Middle East/United Arab Emirates

Skadden, Latham called in as Mubadala takes CI Financial private in $8.7bn deal

Canadian firms Blakes, Stikeman Elliott and Wildeboer Dellelce also advise on Mubadala’s largest deal to date

  • 5d

DIAC heralds modernisation programme as cases and diversity grow

Annual report records 4.4% increase in cases in 2023 as dust settles on sweeping reform programme

Greenberg Traurig adds senior arbitration partner in Dubai from Clyde & Co

Nassif BouMalhab joins US firm having led Clyde’s Middle East arbitration group

The Global Legal Post launches international comparative guide to cryptoassets

Edited by Brown Rudnick partners Jane Colston and Jessica Lee, online resource outlines emerging legal frameworks for cryptoassets

Stephenson Harwood expands Middle East practice with third partner hire in a month

Disputes lawyer John Lewis joins from Charles Russell Speechlys in the firm’s Dubai office

DWF continues Dubai expansion with finance partner hire from Pinsent Masons

UK firm makes seventh regional hire in past 12 months as it ramps up Middle East presence

Freshfields’ MENA finance head rejoins Allen & Overy

Haris Meyer Hanif returns to Dubai office in vote of confidence for A&O’s $3.5bn merger with Shearman & Sterling

Ex-Linklaters Middle East head takes back reins from successor after a year

Scott Campbell resumes leadership role following Jonathan Fried’s return to full-time practice

King & Spalding hires Ashurst’s ex-Middle East head of corporate

Simon Fraser will be based in Abu Dhabi; senior associate also moves across, as a partner

CMS to provide pro bono legal advice to COP28 initiative

Firm will offer support on a range of ESG-related matters for COP28 in Dubai

White & Case announces 42-lawyer partner promotion class

Cohort edges down from 46 last year with proportion of women slipping from 52% to 36%

Norton Rose adds Stephenson Harwood partner to lead Middle East disputes team

Nick Sharratt succeeds Paul Stothard following latter’s relocation to London

Morgan Lewis and Addleshaw Goddard bolster Dubai disputes offerings with partner hires from Al Tamimi, Clifford Chance

Sara Aranjo joins Morgan Lewis to lead arbitration practice in Africa and Middle East as Arun Visweswaran moves over to Addleshaw Goddard from Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance makes twin energy partner hire from Latham & Watkins

New recruits Craig Nethercott and Chirag Sanghrajka will be based in London and Dubai respectively

Quinn Emanuel secures King & Wood Mallesons partner duo for UAE launch

Litigation giant hires KWM Dubai office head plus another partner to set up shop in Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Greenberg Traurig opens in Dubai with twin partner hire from BCLP

US firm celebrates launch with arrival of real estate partner duo as it builds Middle East presence

Around the house: Citadel lands top Goldman legal duo, Merck promotes auditing head to GC

This week’s roundup of top in-house moves also includes appointments at LPL Financial, CBRE, MUFG and Mashreq Bank

IP offices can’t take their business for granted in a changing world, says INTA’s CEO

Etienne Sanz De Acedo discusses the future of IP offices, the damage wreaked by counterfeiting and piracy and how IP is not just for the big corporations

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