Graduate Recruitment
Meet our people
Duncan Mosley - Partner
Restructuring
Law, Sheffield University
In 1984 I joined a firm called Broomheads that eventually became part of DLA Piper. Historically, we have always been a well managed and meritocratic organisation. People won't stand in the way of someone's career just because they haven’t served their time yet. If you perform well here then you’ll get rewarded for it.
We were one of the first regional firms to really attack the London market and demonstrate that regional lawyers were perfectly capable of doing City work.
There are many talented people who simply don’t want to get on a packed commuter train to the capital every morning. They’re bright and good enough to carry off big ticket work and DLA Piper has provided a home for many of them.
One of the things that remains constant at our firm is that you’re encouraged not to remain desk-bound. This is by no means a nine-to-five job and it’s important to get out there and develop relationships with people in the business community. If you’re doing your job properly then some of that job will involve your personal life. You’ll need to enjoy working with people and be able to socialise with them.
One of the factors in our success is that people still like to work with local lawyers. DLA Piper can give them that service whilst retaining global strength. That also means that we can provide very satisfying careers to people in the locations where they want to settle down.
A lot of other firms are still concerned that their trainees have the right background and went to the correct schools and universities. Where you come from really doesn’t matter here. Talented and successful people have and will continue to climb the ladder at DLA Piper to achieve their ambitions. This is according to their abilities, irrespective of time serving or any other principles that elsewhere hinder the process.
