Law firm highlights – April 2023

• Akin has announced that, effective from March 27, 2023, the firm has more than doubled its office space in Dubai, moving from the 10th floor to the 40th floor of ICD Brookfield Place in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The DIFC is Dubai’s global financial center, and. in 2007, Akin became the first U.S. law firm to open in the DIFC. Fifteen years later, the firm celebrates its continued growth in the United Arab Emirates and in the DIFC’s flagship building. Mahmoud (Mac) Fadlallah, partner in charge of Akin’s Dubai office, commented, “This move follows sustained growth across all of our practices in Dubai and represents an exciting and natural next step for Akin. Our new office space significantly increases our footprint, a reflection of our success and growth in the region. Moreover, it is a statement of intent to continue to deliver excellence for our clients in the Middle East and internationally. We look forward to welcoming both clients and colleagues to the new office.” Lawyers in Akin’s Dubai office advise public and private sector clients across a range of practice areas, including: energy, disputes, sanctions, export controls, debt and equity markets, Islamic and conventional finance, corporate, M&A, public policy and dispute resolution, as well as construction and engineering, and anti-corruption compliance.

• HFW has continued to support the development of a new Geneva Declaration designed to define and defend the human rights of the global maritime population and those crossing the world’s oceans and seas. HFW previously carried out a joint review of the Declaration on behalf of UK-based NGO Human Rights at Sea (HRAS), which produced the proposed international convention in 2022 following three years of research and drafting by a team of experts in public, international, humanitarian and refugee law. The firm has now translated the Declaration into nine different languages – Ukrainian, Russian, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, and Spanish – to assist HRAS’ efforts to secure the support of States around the world for submission to the UN Human Rights Council to formally adopt the Declaration. With the war in Ukraine now entering its second year, HRAS is discreetly supporting in-conflict and post-conflict activities to obtain justice for victims of human rights abuses, in particular the coastal communities in The Black Sea and Sea of Azov. The Declaration targets human rights abuses stemming from piracy, criminal violence, breaches of maritime labour rights, seafarer abandonment, slavery, trafficking, child labour, and failures in equality and inclusion. It applies to seafarers, fishers, workers in offshore oil and gas, and the tourism industry and extends to passengers, scientists, state officials on naval and coast guard vessels, migrants and refugees, and people involved in unlawful activities. The Declaration is structured around the understanding that the protection of human rights at sea rests on four fundamental principles.

• Allen & Overy (A&O), the leading international law firm, has broken new ground by integrating Harvey, the innovative artificial intelligence platform built on a version of Open AI’s latest models enhanced for legal work, into its global practice. Harvey will empower more than 3,500 of A&O’s lawyers across 43 offices operating in multiple languages with the ability to generate and access legal content with unmatched efficiency, quality and intelligence. A&O has been trialling Harvey in beta since November 2022 under the leadership of a team of lawyers and developers tasked with disrupting the legal industry, called the Markets Innovation Group (MIG). At the end of the trial, around 3500 of A&O’s lawyers had asked Harvey around 40,000 queries for their day-to-day client work. Harvey is a platform that uses natural language processing, machine learning and data analytics to automate and enhance various aspects of legal work, such as contract analysis, due diligence, litigation and regulatory compliance. Whilst the output needs careful review by an A&O lawyer, Harvey can help generate insights, recommendations and predictions based on large volumes of data, enabling lawyers to deliver faster, smarter and more cost-effective solutions to their clients. Harvey, which received seed funding from the OpenAI Startup Fund, was founded by a team of former lawyers, engineers and entrepreneurs who share a vision of transforming the legal industry with technology.The ground-breaking deal will give A&O a significant competitive edge in the market, as it will be able to advise clients using the most advanced and comprehensive AI platform in the legal sector combined with the proven prestige, quality and experience of one of the world’s best and oldest law firms.

• CMS UK has announced that it has become a member of the Carbon Call, coinciding with the initiative’s first anniversary. The Carbon Call is a fast-growing global initiativeto help close the 8.5 to 13.3 bn ton gap in underreported greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It is hosted by ClimateWorks Foundation, a leading global platform for climate philanthropy. Since its inception in 2022, it has actively worked to identify and address constraints in GHG emissions reporting and serve as a problem-solving collective to drive innovative solutions forward. The initiative mobilises collective action, investment and resources to strengthen a more reliable and interoperable carbon accounting system for the planet. Sustainability is a central and strategic priority for CMS which became one of the first major law firms to commit to set Science Based Targets in 2018. Now approved, the near-term targets focus on 30 per cent-reduction of emissions by 2025 and 50 per cent-reduction by 2030 for our own operations, as well as for our supply chain. The firm will also look to offset remaining emissions to go carbon neutral by 2025 and has introduced a programme of over 20 workstreams to address climate change. The firm was awarded A- by the Carbon Disclosure Projects (CDP) for how it is addressing Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and A for supply chain efforts. This is above the legal sector average score of C. CDP runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states, and regions to manage their environmental impacts.

• Al Tamimi & Company’s Morocco office has been granted Casablanca Finance City (CFC) status. In acquiring this status, the Middle East and North Africa’s leading law firm joins an extensive business community, consisting of approximately 200 highly regarded regional and international organisations that service not only Morocco, but also the African continent as a whole. Africa is a vital part of Al Tamimi & Company’s long-term strategy; the firm recognises that Africa’s vast economic potential will continue to attract trade and foreign investment opportunities. In addition, the law firm says that an increasing number of its clients are seeking to grow their footprint in Africa, and therefore supporting client requirements and growth is at the top of its agenda. Al Tamimi & Company has already established its footprint in Africa with offices in Morocco and Egypt, and membership of CFC, the leading financial centre on the continent, will act as a gateway to many other African jurisdictions and support the firm’s vision and long-term strategy. Commenting on the CFC Status, Nesrine Roudane, partner and head of Al Tamimi & Company’s Morocco office, said, “Being granted CFC status means we can foster closer relationships with the business community in Morocco and across many other African jurisdictions. We have a lot to contribute to the CFC network and look forward to engaging with our fellow members over the coming weeks and months”.

• Squire Patton Boggs has announced that it has terminated its affiliation with the Khalid Al-Thebity Law Firm in Riyadh. The firm gave notice of its termination in November 2022, with the intention of forming a Saudi office and practice under the regulation governing foreign firms practicing law in the Kingdom A spokesperson commented that Squire Patton Boggs took this decision to position itself for maximum growth in Saudi Arabia over the coming years under the new legal regulatory structure there. Firm Chair/Global CEO Mark Ruehlmann commented, “The coming decade promises to be a time of immense growth and development in Saudi Arabia. We are committed to being in the Kingdom, are proud of our long history advising clients in and with interests in the Kingdom, and we are positioning ourselves to be the ‘go to’ firm in Saudi Arabia for years to come.”