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‘A local foothold’: Mayer Brown opens doors in Dubai

Mayer Brown has opened the doors to its Dubai Office, six months after appointing two Baker & McKenzie partners to lead the outpost.

Charles Hallab and Tahan Thraya were hired to lead the office in December, joining from Baker & McKenzie. Hallab will take on the role of chair of the firm’s Middle East practice and will be a leader of the international joint venture and strategic alliance practice for the firm, while Thraya has been appointed as the firm’s head of the Middle East corporate and commercial team.

Hallab will bring his experience as Baker & McKenzie’s former chair of corporate and securities practice in Washington DC to the role, with Thraya, the former head of the firm’s United Arab Emirates (UAE) corporate and commercial practice and founding partner of its Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha offices. Both have been based in the firm’s Washington DC offices since joining Mayer Brown.

Co-leaders of Mayer Brown’s Middle East Dispute and International Arbitration practice London based Raid Abu-Manneh and Dany Khayat, who is a partner in the Paris office, will also spend significant time in the Dubai office, which is in the Index Tower in the Dubai International Financial Centre.

Thraya said the firm is committed to meeting client needs in the Middle East. ‘Our Dubai office is uniquely focused on the region and the many issues and opportunities it presents. This new office will strengthen the firm’s ability to provide local counsel to multinational companies and other key clients.’

Hallab added: ‘Mayer Brown’s Dubai office establishes a local foothold for our broader Middle East practice, enhancing the firm’s ability to provide on-the-ground legal counsel to clients across a broad spectrum of industries and geographies on various matters inbound to and outbound from the Middle East, as well as on a wide range of intraregional matters.’

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk