It seems it's not only the firm's UK lawyers who are unhappy with DLA Piper. Taxis have been springing up in Washington DC featuring adverts bad-mouthing the firm.

Cabs with the slogan "DLA Piper shares blood money with Ethiopian dictators" have been spotted traversing the streets of the US capital. Apparently, DLA Piper partners lobbied for the Ethiopian Prime Minister who had upset human rights activists with his brutal behaviour during the 2005 elections. The resulting bad feeling is still felt in Washington and has led to the cheeky ad campaign.

Bad DLA Piper! Bad!

A spokesman for the firm said the ads were just an attempt to "embarrass or demean" those associated with the Ethiopian Prime Minister. And they have clearly succeeded.

Meanwhile, back in the UK it seems the firm continues to go from one bad idea to another. Following redundancy after redundancy RollOnFriday has been told that the firm now has an entirely absurd gearing ratio of one partner to one associate in some of its real estate teams. The firm refused to comment on how this could possibly make any sense at all.