One of Britain's mid-market starts, DLA, is to join up with Piper Rudnick, a medium-sized American firm, to form, what will be the worlds third-biggest law firm in terms of both lawyers—2, 700—and revenue based on returns for the first half of 2004. Next year, it hopes to grab the number two slot by revenue, with a projected turnover of $1.5 billion. It will be the only firm with more than 1, 000 lawyers on each side of the Atlantic. Too confident? Some would say so, seeing how Clifford Chance is still struggling nearly five years after its marriage to New York's Rogers & Wells in 2000. Although still the world's number one by lawyers and revenue, London's "magic-circle" firm has lost 84 partners in the past year (out of a current total of 582), half in America-including many of its star "rain-makers". Over the past five years, 271 partners have left, including 80 in America.
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