Leading international law firm DLA Piper coming to Turkey

With the addition of Turkey to its list of offices DLA Piper will be operating in 30 countries worldwide, with 68 offices and over 8,000 employees, about 3,800 of whom are lawyers. DLA Piper is already the largest business law firm in the world in terms of the size of its staff. In 2008 DLA Piper became the largest law firm globally in terms of revenue, with $2.26 billion. DLA Piper will possibly bring other international law firms to the Turkish market and facilitate some of its clients investing in Turkey. Fifty-eight of the firm’s top 100 clients currently invest in Turkey. All of these companies are in the top 250 of the Fortune 500 list.

Speaking to a group of Turkish journalists, DLA Piper joint CEO Sir Nigel Knowles told Today’s Zaman that it was calls from DLA Piper’s clients operating in Turkey that urged them to invest in their Turkish operation. “The vision of our firm is to be the leading global law firm. And you can’t be or aspire to be the world’s leading global law firm if you haven’t got offices or credible relations with local firms in the G20 countries. Turkey is 17th in the G20, and it has got ambitions to go even beyond that position, and I understand that in the time frame of four to five years it is estimated that Turkey will be around 12th of the G20. So far as DLA Piper is concerned, we cannot claim to be the leading law firm if we haven’t got a solution for Turkey,” Sir Nigel said.

DLA Piper operates on a broader base than the “Magic Circle Firms” -- the five largest UK law firms that operate only in corporate finance and the capital market -- and Sir Nigel believes that his firm is tailor made for the recent economic crisis conditions. “Large corporates are rethinking the legal services they are buying. They are cutting down their legal spending budgets and are looking for greater value for money. We see the model of DLA Piper purpose-made for the current environment,” he said.

Sir Nigel also suggested that the presence of DLA Piper in the Turkish market will be an incentive for its clients to make their minds up to come and invest in Turkey. “We are a conduit between Turkish businessmen willing to do business around the world and the rest of the world wanting to do business in Turkey. I am sure there are some clients around the world that have thought about Turkey but haven’t quite made a decision. They will find it easier now because we will be there to support them,” Sir Nigel said.

The joint CEO also believes that the relationship between an international law firm and the legal environment it operates in is not a one-way relationship. “What we are doing will contribute to best practice in the Turkish market,” he told Today’s Zaman. Andrew Darwin, managing director for Europe at the firm, added that the local bars will see in time that it is an advantage to have international law firms. “It strengthens the law, the profession,” he said. “Economy benefits from having world class legal services,” Sir Nigel added. Darwin is hopeful that the UK Law Society will also be active in promoting relations between the profession in the UK and Turkey given the fact that DLA Piper and other possible international law firms will be operating in Turkey. “We know that there are a number of firms looking at the Turkish market. We believe we will not be the only one in the market. We just want to be there reasonably early,” he said. Marc Grossman, a former US ambassador to Turkey and now a partner in DLA Piper, suggested that “the whole purpose of law firms is to promote the rule of law and that the presence of DLA Piper and other international law firms in the Turkish market will add to the legal standards of Turkey.”

Asked whether or not they are worried about the recent legal contention in Turkey, Sir Nigel replied that if their clients, knowing all those risks, established a presence in Turkey, they have to do so as well. Darwin added that they had experience in Turkey in the past and that their clients were all satisfied. “From a Western European perspective the Turkish market is perceived as an opportunity,” he said.

DLA Piper had represented the Turkish government in the US, lobbying against so-called Armenian genocide resolutions, and Darwin made clear that during the time that they represented the Turkish government “no resolution including that ‘g-word’ passed.”

Asked whether DLA Piper had selected Turkey as a hub to operate in Middle Eastern or East European countries, Sir Nigel suggested that with its sizeable population and vibrant economy Turkey should already be very influential in the region. “With its momentum gaining velocity it is Turkey that selected itself as a regional hub, not us,” Sir Nigel said.