New partner and associates for Charles Russell Speechlys’ Middle East Dispute Resolution Practice

Sara Sheffield, Victoria Yates, Simone Sancandi and Sam Saunders

Charles Russell Speechlys has further strengthened its Middle East offering with the hire of dispute resolution partner Sara Sheffield. Sara acts in complex commercial litigation in the UAE’s common law courts in the Dubai International Financial Centre and the Abu Dhabi Global Market, and in international arbitration. Sara advises clients in relation to partnership and shareholder, financial and contractual disputes as well as fraud, asset tracing and recovery, contentious insolvency, regulatory investigations and enforcement matters, often with multi-jurisdictional aspects. Sara has more than 7 years of experience in the UAE and broader Middle East region and is a recognised leader in her field.

Sara is joined by senior associate Victoria Yates, who has 3 years’ experience practicing dispute resolution in the UAE, including both local and international arbitrations, and prior to that more than 10 years of experience at the UK bar. Victoria has handled cases relating to financial disputes, real estate and agency disputes among other areas. She will also be based in the firm’s Dubai office.

The team are further supported with the recent relocations of two additional associates from the firm’s Paris and London offices. Simone Sancandi and Sam Saunders have both joined the Litigation & Arbitration team based in the Bahrain office.

Sara Sheffield said, “I am very excited to join Charles Russell Speechlys’ Middle East team. The firm’s international recognition for its strong global Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice is particularly attractive and I look forward to working closely with the partners here. Additionally, I am delighted to be able to offer my clients the broader services of an award-winning firm in the region, in areas such as Corporate, Commercial, Construction, Real Estate and also notably Local Litigation in the Courts.”

Sara joins the firm from the Dubai office of Holman Fenwick Willan where she served as a partner in the Commercial Litigation and International Arbitration practice.