DLA ally loses tech specialists

DLA's Scottish merger partner has lost the last member of its high-profile information technology department.Bird Semple, which was known for its 'techmedia' group, became DLA's Scottish office this month (see [2000] Gazette, 30 March, 5).The Glasgow firm had already lost a number of techmedia fee-earners pre-merger, including group head John Salmon to the Glasgow office of City firm Masons, and had hived off its private client team as a pre-requisite for the merger.Linda Forsythe, a fee-earner in Bird Semple's techmedia office from its launch, is joining Glasgow firm Boyds as a partner-designate and will lead the launch of the firm's e-commerce team.

It will be the firm's first bespoke e-commerce team, with ten fee-earners.Ms Forsythe said: 'The team is going to target the bigger corporate PLCs and limited companies.

There is no way it's going to fail.

E-commerce is the way of doing business in the future.'DLA partner Trevor James said that DLA plans to build its e-commerce group, DLA.net, which spans the whole firm.

He said it is business as usual for DLA.net: 'We will be working with our Scottish partners to ensure the firm's vision in respect of DLA.net and e-commerce.

We are one firm.'Meanwhile, Scottish lawyers have launched an electronic business legal group, Scottish Legal Group, which will be linked to London-based legal advice group e-centre.

Scottish Legal Group co-ordinator Paul Motion, an associate at Scottish firm Ledingham Chalmers, said: 'No group of professionals, including lawyers, can stay aloof from the current e-business revolution that is taking the world by storm.'

Anne Mizzi