DLA Piper has revealed plans to open a second London office this year, concentrating on the burgeoning technology startup community.
Simon Levine, the firm’s IP and technology global co-chair, said plans were to open ‘before the summer’, with the office likely to be located in the Tech City area of East London, near the Old Street roundabout.
He confirmed that DLA’s new location will offer ‘something similar’ to Taylor Wessing’s Tech City office, which launched in October 2011. Taylor Wessing’s office offers free walk-in legal advice clinics and a host of other services for low prices or free of charge to technology startups.
Levine also stressed that the aim of the outfit will be to support the technology community, in essence as a pro bono activity. ‘As a firm we are very interested in giving something back to the community,’ he said.
‘These types of companies would mostly not be able to afford the kinds of fees that City firms charge,’ he added. The office is likely to be occupied by a few junior partners and senior associates on a rota system.
However, Levine was keen to clarify that the initiative was not solely aimed at making profit or establishing market share in the startup sector, saying it was more about ‘relationship building’.
The firm’s foray mirrors other attempts to integrate into the flourishing East London technology community, including Mishcon de Reya’s START document pack; Pinsent Masons’ Bootlaw technology forum events; and Taylor Vinters’ ‘Venture Capital Startup Pack’. The Old Street and City Road junction has become a hotbed for startup technology companies recently, helped by the launch of the Tech City UK in November 2010.