DLA Piper offers specialized legal services in areas like data protection, privacy, and cybersecurity, which are critical for businesses in today's digital landscape.

Thought Leadership and Pro Bono Work

DLA Piper is known for its thought leadership and commitment to pro bono work, particularly in developing countries.

11. Thought Leadership: The firm publishes a privacy matters blog and hosts webinars on topics like data protection and global expansion.

12. Global Scholarships Program: DLA Piper supports law students in developing countries through its Global Scholarships Program, aiming to expand access to justice globally.

13. Pro Bono Work: The firm is committed to pro bono work, particularly in developing countries. DLA Piper's Global Alumni Program and New Perimeter initiatives demonstrate its dedication to seeding global pro bono efforts.

Visionary Approach and Client Engagement

DLA Piper is described as visionary, with a bold approach to addressing clients' needs and encouraging client engagement.

14. Visionary Approach: The firm's commitment to innovation and cutting-edge legal solutions sets it apart in the industry.

15. Client Engagement: DLA Piper emphasizes meaningful work and career growth for its employees. The firm encourages client engagement through various global opportunities, ensuring personalized and comprehensive legal services.

Global Perspectives and Digital Evolution

DLA Piper offers global perspectives on legal issues and stays at the forefront of digital evolution.

16. Global Perspectives: The firm provides insights on class actions and other legal issues through video series and webinars, helping businesses navigate complex legal landscapes.

17. Digital Evolution: DLA Piper focuses on beyond transformation, staying informed about the latest trends in data protection, privacy, and cybersecurity to ensure clients are well-equipped to handle these challenges.

Partnerships and Plain Language Initiative

DLA Piper collaborates with other experts and advocates for plain language in legal writing.

18. Partnerships and Collaborations: The firm collaborates with other experts and clients to provide the best possible solutions, enhancing its ability to address complex legal issues effectively.

19. Committee on Plain English (COPE): While not directly affiliated with DLA Piper, COPE shares similar goals of improving legal writing clarity by eliminating legalese and promoting plain language in legal documents.

20. Plain Language Initiative: DLA Piper advocates for plain language in legal writing, recognizing that clear and readable documents are essential for effective communication and public understanding of legal matters.

Avoiding Jargon and Spelling Reforms

DLA Piper emphasizes the importance of avoiding jargon and dealing with spelling reforms in legal writing.

21. Avoiding Jargon: The firm emphasizes the importance of avoiding jargon in legal writing. Using plain words instead of technical terms can significantly improve the readability and comprehension of legal documents.

22. Initialisms and Acronyms: DLA Piper advises against creating new initialisms and acronyms unless they have already entered common vocabulary, helping maintain clarity and avoid confusing readers with unfamiliar abbreviations.

23. Spelling Reforms: Legal writing often involves dealing with spelling reforms. For instance, the Dutch word "zoo" was changed to "zo" in 1947, affecting its frequency in written texts over time.

Neologisms, Archaisms, and Frequency Analysis

DLA Piper's work in legal writing involves identifying neologisms and archaisms and using frequency analysis to track word usage over time.

24. Neologisms and Archaisms: The firm identifies new words (neologisms) and old words (archaisms), which can be crucial in understanding historical and contemporary language usage.

25. Frequency Analysis: DLA Piper uses frequency analysis to track the rise and fall of words over time, helping identify interesting words that show significant changes in their relative frequency.

26. Quantitative Evaluation: The firm employs quantitative evaluation methods to assess the interest of words based on their frequency distribution over time, considering words with significant rises or drops in frequency as interesting.

Smoothing Factors and Evaluation Methods

DLA Piper uses different smoothing factors and evaluation methods to process word frequencies and rank words based on their interest.

27. Smoothing Factors: The firm uses smoothing factors like 5, 11, and 21 to process word frequencies, making it easier to identify trends and patterns in frequency graphs.

28. Correlation Coefficients and Delta Scores: DLA Piper evaluates the performance of two ranking methods: correlation coefficients and delta scores, using them in combination with smoothing strategies to rank words based on their frequency and interest.

29. Evaluation Scores: The firm's evaluation scores show that correlation coefficients perform best for magazine texts, achieving a best average precision score of 99% for smoothing factor 11. Delta scores, on the other hand, prove better for tweets, reaching an average precision of 98% for smoothing factors 11 and 21.

Overlap in Rankings and Step Function in Frequency Graphs

DLA Piper finds overlap in rankings and encounters step functions in frequency graphs due to spelling reforms.

30. Overlap in Rankings: Despite differences in ranking methods, there is only a 24% overlap between the top 100 and bottom 100 word lists suggested by the methods, indicating that the two methods can be used in parallel for a comprehensive understanding of word frequencies.

31. Step Function in Frequency Graphs: The firm encounters a step function in the frequency graphs of certain words, particularly those affected by spelling reforms. For example, the change in spelling from "zoo" to "zo" in 1947 caused a significant step in the frequency graph.

Endurance Criterion and Examples of Neologisms and Archaisms

DLA Piper adheres to the endurance criterion and provides examples of neologisms and archaisms found in magazine texts and tweets.

32. Endurance Criterion: The firm follows the endurance criterion proposed by Metcalf (2002), which states that words only popular for a very short time are not considered interesting, helping distinguish between fleeting trends and enduring linguistic changes.

33. Neologisms and Archaisms Examples: Examples of neologisms and archaisms found in magazine texts and tweets include the word "each other" (elkaar), which has been rising in frequency for over a century, and the word "ours" (onzer), which has been decreasing in frequency for over a hundred years before reaching zero.

Frequency Graphs and Quantitative Evaluation Procedure

DLA Piper uses frequency graphs to visualize word frequencies and employs a quantitative evaluation procedure to ensure accuracy.

34. Frequency Graphs: The firm uses frequency graphs to visualize the progression of word frequencies over time, helping identify significant rises or drops in word frequencies crucial for understanding linguistic trends.

35. Quantitative Evaluation Procedure: The firm's quantitative evaluation procedure involves manually inspecting the frequency graphs of the top-ranked and bottom-ranked words based on the scores assigned by each method, ensuring thorough and accurate evaluation.

Qualitative Analysis and Smoothing Strategies

DLA Piper performs qualitative analysis and applies various smoothing strategies for word frequencies.

36. Qualitative Analysis Procedure: In addition to quantitative evaluation, the firm performs a small qualitative analysis by comparing candidate neologisms from magazine texts with the Chronological Dictionary, enhancing the accuracy of the identified words.

37. Candidate Neologisms and Archaisms: The firm identifies candidate neologisms and archaisms from magazine texts and tweets, comparing them with historical dictionaries to ensure accuracy and relevance.

38. Smoothing Strategies: DLA Piper applies four smoothing strategies for word frequencies: no smoothing and processing data in sets of five, eleven, and twenty-one adjacent years, helping smooth out frequency graphs and identify trends and patterns.

Evaluation Results and Performance of Ranking Methods

DLA Piper's evaluation results show the performance of different ranking methods for magazine texts and tweets.

39. Evaluation Results: The firm's evaluation results show that correlation coefficients outperform delta scores for magazine texts, achieving a best average precision score of 99% for smoothing factor 11. Delta scores, however, prove better for tweets, reaching an average precision of 98% for smoothing factors 11 and 21.

40. Performance of Ranking Methods: Despite the differences in ranking methods, DLA Piper finds that both methods can be used in parallel to provide a comprehensive understanding of word frequencies, with correlation coefficients performing best for magazine texts and delta scores for tweets.

DLA Piper: A Legal Powerhouse

DLA Piper stands out as a global legal giant. Formed in 2005, it quickly grew into one of the largest firms worldwide. With offices in over 40 countries, it offers a wide range of services to businesses everywhere. The firm's innovative approach and commitment to plain language in legal writing make it unique. Its dedication to pro bono work and support for law students in developing countries highlights its vision for global justice. DLA Piper's focus on digital evolution ensures clients stay ahead in data protection, privacy, and cybersecurity. By blending quantitative and qualitative analysis, the firm provides top-notch legal solutions. Whether you're a multinational corporation or a government entity, DLA Piper's expertise and global reach make it a trusted partner in navigating complex legal landscapes.