Mayer Brown expands in the Middle East

Charles Salem Hallab, Tahan (Tom) Thraya

Mayer Brown has announced that Charles Salem Hallab and Tahan (Tom) Thraya have joined the firm as Corporate & Securities partners, significantly expanding Mayer Brown’s Middle East practice and strengthening the firm’s global transactions offerings. Previously, Hallab and Thraya were partners with Baker & McKenzie LLP. Joining them in the move to Mayer Brown are key associate members of their team.

Hallab was chair of Baker & McKenzie’s corporate and securities practice in Washington DC, and leader of both its Middle East practice and its international joint venture and strategic alliance practice for North America. Thraya led Baker & McKenzie’s United Arab Emirates (UAE) corporate and commercial practice and was a founding partner of that firm’s Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha offices.

At Mayer Brown, Hallab will serve as chair of the Middle East practice and will be a leader of the International Joint Venture and Strategic Alliance practice for the firm. Thraya will serve as head of the Middle East corporate and commercial team.

Hallab and Thraya have successfully represented numerous multinational companies, governmental agencies and investment entities across the globe and throughout the Middle East, with a focus on Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait. Hallab and, initially, Thraya will be based in the firm’s Washington DC and Chicago offices. Subject to regulatory approval, Mayer Brown plans to open an office in Dubai in 2016, where both partners will play key roles and where Thraya is expected to serve as the local partner-in-charge.

Hallab advises clients on both corporate and commercial transactional matters, with particular emphasis on international business collaborations, including acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances and other ongoing bilateral or multilateral contractual arrangements. He has managed a variety of corporate and commercial transactions inbound to and outbound from the Middle East, with a focus on GCC countries, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Hallab has also handled a variety of transactional matters in the carbon-emissions-reduction arena. He earned a JD from Georgetown University Law Center and an MBA from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. He received an undergraduate degree in international affairs and economics from the George Washington University.

Thraya is a fluent Arabic speaker, with particular experience in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Iraq. He has worked in the Middle East for nearly a decade, advising both private and public sector clients in the areas of cross-border and domestic mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, international and domestic joint ventures, private equity and global corporate reorganizations. Thraya also advises clients on a wide variety of commercial, employment, investment, compliance and investigations matters. Prior to joining Baker & McKenzie, he was a lawyer in Mayer Brown’s Corporate & Securities practice in Chicago. Thraya earned a JD from the University of Michigan and a BA from the University of Calgary.