Law firm highlights – July-August 2023

• Norton Rose Fulbright celebrated its 20th anniversary in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a memorable evening reception for clients and colleagues at the Museum of the Future. The firm welcomed His Excellency Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Economy, as a guest speaker at the event. Over 320 of Norton Rose Fulbright’s local key clients, advisors and intermediaries gathered to mark the occasion, enjoying an evening of entertainment and networking with the firm’s teams from across the globe and the wider regional business community. During his keynote speech, HE Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi highlighted the UAE’s past and present achievements and shared his views on the future of the region, “With some of the most robust legal frameworks in the Gulf, the UAE has long been a centre for legal services, and it is a matter of some pride that we have long attracted the world’s top law firms – helping to inspire such confidence in the UAE’s business ecosystem. Twenty years ago Norton Rose Fulbright chose to call the UAE home. In the two decades that have followed, the business has expanded and thrived. I would like to congratulate the firm’s management and partners on their success, and I look forward to Norton Rose Fulbright’s ongoing partnership as the UAE continues to develop our services sector, diversify our economy, and drive towards our long term goals.” Mohammed Paracha, head of the Middle East at Norton Rose Fulbright, said, “We were delighted to have welcomed His Excellency Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi to the celebration of our 20th anniversary in the UAE, and thank him for his insights into the UAE’s global trade and investment strategy. “We have been fortunate to see our UAE office expand and flourish over the past two decades – growing our team of lawyers and nearly doubling our partnership in the last two years. We have developed new practice areas and forged strong relationships with clients across a range of industries. Looking to the future, we are excited about the opportunities ahead and are committed to continuing our expansion in the region.”
• Pinsent Masons has announced its 2022/23 financial year end results, unveiling a 14 per cent revenue increase to £605.9m as it further advances its purpose-led professional services capabilities. The firm measures its success against four key metrics: financial success, people, clients and communities. Some of the achievements include: The firm recruited its first ever Middle East-based trainees with both individuals joining the firm as newly qualified lawyers in September 2023. The firm also appointed Qatar office head Pamela McDonald to International Arbitration co-head as the firm continues to advance its multinational arbitration offering. Significant wins include advising HSBC, Intesa SanPaolo and The Norinchukin Bank on the Zayed City Schools public-private partnership (PPP) – the first social infrastructure project in the UAE “to achieve financial close”. The firm also advanced its ESG-focused solutions for clients with the acquisition of sustainable finance consultancy Morgan Green Advisory. Vario’sManaged Legal Services team has increased revenue by 64 per cent, the Centre of Excellence by 44 per cent while Vario’s total revenue has increased by 38 per cent. The firm became a partner of the Charter 1.5 initiative which seeks to progress legal sector initiatives which accelerate energy transition. It also established an ESG Board Committee to inform the firm on its ESG and sustainability targets and metrics and support for clients with each member leading specific firm wide ESG objectives. In FY22/23, Pinsent Masons announced changes to its leadership team following Richard Foley and John Cleland reaching the end of their permitted two terms as senior and managing partner. Andrew Masraf took up the role of senior partner in October 2022 and Laura Cameron became the firm’s first female managing partner in May 2023. Senior partner at Pinsent Masons, Andrew Masraf, said, “Our commitment to investing in our people, our clients and communities consistently produces results. We’ve had a record year of revenue growth during which we focused on harnessing those investments to provide creative and innovative legal services for clients who are grappling with complex issues in challenging economies.” Head of Middle East Region at Pinsent Masons, Catherine Workman, said, “With climate change and sustainability being at the forefront of discussions in the UAE we recognise the importance of this by establishing our own ESG Board Committee. We continue to deepen our relationships with our communities by acknowledging how the importance of our contribution is reflected in our people.”
• Allen & Overy has advised Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s unique global tech ecosystem, on the development of its incubator investment framework for the intake of the latest cohort of start-ups joining its company-building programme. Hub71 welcomed 15 new ventures to their community, operating in priority sectors aligned with Abu Dhabi’s strategic ambitions, such as fintech, healthtech, proptech, e-commerce, data science, edtech, and cyber security. The addition of the latest cohort has increased the size of Hub71’s community to over 240 startups. Backed by the Government of Abu Dhabi and Mubadala Investment Company, Hub71 enables founders to build globally enduring homegrown tech companies by providing access to global markets, a capital ecosystem, a global network of partners, and a vibrant community filled with highly skilled talent, governed by forward-thinking regulation. Middle East Head of TMT and partner Tom Butcher, who led the A&O TMT team, commented, “We are thrilled to have represented Hub71 in this part of their journey to position Abu Dhabi as a global leading tech hub, driving entrepreneurism and innovation. We have witnessed a significant increase in the volume of venture capital investments and activity in the region, demonstrating the importance of the technology sector and the crucial role that it will have in the UAE’s future economy. This supports the long-term investment Allen & Overy has made into our Middle East Growth and Venture Capital practic, providing clients with international experts with genuine local expertise and insight.” Senior associate and co-chair of the Middle East Venture Capital Association’s Legal Comittee, Grace Hunt, who led the A&O Corporate team, also commented, “It was a pleasure supporting H71 in putting in place their investment framework for this cohort of exciting and innovative companies. Our work on the project demonstrates our continued commitment to be an active participant and supporter of the venture capital ecosystem in the Middle East.”
• Charles Russell Speechlys announces further expansion into Southeast Asia by opening an office in Singapore today. The Singapore office will be led by partner, Jeffrey Lee, a partner in the firm’s Hong Kong office. Hailing from Singapore, Lee moved to Hong Kong in March 2019 after spending several years practising in London. He advises on complex international structuring for international clients, including their establishment for estate and succession planning, asset protection and personal tax mitigation.  Jeff also specialises in tax planning, advising non-UK domiciled persons moving to the UK. He will be supported by the firm’s head of Asia, Simon Green. Green’s main areas of expertise are large-scale mixed-use development and redevelopment projects, commercial and residential property investment, real estate management, as well as real estate finance (both Islamic and conventional). Simon also has a significant hotel and hospitality practice. Together, they will continue to grow their respective teams, the majority of whom are based in Hong Kong.  As the firm establishes its presence in the Singaporean market, it will add further fee earners and service lines to the offering. Simon Ridpath, managing partner at Charles Russell Speechlys, said, “Understanding how global wealth affects families and people is at the heart of what we do as an international law firm. Singapore is one of the leading private banking and wealth management centres globally. Given our areas of specialism in private client, dispute resolution and transactional services, its strong capital market and international arbitration offerings make Singapore a natural move for us.” Jeffrey Lee, international partner and head of the Singapore Office, said, “Internationally, Singapore continues to rapidly climb the rankings as a hub for global business and there is so much going on in the country for businesses across all sectors. We have a number of long-standing friends and contacts in the region; indeed, many of our existing clients have had a presence in Singapore for years, so it is tremendously exciting to now be establishing a physical presence there, so we continue to ensure we can provide all our clients – old and new – with the best possible service.”