David is Regional Managing Partner for the Middle East and International Development Partner of DLA Piper. He graduated in Law from University College London and qualified as an English solicitor in 1975. He has practised in the UK and Brussels, principally as a commercial and regulatory lawyer, until 1998 when he joined DLA Piper and opened the organisation's first office in Continental Europe (in Brussels). Since 1999 he has been heavily involved in the international development of the organisation particularly in Europe, the Middle East and the merger which created the global entity in January 2005. David has been based in Dubai since January 2006, concentrating on development in the Middle East, India and Africa.