Big wins for The Emirates Group and Al Tamimi cap off a successful night in Dubai, as Pui-Guan Man reports

The Middle East legal community came out in force in Dubai last week to celebrate the achievements of lawyers, law firms and in-house legal teams at the Corporate Counsel Middle East (CCME) Awards.

On 16 May, 300 lawyers attended the event at the Westin Mina Seyahi hotel, collectively reinforcing the impression that the legal sector is growing in self-confidence in line with the region's steady recovery from the financial crisis of 2009.

Allen and Overy (A&O), Al Tamimi & Company and The Emirates Group were among the big winners at the awards, which were jointly held by Legal Week and the Corporate Counsel Middle East Group.

husam-hurani-al-tamimi-webAl Tamimi (partner Samer Qudah and managing partner Husam Hurani, pictured top) secured the Middle East Law Firm of the Year award for the second year running, seeing off competition from rivals including Habib Al Mulla and Hadef & Partners, while A&O (David Miles and Joanna Morton, pictured below) fended off six firms including Clifford Chance, Clyde & Co, Eversheds and Dentons to take home the gong for International Law Firm of the Year.

The magic circle firm, which also won Corporate Team of the Year for its role on a £6bn deal to relocate Egypt's Orascom Construction Industries' primary listing to Amsterdam, was praised by the judges for "the scale of its deals across a broad range of industry sectors, legal specialities and jurisdictions".

Meanwhile, an exceptionally busy year for The Emirates Group's 20-strong in-house team, including the legal work behind the delivery of more than 30 wide-bodied aircraft and the airline's alliance with Qantas, helped it secure the Large Team Legal Department of the Year award. 

The department, led by Rick Ward, has also been restructured to mirror the group's own businesses, with separate teams covering Emirates and group services, its air services and cargo arm Dnata, and associated companies and aircraft financing/corporate finance.

China State Construction Engineering Corporation picked up both Small Team Legal Department of the Year and the Innovation Award, while the award for General Counsel of the Year went to Afshan Akhtar of Aluminium Bahrain.

On the private practice side, other law firms winning recognition at the event included CC, which took home Banking, Finance and Restructuring Team of the Year and the Corporate Social Responsibility award. Ashurst, Hadef & Partners, Dentons and Shearman & Sterling were also among the winners at the event.

angel-wesley-webA special achievement award was given to Angel Wesley (pictured, left), general counsel and corporate secretary of Al Dhabi Investment, who founded Abu Dhabi charity Labor of Love UAE, which aims to improve the quality of life for labourers; focusing on education, social activities and the provision of basic goods.

CCME group president Elias Hayek, who is also Starwood Hotels & Resorts vice president of legal for EMEA, said: "This year's winners have demonstrated exceptional achievement and that in-house legal teams and their external advisers continue to drive growth and innovation, develop new partnerships and complete complex deals in very challenging market conditions."

The awards were judged by a panel of leading local lawyers chaired by Hayek and including local telecoms company du's GC and senior vice president of legal and regulatory Anneliese Reinhold, Gulf Investment Corporation GC Khalid Khan and Dubai International Financial Centre Courts registrar Mark Beer.

WINNERS IN FULL

CCME Group Achievement Award Angel Wesley

GC of the Year Afshan Akhtar, Aluminium Bahrain

Legal Department of the Year (Large) The Emirates Group

Legal Department of the Year (Small) China State Construction Engineering Corporation

Legal Counsel of the Year Wafa Derouiche, Pentair

Innovation Award China State Construction Engineering Corp

CSR Award Clifford Chance

International Law Firm of the Year Allen & Overy

Middle East Law Firm of the Year Al Tamimi & Company

Litigation & Dispute Resolution Team of the Year Shearman & Sterling

Banking, Finance and Restructuring Team of the Year Clifford Chance

Transportation, Energy and Infrastructure Team of the Year Ashurst

Corporate Team of the Year Allen & Overy

Property and Construction Team of the Year Hadef & Partners

Commercial Team of the Year Dentons