DLA Piper's New DC Heads
What does it take to head the strategically-important DC office of the world's largest firm, DLA Piper? For Ben Boyd and Mary Gately, it was starting out together as summer associates at legacy firm Piper & Marbury in 1986. (If you're a summer associate now, set your alarm for 28 years.)
Ben and Mary have stayed with the firm ever since, becoming the national hiring partner and DC litigation head, respectively, and adding their co-office managing partner roles in late April. When Ben and Mary first joined Piper & Marbury, there were just over 100 lawyers; DLA Piper now has 4,200. "While it seemed big then, in retrospect we got in on the ground floor," says Ben, after which they spent decades working with the firm founders and early leaders like Frank Burch, Lee Miller, and Jeff Liss. "When you have that kind of connection with the people who are building something," Mary says, "you really feel integrated and ready to be a part of it."
With a full-service office, there are always needs to fill, Ben and Mary tell us—currently white collar, FDA regulatory, government contracts, and SEC, along with exploring new geographies (Canada and Latin America) to serve the global client base. There's a large international component to the DC lawyers' work, which is often tied to government affairs, such as Mary's representation of an international media company that's come under attack upon its entry to the US market, or Ben's representation of the family of deceased President of Venezuela Carlos Andres Perez (over whether his remains would stay in Miami or be returned to Venezuela).
Mary tells us she's starting to work full-time for the first time in 14 years. Since her first child was born (she now has a 14, 13, and 11-year old), she worked three days a week for seven years, and four days a week since then. During that time, she became DC litigation head and has mentored other women and men who've pursued alternate work schedules. The firm just issued a policy that allows for maximum workplace flexibility (from the ability to work from home, to alternate work schedules, to taking time off then slowly ramping up), which Mary feels will increase diversity in the legal industry. She notes that helping facilitate balance—which doesn't have to be family-related—is one key to recruiting and retainment.
Ben has also taken the DLA Piper golf game to an international level: He and a Norwegian partner founded an international golf tournament between the firm's US and international lawyers, which has teed off at St. Andrews (above) and Pinehurst, and this year in Ireland. Mary's involved with the firm's international pro bono program, New Perimeter. She's currently in Kosovo participating in a USAID-funded project where she's helping the Kosovo Chamber of Advocates increase the participation of women and minorities in their legal system.
