Law firm highlights
Jami McKeon, Chair-elect of Morgan Lewis, announced that Anthony Licata has joined the firm as Chief Operating Officer (COO). Licata joins Morgan Lewis from Am Law 100 global firm Dechert LLP, where he was COO. He has nearly 20 years of management and strategic business planning experience in the legal, insurance and professional services industries with particular expertise in financial management, business-process planning and strategic planning. Licata will be responsible for leading Morgan Lewis’s global operations across the firm’s 25 offices.
CMS announced the opening of a new office in Muscat, Oman, further consolidating its presence in the Middle East market. The office will initially focus on serving its energy, projects and financial institutions clients. With this move, CMS adds a further office to its presence in the Middle East, following its launch in Dubai in September 2012. The extended team in Dubai and Oman will work together as one, being led by partners, Stephen Millar, Matthew Culver, Ben Ewing and Amur Al Rashdi.
Norton Rose Fulbright has been named Best Performing Legal Brand at the MPF (Managing Partners' Forum) Awards for Management Excellence 2014, which took place in London on March 12, 2014. As the Best Performing Legal Brand, Norton Rose Fulbright is recognised as the practice whose brand rating has shown the greatest improvement in the past year, compared with our peers. The awards celebrate the achievements of leadership teams at professional services firms across a range of different categories including collaboration, operational excellence, commerciality, capabilities and leadership.
DLA Piperorganised a breakfast briefing at the firm’s Dubai office to mark this year’s International Women’s Day on Thursday, 13 March 2014. Inspiring Change is the 2014 theme for this year's Women's Day, which advocates for women's advancement everywhere in every way. The Breakfast Briefing was a great opportunity to network with other women working in professional services. Jayshree Gupta, senior advisor and one of the founders of DLA Piper in the Middle East region and Helena Samaha, general counsel at OSN hosted a Q&A session on the role of women in professional services, and the Challenges and Opportunities we face.
