US giant boosts Middle East network with hire from local leader

Latham & Watkins is on course to boost its Middle East practice after signing up the Qatar head of leading regional law firm Al Tamimi & Co.

Corporate commercial partner Ahmad Anani is expected to join the US-based law firm later this year as a partner in the Doha office, although his hire remains subject to local regulatory approval.

Anani, a Jordan national, has experience working in private practice, government and in-house counsel roles since graduating from Harvard Law School in 1999.

His practice focuses on a wide range of corporate law matters, including M&A, initial public offerings, joint ventures, property and labour law. He also advises on financial, policy and litigation matters.

Anani joined Al Tamimi in 2002 and has held roles such as in-house legal counsel for the Dubai Development and Investment Authority as well as vice president and legal counsel for Future Pipe Group.

Al Tamimi is one of the largest Middle East-based law firms, with a total of eight offices in the wider region and over 25 partners.

Latham has grown steadily in the Middle East since establishing a presence through an ambitious three-office launch in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha in early 2008. In January this year it added five new lateral Middle East partners as part of a major partner team hire from White & Case, including the US rival's Doha founding partner Andrew Macklin.

The hires also handed the firm a presence in Saudi Arabia, taking on White & Case Saudi head Mohammed Al-Sheikh. The formal association with the Law Office of Mohammed Al-Sheikh subsequently went live in April.Latham counts around 50 lawyers in the region.

Both Latham and Al Tamimi declined to comment on the lateral move.