While some law firms are consolidating their presence in the region, Shearman & Sterling has bolstered its presence in the Middle East through an affiliation with local Saudi Arabian firm Abdulaziz Alassaf & Partners.
Continue reading “Shearman partners with three-office Saudi firm as it builds Middle East presence”
White & Case has hired Clifford Chance’s (CC) Middle East head of capital markets and structured finance, Debashis Dey, as a partner in its Dubai office.
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher has been hit with a £880,000 charge, which it must pay jointly with the Republic of Djibouti, for the freezing order obtained on businessman Abdourahman Boreh’s assets in 2013.
Continue reading “In court: Gibson Dunn faces interim payout over Djibouti court case”
A handsome book recently arrived on my crowded desk, demanding attention: it’s Innovation & Intellectual Property: Collaborative Dynamics in Africa, edited by scholars Jeremy de Beer, Chris Armstrong, Chidi Oguamanam and Tobia Schonwetter. Published by the UCT Press in association with the IP Unit of the Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town (that’s what ‘UCT’ stands for) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), it’s one of those lovely books that you don’t have to buy since you can read it online or download it in its entirety – all 431 pages of it – by accessing its website here.
Continue reading “Guest post: What can IP offer Africa – and what can Africa offer IP?”
JP Morgan Chase hired heavyweight counsel, and former lawyer at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, John Tribolati from Goldman Sachs to succeed Piers Le Marchant as EMEA general counsel. Le Marchant is remaining with the banking giant as global head of compliance for corporate and investment banking.
Dentons has continued its rapid expansion with the addition of a new South African office in Johannesburg, while accounts filed at Companies House by Dentons UKMEA LLP have revealed the firm saw a substantial rise in profits as it lowered operating costs and improved turnover.
Continue reading “Global ambitions: Dentons opens in Jo’burg as accounts show profit jump”
Osborne Clarke started last week with a hire from King & Wood Mallesons in the City but other laterals saw a focus on the Middle East with Boodle Hatfield’s London hire dealing with clients in the region as well as central Asia while Pinsent Masons and Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) both hired in the UAE.
Baker & McKenzie has lured a partner from rival global behemoth DLA Piper for the second time in a month, this time taking a finance partner in Johannesburg.
Continue reading “Baker & McKenzie turns to DLA again to add partner in Johannesburg”
MARKET VIEW – LITIGATION
Al Tamimi & Company’s Hassan Arab, Rita Jaballah and Robert Maxwell Marsh examine the growing role of the UAE as a dispute resolution hub and the benefits of conducting dispute resolution in the increasingly comprehensive legal system
With the recent US Open and New York Fashion Week, New York City has once again attracted the eyes of the world and cemented its place as one of the ‘big four’ of tennis and fashion, respectively. But is there a ‘big four’ for global commercial law dispute resolution? The United Arab Emirates (UAE), in its concerted efforts over the past ten years to respond to the needs of the business community and match the highest international legal standards, is well on the way to placing Dubai, alongside New York, London and Singapore, as one of the international ‘big four’ of corporate dispute resolution. Continue reading “Taking on the world”
Squire Patton Boggs loses 23-strong team in Middle East
Squire Patton Boggs saw the departure of five partners and 18 supporting lawyers from its Middle East offices after tensions arose as the recently merged firm integrated its regional affiliates. The exits came as legacy Patton Boggs’ Khalid Al-Thebity was appointed managing partner of the Riyadh office.
Clyde & Co has settled its dispute with former partner Krista Bates van Winkelhof out of court after she alleged she was forced to leave after blowing the whistle on the managing partner of its Tanzanian associate firm and announcing her pregnancy. The case involved a landmark Supreme Court decision which held that members of an LLP could be considered workers. Continue reading “News in brief – September 2014”
