Two Good Ideas From Law Firm DLA Piper

DLA Piper (#2 on the AmLaw 200) is working to ensure that it is the law firm of the future.  While I was at the Law Firm COO/CFO conference in NYC recently, I had the pleasure of speaking with Andrew Darwin, the Chief Operating Officer of DLA Piper.  We discussed some of the things his firm is doing to move it forward.  I thought I would share two of the boldest but simplest operational changes he mentioned.

First, DLA Piper no longer uses a phone system.  All calls (video and voice) are made through Skype for Business.  This enables DLA Piper’s clients and employees to work together anytime, anywhere on a unified system.   How was this accomplished?  Cold turkey.  Land lines were removed and replaced by Skype.  And according to Darwin, it has been well received.

Second, DLA Piper has adopted open plan seating in its Australian offices.  As Australia is more progressive than the US and Europe, it was a relatively easy culture change.  In 2018, the London offices will be transitioned to 33% hard-walled offices and the balance open plan.  Darwin says the US is still a work in progress.  Presently, DLA Piper is trying to move the US offices to uniformly sized attorney offices (partner and associate).  While saving money on real estate is a welcome benefit, the intent with this plan is to improve recruiting of millennials and encourage a more collaborative and collegial environment for the firm.

I believe we will start seeing more of these changes sooner than most think in US law firms.  More on the future of law in next week’s blog post.