DLA Piper to leave Georgia after Tbilisi office defects to Dentons
Tbilisi, Georgia.
DLA Piper will withdraw from Georgia after losing all 11 of its lawyers based in the republic to rival Dentons.
As Legalweek reported Wednesday, DLA Piper’s decision to pull out of Georgia comes during the same week the firm decided to abandon Berlin after losing its lawyers in the German capital to DWF, Legalweek previously reported. According to Legalweek, an 11-lawyer team from DLA Piper (including two partners) will join Dentons on May 1, with Dentons taking over DLA Piper’s former Tbilisi office.
“The firm has had a successful presence in Tbilisi since 2005,” DLA Piper said in a statement. “However, we have since concluded that our respective interests and strategies can be better delivered separately in future. We are confident that we can continue to support our global clients who operate there in an efficient manner, and wish the team every success for the future.”
Dentons, on the other hand, expressed its excitement and called Georgia “a real economic success story.” “Over the last decade, it has implemented market reforms to attract more foreign investors,” said Dentons global chairman Joe Andrew, in a statement. “As the link between western Europe and central Asia, it holds a strategic geographic location that is important to many of our clients.”
