Property development company Grosvenor Britain & Ireland has recruited Ulrike Schwarz-Runer from Dubai Holdings as its first general counsel.

Schwarz-Runer joined Grosvenor on 29 March, leaving her role as GC at the Dubai Government-owned holding company. She will be based at Grosvenor's London headquarters.

Prior to Dubai Holdings, Schwarz-Runer was formerly a corporate lawyer at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and US firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and also an executive director at Goldman Sachs in New York, London and Frankfurt.

In her new role at Grosvenor she will manage the firm's external legal advisers and legal risk across the business, both in the UK and internationally.

Schwarz-Runer told Legal Week: "Having advised family-owned businesses throughout my career and having been involved in large corporate and development transactions in Europe, the Middle East and the US, it is a marvellous opportunity to become the first general counsel at Grosvenor."

Grosvenor chief executive Peter Vernon said: "Ulrike has worked in some of the world's most creative and demanding environments. Her experience in Europe, the Middle East and the US has equipped her to add value to a broad range of issues, including real estate joint ventures and co-investments, substantial project developments and financing as well as a variety of corporate law issues."

While at Dubai Holdings, Schwarz-Runer worked with high-profile clients including Dreamworks, Legoland, SixFlags and Dubai Mercantile Exchange.

Grosvenor is a privately owned property group with 17 offices worldwide in the UK, the Americas, Continental Europe, Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.