A raft of City firms have been appointed to Jumeirah Group's first-ever global panel of preferred legal advisers.

The international hotel chain has appointed Clifford Chance (CC), Mayer Brown JSM, Simmons & Simmons, DLA Piper, Pinsent Masons and Clyde & Co to advise it on commercial operations and new developments for a two-year period.

In addition to the main panel, Jumeirah has appointed a mixture of local and foreign firms to advise on specific areas and jurisdictions.

The Dubai Government-owned group has chosen Herbert Smith to advise on litigation, Rouse & Co to offer brand protection advice, Perkins Coie to advise on US hotel developments, Penningtons to advise on UK commercial IT/IP, Heller Ehrman to advise on hotel development and local firm Al Tamimi to advise on all UAE-focused work.

Jumeirah selected the 12 firms from a list of 25 and has asked each panellist to enter into service level agreements, with the aim of structuring the relationship between in-house advisors and the global panel.

Jumeirah chief legal officer Robert Swade said: "The panel selection process has enabled me to demonstrate to the business that we have successfully leveraged our purchasing power and obtained tangible value-added legal services to our group."

Jumeirah has portfolios of development in North America, the Middle East, Asia and the UK and currently is preparing for the opening of Jumeirah HanTang Xintiandi hotel in Shanghai later this year.