DLA Piper chief Cowell hails firm’s global reach
LIAM Cowell, new office managing partner at the Manchester office of law firm DLA Piper, says he wants the firm to continue to be a springboard to international success for staff and clients alike.
Mr Cowell, a 43-year-old infrastructure specialist, who is leading the high profile Mersey Gateway public-private partnership project for client Halton Borough Council, says his appointment to the office head role is a “great privilege”.
Having joined what was then Alsop Wlkinson as a trainee 20 years ago, he says: “I have seen the firm grow, from its strong Northern roots to become the largest firm in the world. (DLA Piper employs 4,200 lawyers located in more than 30 countries).
“I think it is fantastic too that lawyers from here are playing a part in the growth of the firm internationally – people like Peter Somekh, who is office managing partner in Dubai.”
The suggestion that a law firm can’t serve both local national and international markets baffles him though – there was speculation in the legal sector last year over the firm’s commitment to the UK regions.
He says: “If you were a Bolton company selling widgets in Bolton, and then suddenly you were selling them in California and Singapore as well, it would be seen as a great success.
“Just because we have got this fantastic footprint around the world doesn’t mean we are aren’t interested in the regions. I think we should be proud of it (our international network) and the work we can do for clients from the North West who have ambitions to grow in new markets.”
Born near the Liverpool suburb of Formby Mr Cowell spent a decade with
the firm’s Liverpool office before working for a year in Birmingham. For the last nine years though he has worked in the Manchester office and now lives in Wilmslow with his wife and three children.
His short term goals including build his networks in the Manchester business community and strengthening practice groups such as corporate and real estate. He stresses this will be only if the right quality candidates are available.
In the longer term there is a decision to be made too on the future location of the firm – leases on the Barbirolli Square offices expire in early 2017.
Without giving too much away, he says: “We are looking at the options at the moment – come what may there’s going to be an investment, whether that’s staying put or moving to another place.”
He says he is relishing his new role, despite it adding to his already frenetic schedule, declaring: “I’ve always really enjoyed the management side of the job, even before I became a partner, and building and leading a team is very rewarding.”
