Clyde & Co had rehired aviation partner Nick Humphrey in Dubai from transport law specialist Norton White.
Humphrey returns to Clyde & Co a decade after leaving to join Kennedys and then Norton White in 2022. He was previously a legal director at Clyde & Co for two years between 2014 and 2016, having joined the firm after a three-year in-house stint at Emirates and six years at multimodal logistics provider Supreme Group, both in legal counsel roles.
His exit from Norton White ends his second stint at the firm, having spent five years there as a partner from 2005-2010. He started his career at Dibbs Barker and is qualified in Queensland.
Humphreys will be based in Clyde & Co’s Dubai office with a practice spanning the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and Asia Pacific. He represents international airlines, aircraft operators and owners, airports, ports, aviation service providers, maintenance and repair organisations and trade credit providers, their brokers and insurers.
His practice covers regulatory, commercial, project and contentious matters, including complex cross-border arbitrations under LCIA, DIAC and ICC rules. He has a strong grasp of regional aviation policy and investment frameworks, advising clients on regulatory structuring, concession agreements and cross-border transactions.
Humphreys said: “I look forward to working with the firm’s global practice and leveraging its Middle East presence to assist local and regional clients as they capitalise on the expanding aviation markets while navigating the complex and rapidly evolving global environment.”
Kevin Sutherland, the firm’s chair of the global aviation practice group, said: “This hire reflects the firm’s longer-term growth strategy in the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, where aviation market expansion is forecast to outpace more mature regions such as Europe and North America. Alongside our global and regional practice, Nick is ideally placed to unlock significant potential, assisting global and local clients as they take advantage of this market growth.”
Welcoming the news, Peter Hodgins, chair of Clyde & Co’s Middle East and Africa board, said: “The region continues to attract significant investment in airlines and airport infrastructure, driving demand for sophisticated legal advice across the sector.”
Regionally, the aviation practice in April promoted aviation liability specialist Bushra Abu Tayeh to partner on her arrival from Al-Tamimi, where she worked for almost 14 years, latterly as a special counsel. Clyde & Co also relocated aviation finance partner Jahnavi Ramachandran from London to Singapore.
The firm has also seen exits, with Robert Lawson KC returning to Quadrant Chambers earlier this year, while Kennedys hired Rob Ireland, another Clyde & Co aviation partner, earlier this summer to rejoin his former firm.
And last week, Alius Law hired specialist London aviation partner Robert Mumford from Clyde & Co. A spokesperson for the firm noted then that the global aviation practice had recruited or promoted six partners this year, “further expanding our team of more than 100 aviation specialists across 20 offices worldwide”.
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