Mishcon de Reya has officially opened its new Dubai office, as the firm moves to establish a presence in the Middle East.
The opening comes seven months after Mishcon announced its launch in the UAE, opening offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The new Dubai office is located at One Za’abeel, within the Dubai World Trade Centre Free Zone (DWTC), and will work closely with the Abu Dhabi office as the teams operate across both hubs.
The firm expects to have around 38 lawyers on the ground across the two offices in the coming weeks, with four more partners added since November, and a further four expected to follow shortly.
The offices are led by regional managing partner Christopher Skipper, who joined Mishcon from Greenberg Traurig as a consultant ten months prior to his appointment as UAE managing partner.
Speaking to Legal Business, Skipper explained that the expansion sits within the firm’s Vision 2030 strategy – a five-year plan focused on strategic investment in centres of global wealth, capital and economic growth.
‘We have been advising clients in this region for over 30 years on a fly-in fly-out basis,’ Skipper said. ‘But as client requirements and needs become more complex, more instant, there was increasing demand for support on a real time, in-location basis.’
Alongside London, Hong Kong and Singapore, the UAE now occupies a more permanent place in the firm’s ecosystem. ‘This was a very considered move,’ said Skipper.
He added that long-standing relationships with established clients, in particular high-net-worth individuals and families, are also translating into new work through referrals: ‘Now a lot of those people with their friends and contacts are saying you should use Mishcon. We’ve seen an awful lot of goodwill from new clients coming in – they know we are here because of word of mouth.’
‘The UAE isn’t just the headlines that you see back home’
The firm’s decision comes at a moment of tense geopolitical uncertainty, as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and other Gulf states have been the target of Iranian strikes in recent months, following the outbreak of war between Iran and an Israel-US alliance in March.
However, firms remain committed to the region – and Mishcon maintains that underlying structural growth trends remain intact. ‘The UAE isn’t just the headlines that you commonly see back home,’ said Skipper.
‘There are lots of different nationalities here that have been here for 40 or 50 years. They’re not going anywhere. They have thriving businesses here and they ask us for legal support.
‘So, while there may be some market reticence, as happens in any place where there is disruption, all the fundamentals of this place remain.’
He pointed to continued activity across infrastructure, manufacturing, defence, food security and government-backed investment programmes, underpinning sustained demand across private wealth, innovation, employment, real estate and trust disputes.
M&A activity has slowed relative to previous peaks, he noted, but private capital remains active and opportunistic, with new private wealth entering to capitalise on the gaps.
Skipper also pointed to the UAE’s strong top-down focus on innovation, particularly its pioneering regulatory framework for digital assets, Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), saying: ‘It’s seen as a good haven for crypto and fintech startups – and that’s fitted in quite well with Mishcon’s brand and our practice areas.’
This alignment between market conditions and client demand ultimately underpinned the firm’s decision, Skipper said: ‘There is never an exact right moment to do something – you weigh up the pros and cons. But all indications were that the clients are here, they are asking for these services, and it is not a reason not to act just because conditions are slightly uncomfortable for a period.’
‘The reality of what we are experiencing on the ground is what drove this decision. We are committed to the region and to our clients,’ he added.
Mishcon’s recent hires in the new bases have mirrored that client demand.
Alongside the relocation of senior private wealth partner Kamal Rahman from Hong Kong, they include former DLA Piper employment partner Natalie Jones to lead the Middle East employment practice and Rob Flaws, former general counsel at Abu Dhabi wealth tech firm Alpheya, MENA head of tech and innovation.
Corporate partner Sandeep Dhama joined the firm’s M&A team, following eight years at Stephenson Harwood, with experience advising clients including sovereign funds, Western banks and large corporations. In May, Bushra Ahmed joined from MENA disputes boutique KBH Ltd as head of disputes, strengthening the firm’s reputation for dispute resolution and arbitration.
