Law Firm Highlights – May 2016

1)

Dentons and 4see hosted the second briefing in Environmental Health and Safety series. Experts from across the construction industry gathered at Dentons Abu Dhabi office last month to consider health and safety matters in the UAE.  Hosted by  Dentons and innovative compliance consultancy 4see, the Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) series examines strategies to tackle real and potential building compliance and EHS issues.

Industry specialists attending the second event in the series focused on the key challenges facing businesses when managing contractors in the Emirates. Building on the topics considered in the opening briefing, in particular the commercial benefits to being compliant, delegates explored the EHS issues relating to contractor management. Examining EHS issues surrounding the management of contractors from a legal perspective Dentons partner Ian Dalley said,"While you can seek to manage liability contractually to a limited extent  there is no substitute for creating a strong culture of health and safety in your organisation and implementing a robust EHS regime on your projects." Concurring that careful management of contractors is a huge part of effective EHS management 4see consultant Neil Morrin continued, “Contractormanagement is business criticaland the use of an effective permit to work system can help to manage high risk activities.Good EHS standards are proven to bring benefits to reputation, productivity and results." While risk can be a natural consequence of business activity, effective management of EHS issues delivers strong benefits for business across the construction industry.  The EHS series continues later this year. 

2)

Hussain Lootah & Associates announced their move to a new office space along with their new partners GERMELA. Previously located on the 20th Floor of Al Saqr Business Tower on Sheikh Zayed Road, Hussain Lootah & Associates now occupies the 17th floor in Vision Towerin Business Bay, Dubai.

 Along with the move, the launch of Dubai-based GERMELA LOOTAH Legal Consultancy – a joint venture between GERMELA and Hussain Lootah & Associates was announced. The partnership was further galvanised by allocating a section of the office exclusively to the GERMELA LOOTAH operations.

Founded in 2008, GERMELA is a full-range consultancy headquartered in Hamburg, Germany with a focus on the MENA region. Specialising in International, Corporate, Commercial and Tax Law mainly; GERMELA focuses on international clients with business activities in the GCC area. With most of its clients in Europe, GERMELA has offices in Cyprus, Zurich and Germany, and is represented by more than 26 partner firms in addition to 500 accredited lawyers and consultants in 15 countries across the Middle East.

3)

DLA Piper has relocated its Abu Dhabi office, taking up premises in the Emirates Institute of Banking & Financial Services (EIBFS) Building. DLA Piper takes over the space previously occupied by SinoGulf, a leading real estate fund and asset manager.

Peter Somekh, regional managing partner, Middle East said, "Our commitment to Abu Dhabi, as evidenced by our move, aligns with our primary regional objective of ensuring that we are able to offer our clients first-class international expertise delivered in a local context." Peter added "We are seeing a strong level of activity in the Abu Dhabi market across a range of sectors and it is important to us that we continue to support clients seeking to take advantage of the vibrant economic, business and cultural community that Abu Dhabi offers."

4)

Ince & Co celebrated 10 years of practice in Dubai this week with a celebratory event for clients and staff at the One & Only Royal Mirage on the Palm on April 19, 2016.

Rania Tadros, managing partner of Ince & Co’s Dubai office, took the opportunity to thank and congratulate the team who has represented some of the largest organisations in the UAE, and throughout the world.

Rania Tadros commented, “Since our launch in 2006, our Dubai office has gone from strength to strength. We attribute our ongoing success to the loyalty and quality of our clients and the calibre of all of our staff who have supported the firm over the past ten years and continue to do so.”

Ince & Co Dubai advises clients in a number of sectors including shipping and trade, insurance, aviation and energy. Its team of six partners and twelve other fee earners has advised on a number of high profile cases and transactions in the region since its launch.In December 2015 Ince & Co Dubai was named “Maritime Lawyer of the Year” for the second year running at the Lloyd’s List Middle East and Indian Subcontinent Awards 2015.

5)

Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW) announced that following approval by the Shanghai Justice Bureau, the firm, through its Shanghai office, has entered into a formal association with local law firm Wintell & Co operating in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone and in Tianjin.

Wintell & Co specialises in particular in shipping, insurance and corporate law and HFW has worked with the firm for many years. Whilst remaining separate entities, HFW's Shanghai office and Wintell will come together to work on mutually beneficial marketing and business development opportunities, taking advantage of the strong client base of each firm and combining HFW's international footprint with Wintell's local Chinese law expertise to provide clients with enhanced on the ground service.

Henry Fung, partner and chief Representative of the firm's Shanghai office said, "As the first law firm specialising in international trade to enter an association in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, this is a significant development for HFW's practice in China. It greatly enhances the scale and reach of the services we can offer to clients and with Wintell's leading reputation in China (and internationally) it opens up a new target audience for the firm and provides an excellent opportunity to grow both businesses."

6)

Singapore’s Wong Partnership has entered into a strategic alliance with Al Aidarous International Legal Practice, a boutique law firm in UAE that has offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. With this collaboration, the two firms are looking to provide clients with more extensive support and to boost their capabilities in the Middle East. WongPartnership has had a presence in Abu Dhabi since 2008, and until recently, also had an office in Doha, Qatar. 

Launched over two decades ago by Ali Al Aidarous, the UAE firm handles legal matters in various sectors including insurance, contracts, banking and finance, transportation, corporate law, construction, real estate, litigation and arbitration. This collaboration “builds on our existing regional footprint of offices in Singapore, China and Myanmar, as well as our other strategic alliances in Malaysia and Indonesia,” said Alvin Yeo, chairman and senior partner of Wong Partnership, in a statement.