madrid: surprise tie-up to create spanish giant for dla piperDLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary has swooped on Squire Sanders & Dempsey’s respected 25-lawyer Madrid office, creating one of the largest Spanish practices for an international player.

The two sides began talks in June and are expected to seal a definitive deal to combine local branches under the DLA Piper brand this week. The tie-up, first reported on egalweek.com (13 December), is scheduled to go live in early 2006 when the merged practice will move into new premises.