DLA Piper has snared a trio of senior lawyers as part of a drive to beef up its Islamic finance practice in the Middle East, the transatlantic firm announced today (12 April).

Abdulaziz Al Bosaily joined the firm's Dubai office last month as a legal director from the local arm of Clifford Chance, while the firm has also hired senior associates Adil Hussain and Saqib Awan.

UK-qualified Hussain joins DLA Piper in June as a senior consultant from Norton Rose, where he was part of the Islamic finance team in Bahrain. Hussain has previously taken key roles for a number of bluechip clients in the region including Calyon and Gulf International Bank.

Pakistan-qualified Awan joins DLA Piper as a consultant next month from Saudi Arabian practice Alliance.

The trio will work alongside Dubai-based partner Oliver Agha, who joined DLA Piper in February to spearhead the firm's global Islamic Finance practice.

Commenting on the hires, DLA Piper Middle East chief David Church said: "Each of these individuals were highly sought-after and I am delighted they turned down other opportunities and approached us in order to join Oliver's team."

He added: "Under Oliver's leadership we are building a global Islamic Finance group, which will be led from Dubai and supported by our offices in Europe, Asia and the US."

The latest appointments comes after DLA Piper earlier this year opened a new branch in Oman, handing the firm its third office in the Middle East region.