Not the first outfit to rock up in Ireland since the referendum
DLA Piper is launching an office in Dublin to take advantage of what the global titan predicts will be an influx of financial services businesses to Ireland post-Brexit.
The firm, which already has a whopping 90 offices across 40 countries, said its latest outpost will initially focus on the financial services, technology and life sciences sectors. Revealing that DLA had been considering a move to Dublin “for some time”, global co-CEO Simon Levine said:
“Dublin is an important legal market and a key global hub for the financial services and technology sectors, in addition to being well located to support our global tax practice, and will continue to be so, particularly in the context of Brexit, as we expect more institutions to have or develop a presence in the country.”
DLA isn’t the first big legal player to launch in Dublin since June 2016’s referendum. Other outfits include Pinsent Masons, Simmons & Simmons and Covington & Burling.
Back to DLA and details regarding its new Irish offering remain thin on the ground. It’s still not clear how many lawyers the outfit is looking to take on, for example. We can, however, tell you that the office will be headed up by David Carthy, who will join DLA from the Irish outfit William Fry, where he’s currently a corporate partner. Carthy is a qualified attorney in the US as well as a solicitor in both England and Ireland.
We have reached out to the firm regarding the position on the possibility of Irish training contracts, but is yet to hear back. Legal Cheek’s Firms Most List shows DLA Piper offers around 70 training contracts annually. London-based rookies currently earn a salary of £44,000 in year one, rising to £49,000 in year two. It’s newly qualified lawyers, again in London, earn £75,000.