Latest Articles

International law firms have typically shied away from opening offices in Saudi and have largely preferred to base themselves in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and even Doha. In recent months with the stagnation of Dubai, we have seen firms taking another look at opening in Saudi itself. Vinson & Elkins, who already have an office in Dubai are the latest firm looking for a tie-up with a local firm (as is required by the highly restricted Saudi legal market rules). We imagine there will, in due course, be a demand for energy and projects lawyers to be based in Riyadh.

Whilst the BVI are one of the smallest groups of islands in the Caribbean, they are “home” to some 750,000 companies. The law firms on the BVI have enjoyed tremendous success over the years and have attracted significant legal talent to its shores. However, the recent economic downturn has taken its toll on the traditional corporate and banking departments of the firms and many associates have found themselves under-utilized. The firms have risen to the challenge by getting some associates to switch to doing insolvency and restructuring work. This is providing associates with experience in areas which will only help them in the long run – being able to tool and work on refinancing or restructuring a company will enable them to better understand how to put together a deal when the market returns

Some firms are cutting up to 10% of their lawyer headcount as the Middle East markets continue to be hit by the global downturn. Transactional areas such as corporate and projects have been hardest. International firm DLA have gone through a previous round of cuts and have just announced that they will be going through a second round. Their Dubai office is expected to bear the brunt of the layoffs.