The partnership between DLA Piper and Lawyers on Demand will allow DLA to scale up or down its Australian presence according to the demands of clients. The flexible lawyer pool, which will include DLA alumni, is to be created and managed by Lawyers on Demand and its recently-announced merger partner AdventBalance and will service DLA Piper clients in the region as needed.
The deal expands on an existing relationship between LOD and the British arm of DLA Piper, which launched in the UK late last year. LOD co-founder Jonathan Brenner said that the NewLaw business was ‘delighted, though not surprised’ to be taking its relationship with DLA to the global level so soon after the UK launch:
‘We’ve taken New Law global and, in doing so, have created the perfect storm. Watch this space for more to come,’ said Mr Brenner.
DLA Piper global co-chief executive Simon Levine agreed that when it comes to linking up with flexible New Law providers, law firms must act quickly or get left behind.
‘There’s only a few good international providers, we’ve got first move advantage,’ said Mr Levine of the firm’s partnership with LOD, which is currently the world’s largest LOD business. He added that those firms who fail to secure partnerships with existing providers will be forced to ‘grow their own’ in order to keep up with the changing legal services market.
Sources: Australasian Lawyer; Lawyers Weekly
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