DLA Piper could look again at full financial integration between its US and international profit centres, three years after backing away from plans to move in this direction.

The firm's UK regional managing partner David Bradley confirmed that it will look at whether it should bring the two arms closer together as part of its current three-year business plan.

His confirmation comes as DLA moves to usher in an all-equity partnership across its international limited liability partnership, which comprises the firm's operations across Europe, Asia and the 
Middle East.

The firm plans to ask partners in the two fixed-share ranks to contribute capital in exchange for a share of the firm's profits to bring the international partnership in line with the US, where partners were each asked to contribute up to $150,000 (£94,000) in late 2008.

Bradley told Legal Week: "[Integrating the two profit centres] certainly is an avenue that we are keen to explore over the next three-year period and, in theory, if we did decide that a higher level of alignment between the two sides of the business would be beneficial, then moving to similar partnership models would help."

However, marked differences in profitability between some of the firm's international offices is likely to pose a stumbling block to full financial integration between the two, according to Bradley.

DLA planned to put details of a proposed model for full financial integration to partners in the first half of 2008 but ultimately abandoned the move, instead presenting a range of softer measures, including increasing the amount of money in the shared pool used for joint investments and overhauling its management.

News also emerged yesterday (26 October) that former Linklaters managing partner Tony Angel is set to join the firm as co-global chairman and senior partner of its business outside of the US, subject to a partner vote.