Law Firm highlights

·        Dentons has won Deal of the Year at the Seatrade Maritime Awards, held at the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai on 19 October 2015. The deal was a USD550 million conventional and Islamic multi-tranche facility to Dubai-based oilfield services firm Topaz Energy and Marine. Dentons advised the Joint Lead Arrangers Standard Chartered Bank and HSBC. The facility was arranged over three tranches of up to seven years and is being used to refinance existing debt and fund expansion plans. Standard Chartered Bank and HSBC acted with Gulf International Bank, Emirates NBD, Noor Bank and First Gulf Bank as arrangers. Paul Jarvis, partner and Head of Banking and Finance in the Middle East, commented, "We are proud of our involvement on this award winning transaction. It represents one of the largest ship finance deals in the Middle East and is one of a number of ground-breaking transactions we have advised on in the maritime sector in recent years.”

·        Following recent changes in Qatar regulating the payment of salaries as well as planned changes in employment contracting procedures to come into effect in the UAE on January 1, 2016, senior Legal and HR executives attended a gathering in Dubai last week to consider the impact of these changes. Led by Dentons partner Ibrahim Elsadig and associate Nadine Naji, and held in collaboration with the Association of Corporate Counsel Middle East (ACCME), delegates considered recurring queries surrounding the types of employment contracts, employee benefits, end of service gratuity and restrictive covenants. There was also much discussion around the anti-discrimination law which recently came into effect in the UAE, where delegates discussed the nuances to be considered relating to areas such as age, nationality and sex which are not directly listed in the new law but are topical areas encountered in other jurisdictions.

·        DLA Piper organised a breakfast seminar at The Address Dubai Mall on October 21, 2015 on the ‘Expanding Reach of US Litigation and Regulation’. The seminar aimed at informing businesses to consider potential exposure and liability under US law and to take appropriate steps to mitigate their risk. Further, a greater focus on diligent compliance efforts and comprehensive compliance systems and policies is required. The panel consisted of Douglas Mateyaschuk (partner, New York), Patrick Smith (partner, New York) and Kevin Walsh (partner, New York) and was chaired by Adam Vause (partner, Dubai). The panel explored the key areas of exposure for businesses operating in the Middle East and outlined the practical steps to mitigate risk and potential liability.

·        Herbert Smith Freehills is significantly strengthening its Africa practice with the launch of an office in Johannesburg, South Africa, alongside the hire of two leading South African partners. Brigette Baillie is a highly respected energy and infrastructure finance lawyer and Peter Leon is one of the top twenty mining lawyers in the world. They will be joined in Johannesburg by a number of high-quality partners from the Africa practice including Ed Baring, head of the firm's Banking & Finance practice in Moscow; Bertrand Montembault, head of the Paris Energy & Infrastructure practice; and Yann Alix, a dual English and French qualified senior associate. The combined strength of the Johannesburg partners will enable the firm to provide a pan-African offering, including francophone Africa, and they will be fully integrated with the firm's Africa specialists located across the international platform.

·        Eversheds has been named Hong Kong Firm of the Year in Telecommunications, Media & Technology by Asian-Mena Counsel magazine. It has also been awarded joint Firm of the Year in international arbitration in the UAE, as part of its ‘In-House Community Firms of the Year Awards’ for 2015. In winning the award, Eversheds faced competition from a number of other top tier law firms. The firm also received honourable mentions in the compliance and regulatory category, litigation & dispute resolution, and in restructuring & insolvency. Nasser Ali Khasawneh, Eversheds Managing Partner Middle East, said, “It is extremely rewarding to see that our hard work and commitment to delivering high quality service has been recognised by our clients and the wider business community. Our Middle East arbitration practice has grown tremendously in recent years, and we continue to build momentum. We recently appointed Richard Ward as head of our Middle East Litigation team to further strengthen our capability in the area. I am proud of everyone who has helped towards this fantastic achievement and look forward to future successes."

·        BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates announced a market-leading affiliation between Dubai-headquartered regional law firm BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates and Dumon & Partners, a boutique French firm specialising in corporate law. As a result of the affiliation, Bertrand Dumon, founding partner of Dumon & Partners, will be based in BSA’s Dubai office to head BSA’s dedicated French team in Dubai. This marks the launch of BSA’s first representative office in Europe, a ground-breaking move for a regional firm in the Middle East. BSA was founded in Dubai in 2001 and has since grown to eight offices in five Middle Eastern countries. The addition of an office in Paris takes the firm to nine offices in six countries. Dr. Ahmad Bin Hezeem, senior partner at BSA and former director-general of the Dubai Courts, believes that BSA’s presence in Paris will help facilitate the participation of French businesses and investors in the MENA region. Led by client demand, the firm has seen dramatic growth in its French work both from French-speaking businesses within the region and across Africa. Jimmy Haoula, Managing Partner of BSA affirms, “With this affiliation, we become the first regional law firm with a Paris representative office and full French-speaking team. Clients working with our offices in the UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Iraq will now receive an even more seamless client experience.”