DLA Piper boosts disputes and litigation practice with the joining of Naomi Pryde as a Partner

DLA Piper boosts disputes and litigation practice with the joining of Naomi Pryde as a Partner

Naomi Pryde, the highly regarded litigator, brings with her to DLA Piper extensive cross-border and advocacy experience

The UK-headquartered international law firm DLA Piper has hired Naomi Pryde as a partner to head its Scottish commercial litigation team in Edinburgh.

Pryde comes to DLA Piper through a lateral hire from DWF, where she spent four years.

Pryde is qualified in Scotland, England and Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and can litigate in cases across the UK and the EU, which will come as a major advantage for the firm's cross-border clients.

According to Neil Bowker, DLA Piper's UK head of litigation and regulation group, Pryde will be a real asset not only in Scotland but across the UK and as part of the firm's international offering.

"She (Naomi Pryde) is highly regarded as a lawyer and has fantastic energy which, along with her can-do attitude, is appreciated by colleagues and clients alike," Bowker said.

Pryde's client base ranges from wealthy individuals to large multinational corporations. Her practice spans the full range of commercial sectors with a special focus on the energy, retail, banking and finance sectors, which, the firm said, aligns with its strategic outlook.

Besides these, she has also distinguished herself for her work with clients on dispute avoidance and risk management. These include using alternative dispute resolution strategically while remaining ready to litigate firmly and assertively if the need arises.

Pryde brings with her advocacy experience in both Scotland and England and Wales's higher courts, as well as being a notary public.

She is also a Writer to His Majesty's Signet – one of Scotland's oldest and most respected legal institutions outside the faculty of advocates.

Pryde received her training and qualified during her six-year stint with the leading Scottish legacy firm Tods Murray, which is now part of Shepherd & Wedderburn after the latter bought it out. She relocated to England to work for Dentons' litigation team where she worked for four-and-a-half years before moving over to DWF as a partner in 2019. She split her time at DWF between the firm's London office and its bases in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Pryde is a recipient of the 'Lawyer of the Year' Scottish Legal Awards 2021.

Her prominence in Scottish legal services has seen her give back to her profession as a senior leader of DWF's diversity group and through serving as a member of the Law Society of Scotland's governing council, adding large law firm insight to that body.

Pryde in her role as head of DWF's Scottish disputes team also worked closely with the firm's global litigation leadership team.

Although she has not initially taken on leadership responsibilities with DLA Piper, Pryde is expected to boost the firm's disputes practice, both nationally and internationally, and spearhead a sharper focus on larger, more complex and valuable international commercial disputes.

Pryde has joined DLA Piper following a period in which the firm focused on developing its European and Africa networks which saw it hire Hausfeld's former Paris and Brussels managing partner Laurent Geelhand in Brussels in August 2022 to bolster its competition offering.

DLA Piper also hired Africa-focused projects partner Karim Maalioun in London from the Canadian firm Fasken and added Clifford Chance's former Africa group director Titus Edjua from Watson & Farley last November.