Law Firm Highlights – March 2016

A quick round-up of what’s new at regional and international law firms – CMS opens an office in Tehran, Clyde & Co’s IP expansion and new lead partner  for Shipping & International Trade, Simmons & Simmons closes Abu Dhabi office.

CMS

CMS has opened an office in the Iranian capital, Tehran, led by partners of CMS Germany according to a statement released by the firm. This includes the right to provide legal advice in Iran. Following successful completion of detailed preparations, the CMS office and staff in Tehran opened for business on February 1, 2016.

 “At CMS, we look to expand into regions where we see change and where we expect that there will be future opportunities. After the lifting of sanctions, we now see this in Iran,” said Cornelius Brandi, executive chairman of CMS. “This is a large country with a very well-educated and young population which is open for travel and well-connected internationally. We see many opportunities, especially in energy, technology and automotive.”

 Following the election of the current president Hassan Rohani in 2013 and the start of negotiations with the West, CMS set up a task force to establish connections in Iran, successfully paving the way for the new office. The new CMS office in Tehran is located in Navak Tower in the Iranian capital, which is also home to the German Chamber of Foreign Trade in Tehran. The legal team will include Iranian lawyers, led by Jürgen Frodermann and Shaghayegh Smousavi. Jürgen

 Clyde & Co

Christopher Jobson has taken on the role of leading the Shipping and International Trade practice for Middle East and North Africa (MENA) following the relocation or Irvine Marr to the firm's London office. 

Jobson is a litigation and arbitration lawyer and has been advising on maritime law since 1988.  His clients include regional and international energy companies, financial institutions, P&I clubs, ship owners and charterers and logistics organisations.

Jobson's primary focus is on dispute resolution and he often handles complex, high profile matters with very significant amounts in dispute.  He is recognised in Chambers & Partners as a leading expert in dispute resolution in both the UAE and Qatar.  His non contentious work includes advising clients on the sale, purchase and finance of ships and the drafting/negotiation of related documentation including mortgages and other security.

Clyde IP expands GCC coverage

Clyde IP is further expanding its trade mark and patent filing capabilities in the Middle East with the addition of a new direct filing office in Muscat, Oman.  It is the second new office in recent months for Clyde IP, an affiliated entity of Clyde & Co, following the opening of a direct filing office in Bahrain in August 2015.This will extend the direct filing capability of the Clyde & Co network across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region to Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. 

Scheduled to open in March 2016, the new Clyde IP office in Oman will enable the Clyde IP team to provide cost effective and high quality support on intellectual property matters in Oman, a key country in the region.  The office will be located just minutes from the Oman Trade Mark and Patent Offices, providing Clyde & Co’s clients with access to an efficient and cost effective direct filing capability in Oman. 

The opening of the Clyde IP office in Muscat will coincide with the implementation of the Unified GCC Trade Mark Law which is expected to come into force across the GCC region during the course of 2016. 

Rob Deans, partner and Head of IP within Clyde & Co said, "The addition of this office in Oman underscores our commitment to expanding our intellectual property capabilities across the GCC region.  Our continued aim is to provide our clients with a pre-eminent service for all intellectual property matters across the region."

Simmons & Simmons 

Simmons & Simmons stated in a release that following a detailed review, the firm has decided to consolidate its offering in the UAE and close its office in Abu Dhabi. The firm further added, ‘Ultimately, the location of our offices is determined by the key markets for clients in our sectors. This is demonstrated by our recent office openings in Singapore, Munich and Luxembourg. Accordingly, while we remain fully committed to the UAE market, we will be servicing our clients’ requirements from a consolidated and enhanced offering in Dubai, which is our largest office in the region.”

The firm follows other international law firms such as Latham & Watkins, Herbert Smith Freehills and Baker Botts who have retreated from the capital over the past 12 months.

Pinsent Masons

The Women in Business in Qatar networking series, organised by Pinsent Masons, aims to bring together women active in the business community to impart their hopes and concerns for their future working in an emerging country with numerous opportunities The first ever event in the series took place on January 31, 2016 at the Mövenpick Hotel in Doha before an audience of more than 90 attendees. Opening the event, Maryam Al Subaiey, founder of Q Talent, gave a keynote speech on her experiences being a professional woman in Qatar. The evening then gave way to a vigorous debate on a variety of issues. Of particular interest to the attendees was the topic of company "quotas" requiring set numbers of women to be appointed to senior positions in companies. Following this first event, the firm looks forward to holding more events in the coming months. The initiative is an extension of its global ‘Project Sky’ scheme which aims to improve gender balance in the firm’s partnership and senior leadership team by removing any barriers to the progression of women. Pamela McDonald, an associate at Pinsent Masons and organiser of the event, said “We were delighted to have such a high turnout at our first event.  It goes to show the interest professional women in Qatar have on this topic.  We are fortunate at Pinsent Masons to have a supportive board who are mindful of the gender diversity issue and have created the Project Sky initiative to identify changes which can be made to the business which will empower women to achieve their career goals.”

Dentons

Dentons hosted a gathering of construction and energy practitioners last week to consider the growing trend of the use of arbitration through the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) as a method of dispute resolution in Abu Dhabi. The discussion, led by partner Ian Dalley and senior associate Beau McLaren, explored the merits of using the DIFC as the seat for arbitration, and the complex questions surrounding enforcement of DIFC Court judgments and DIFC arbitration awards outside of Dubai. The forum also examined the newly opened Abu Dhabi Global Market in the context of its future potential for dispute resolution in the Emirate through arbitration. Dispute resolution provisions requiring parties to arbitrate their disputes in the DIFC are becoming increasingly common for construction and engineering contracts in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Commenting on this trend, partner Ian Dalley said, "The DIFC's arbitration-friendly procedural law makes it very attractive for parties wishing to seat their arbitration within the UAE. Of particular importance is the development of protocols between the DIFC and the local courts in other Emirates in relation to the enforcement of awards".

Meysan Partners

Meysan Partners celebrated one year in business since its inception in Kuwait in January 2015. In the last year, the firm has advised on some of the most noteworthy and complex transactions in the region, and doubled the number of its fee earners. Notable transactions the firm was involved in during 2015 include: advising the shareholders of online food takeaway market leader Talabat.com on its acquisition for USD170m by German e-commerce group, Rocket Internet AG; advising the key shareholders of Abyat Megastore on the secondary sale of a 35 per cent minority interest to the Saudi Arabian Al-Muhaidib Group.  Abyat, which operates in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, is the largest retailer of home products and furniture in the Middle East; Advising the Ministry of Finance of Kuwait on the reform of its public sector salary system, among other key role. Senior Partner Bader El-Jeaan, said, “In our growth strategy as we move forward in 2016 and beyond, we will continue to build on our strategy, deepening our bench in our corporate talent pool, and our M&A and capital markets practice.  We also will hopefully seek to expand our practice regionally, and will seek to build further on our commercial litigation practice.”