Caroline Hill talks to CCMEG president Elias Hayek about the value of networking to allow in-house lawyers to tap into emerging markets in the transient Middle East legal community

The Middle East is unquestionably a vibrant and commercially rewarding market for well-positioned companies – but for in-house counsel, it can present complex challenges within unfamiliar emerging jurisdictions.

In-house counsel all over the world are expected to be expert facilitators (as opposed to expert in all matters themselves), and many rely heavily on networking to help them achieve this objective. This is particularly the case in the Middle East, where legal teams staffing international corporates tend to be expatriates who are only based in the region for a limited number of years.

Elias Hayek, Starwood Hotels & Resorts vice president of legal for Europe, Africa and the Middle East, comments: "Everyone in Dubai is an expatriate, everyone is building networks and connections, and most do not have a lifetime but a short period of time. At any given moment most people do not have more than four years in the country, so you're always trying learn."

Hayek presides over the Corporate Counsel Middle East Group (CCMEG), which last year was rebranded from the Dubai Corporate Counsel Group, incorporating for the first time members outside of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), including Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, as the group realised the importance of networking across a broader platform.

Hayek joined Starwood in 2000 in Brussels and it was not until 2009 that his language skills – he is fluent in English, Arabic and French – put him firmly in the frame for his current role as Starwood expanded into new markets.

He continues: "If you're in Dubai and you plan to do business in Kuwait, it would not be unusual to reach out to another corporate counsel to find out how you can be helped in that activity. [The Middle East] is very complex and, for many people, there is always a jurisdiction you don't necessarily know very well and haven't had much experience in – these are all emerging markets, and it's very useful to be able to reach out to a colleague and have the opportunity to get some direction to get the ball rolling."

While the UAE has remained a relative safe haven, the enduring political turmoil in the Middle East continues to be disruptive to business and adds a new level of complexity for any legal practitioner. The lack of any end in sight is one of the biggest challenges, and Hayek comments: "Europe is suffering from economic crisis, but many people believe the crisis will have a life span and that progress is being made. Politically, in the Middle East it is difficult to say with any certainty that stability will be achieved in any period of time."

One source of support for in-house counsel in regions worst hit by the turmoil has been the ability to use the CCMEG to find alternative employment – the group is sponsored by a local recruitment company and members can post job opportunities internally.

A further source of more general support are the regular meetings held to discuss regional issues. Most recently, this has helped the local in-house community get to grips with a landmark appeal ruling handed down by the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) extending the jurisdiction of the financial centre to companies operating outside the free zone's boundaries within the emirate.

Hayek says: "It's a very positive result; the DIFC has expanded its jurisdiction and the scope of its rulings. A lot people are now interested in exploring the validity of the DIFC courts as a means of resolving legal disputes, not only for companies doing business within Dubai, but outside as well."

As companies look to raise funds, Islamic finance is also high on the agenda. "Many companies are beginning to look at Islamic bonds; they are looking to secure financing from some of the regional lenders and they need to understand the concepts of Islamic financing and the structuring of the finance vehicle," Hayek comments.

One further issue on the CCMEG's agenda at the start of this year is enforcement, particularly how judgments stemming from insolvency proceedings can be enforced against companies within the jurisdiction.

Elsewhere, members give regular generalist talks, including recent lectures by sponsor firm Fulbright & Jaworski on tips on doing business in the Middle East and, more specifically, tips on doing business in Iraq.

The CCMEG currently has 250 members, but Hayek expects that number to increase rapidly over the next few months. The particularly volatile situation in Egypt means the newly expanded group has yet to reach out to its North African neighbour. Hayek says: "As far as the Arab world is concerned, Egypt is at the leading edge of developments in law, and many of the surrounding regions borrowed Egypt's concepts of law for their own.

"We would hope to [extend to Egypt] in the near future, as Egypt is an important part of the equation in any legal community and in particular the Middle East and North Africa," Hayek concludes.

Legal Week's inaugural Corporate Counsel Middle East Awards will be held in May in Dubai. See www.corporatecounselmiddleeastawards.com for more details and to enter.

Legal Week also hosts the Corporate Counsel Forum Middle East, which this year will take place on 16 May. Click here for more details.