DLA Piper is backing away from financial integration, Legal Week has learned, with the transatlantic giant instead opting for softer measures to help align the firm around the world.

The move represents a U-turn for DLA Piper, which had publicly stated its intention to financially integrate its US and international operations, following its tripartite merger with Piper Rudnick and Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich at the beginning of 2005.