DLA Piper Launches Third Round of Middle East Layoffs

Sofia Lind

Legal Week

12-08-2009

DLA Piper has made a new round of job cuts in the Middle East, announcing Monday that it is to lay off another 9 percent of staff in the region in response to continued deterioration in the market.

The latest round of cuts, which follows a review of the business, equates to seven lawyers and 10 support staff losing their jobs. The firm did not provide a breakdown of the job losses but said the majority of the layoffs were in Dubai and affected the construction, real estate, project finance and development projects teams.

As a result of the review the firm will also transfer 14 members of staff, including a number of partners, from the Middle East region to other offices, including London, during 2009 and 2010. In addition, the firm said 11 staff have recently resigned from the Middle East offices. Taking the latest departures and two redundancy rounds held earlier this year into account, headcount has shrunk by 39 percent year-on-year.

DLA Piper regional managing partner Abdul Aziz Al-Yaqout said: "The impact of redundancies on our people is deeply regretted and we are assisting them to manage the transition, whether remaining in the region or returning to their home locations. Where possible, we have assisted our people in securing alternative employment."

In June, DLA Piper laid off 22 staff, including nine fee earners -- one of which was a partner. Dubai was the most heavily hit, taking one-third of the cuts.

That had followed a Dubai redundancy round in April, which saw eight associates laid off. In addition, the firm placed a number of lawyers on secondments as a cost-saving measure to stave off further redundancies.

DLA Piper has offices in Abu Dhabi, Doha and Muscat in addition to Dubai, as well as associations in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

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