Client conflicts prompt high-level talks between DLA Piper and South African ally
DLA Piper is facing a showdown with South African alliance firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr over conflicts arising when the two firms have pitched for the same work.
October 30, 2014 at 08:20 PM
2 minute read
DLA Piper is facing a showdown with South African alliance firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr over conflicts arising when the two firms have pitched for the same work.
A Cliffe Dekker partner confirmed that management-level talks are set to take place in London in the coming weeks to resolve the issue.
DLA and Cliffe Dekker are understood to have both pitched for Africa based English law work on a number of occasions for what have been described as "mutual clients" of the firms.
"We have not really addressed the issue," the partner said. "We will have to integrate completely, or split or form a collaboration. Everyone has got a model that they adopt."
DLA Piper declined to comment.
The alliance between the two firms is thought to have become uneasy in recent months, according to other sources in the South African market, with some lawyers at the local firm thought to be unhappy with the arrangement.
"The association hasn't been happy for a while," one partner at a leading South African firm told Legal Week.
DLA first joined forces with legacy Cliffe Decker in the form of a referral relationship in 2005. The South African firm merged with legacy Hofmeyr Herbstein & Gihwala in September 2008, with the new alliance firm practising as Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr.
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