This week’s Movers & Shakers (September 16, 2021)
CMS expands Middle East transactions practice with four-strong team hire
CMS has announced the appointment of a partner, two senior associates and a senior paralegal to the firm’s transactions team in Dubai. Corporate M&A specialist Patrik Daintry has joined the firm as a partner from Baker Botts, alongside senior associate Blair Jones. Kiren Matharu, also a senior associate, has joined from Taylor Wessing, while Maher Tayyar has joined as senior paralegal from a large conglomerate in Abu Dhabi.
Daintry has extensive experience across corporate transactions with a particular focus on cross-border international mergers and acquisitions, private equity and international joint ventures. His practice includes advising on corporate and commercial regulatory matters across the healthcare, health-tech, defence, financial services and industrial sectors predominantly in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Jones, who re-joins CMS after two years at Baker Botts, is an energy and corporate specialist advising on a variety of transactions across the Middle East. Matharu has a broad range of experience advising on high-profile mergers and acquisitions, commercial projects and large-scale group reorganisations within the retail, technology and industrial sectors.
John O’Connor, head of corporate at CMS Dubai, commented, “We have been steadily building our transactions offering across the Middle East over the last few years. The addition of these four talented lawyers will boost the team significantly and position us as one of the leading transactions practices in the Middle East. Patrik is a first-rate lawyer with deep sector experience which complements the firm’s sector-driven approach, a key differentiator for us in the region.”
Trowers & Hamlins announce new international managing partner
Trowers & Hamlins has announced that partner Jeremy Ingham will be taking over as the firm’s international managing partner replacing Abdul-Haq Mohammed, who will be moving into a new strategic role at the firm, focussed on further developing Trowers’ business and client base across Southeast Asia and the Far East.
Ingham has been with the firm for 15 years and was originally based in Bahrain where he worked in the Banking & Finance team before moving to the Oman office where he served as resident managing partner for three years before returning to Bahrain in 2017.
He specialises in all areas of corporate banking work acting for banks and other regulated institutions. His practice spans a wide spectrum of disciplines with a particular focus on debt finance, restructuring, cross border insolvency and investigations.
As part of his new role, he will continue to drive the strategy of the firm’s international offices in alignment with firm wide plans and will still be working closely with his clients to achieve their objectives.
Bahraini law firm signals growth with Banking, Finance and Telecoms partner appointments
Specialist Bahraini law firm Al Doseri Law has appointed two new partners to its firm. Partner Ronald Langat joins as the firm’s new head of banking and finance practice from law firm Haya Rashed Al Khalifa. Ahmed Jaber Al Doseri has been appointed as a partner and head of Al Doseri Law’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) practice. He assisted the firm as of counsel in the past, and his prior appointments include the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and the Central Informatics Organization.
Based in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Al Doseri Law was founded in 2018 by partner Saad Al Doseri. The firm specialises in banking and finance, litigation and dispute resolution, and TMT, and has additional expertise in corporate, commercial, construction and real estate and employment law, as well as insolvency, restructuring and bankruptcy.
Ronald Langat has experience advising local and international clients, including conventional and Islamic commercial and investment banks, major corporates, state entities and family offices, in Bahrain and internationally. He has over 12 years’ experience practicing in Bahrain and specialises in corporate, banking and finance transactions. He advises international and domestic corporates, financial institutions, and governmental agencies on financings and corporate and commercial matters spanning the financial services, oil and gas, private equity and manufacturing sectors. Before moving to Bahrain, Ronald previously practiced in the Cayman Islands with Maples and Calder, and prior to that in London with Ashurst.
Ahmed Al Doseri is a leading TMT expert, with particular expertise in cyber legislation, electronic transactions, telecoms regulation, cloud computing, and data protection. Ahmed has over 25 years’ experience in IT and telecoms and led the development of many technical regulations and laws in Bahrain. He is regularly called upon to advise government agencies and regulatory bodies and holds a dual specialisation as a systems engineer and as a licensed lawyer. Ahmed’s clients include international cloud computing providers, media and publishing platforms, software developers, Internet exchanges, cryptocurrency platforms, and licensed telecoms operators.
Saad Al Doseri is a leading lawyer in the region and head of the firm’s Arbitration, Litigation, and Dispute Resolution practice. Throughout his career, Saad represented clients from a multitude of market verticals and specialisations, and forged strong working relations across the market. He has extensive experience advising clients across a range of disputes, including in complex investment disputes, commercial, civil, criminal and employment matters, and he also has audience at the Court of Cassation and the Constitutional Court.
His clients include corporate and investment banking institutions, family-owned businesses, and international corporate clients operating in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Saad Al Doseri is a qualified sole mediator and is regularly appointed as an arbitrator before the Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution, the GCC Commercial Arbitration Center, and the ICC. Prior to setting up the firm, Saad worked at Haya Rashed Al Khalifa and then joined Al Tamimi & Company in Bahrain and successfully contributed the firm’s establishment there. Prior to practicing law, Saad Al Doseri served as a captain in the Royal Army of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Al Doseri Law comprises three partners and a team of associates. The firm is based in the Diplomatic Area, Manama in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Ronald Graham announced as new managing partner in Dubai
Taylor Wessing has appointed head of the firm’s Middle East group, partner Ronald Graham, as the managing partner of its Dubai office. Regarded as one of the world’s leading lawyers in the private wealth sector, Graham has also led the firm’s Private Wealth sector group in the UK since 2019.
Graham has been a familiar presence in the Dubai office leading the firm’s Middle East group and has developed an extensive network. He is a recognised expert in the region having acted for families and funds in the Middle East since 2000, representing clients in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait.
The appointment follows the retirement and completion of Osama Hassan’s term as managing partner. Hassan will continue to work with the firm as a consultant.
Graham’s significant experience and successful leadership make him the natural choice for the role. He will continue to lead new growth opportunities in the Middle East and develop the firm’s Private Wealth sector offering for its clients.
New Dubai managing partner Ronald Graham said, “We have a hugely talented team based in the Middle East and a distinct reputation for our expertise in the private wealth and technology sectors. These are areas we will continue to invest in as the influence of Dubai as one of the world’s leading technology hubs continues to offer new businesses and wealthy individuals looking to invest, opportunities for expansion into and out of the US and Europe. We are committed to building ever-stronger relationships with our clients and fuelling their success in the region through creativity and teamwork.”
Hadef & Partners hires head of banking & finance
Hadef & Partners has hired partner and head of banking & finance, Catriona McDevitt. McDevitt has over 17 years’ experience in all aspects of banking and finance gained from working at leading international law firms in the UAE and London and is also a former head of legal for Wholesale Banking for one of the largest banks in the Middle East. McDevitt will continue to grow and invest in Hadef & Partners’ Banking & Finance practice across the Abu Dhabi and Dubai offices.
