UAE telecoms provider Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (du) is planning to more than double the size of its external legal panel.

The current line-up, put in place in 2011, is understood to comprise three to five firms including Simmons & Simmons, DLA Piper and Dubai-based TMT firm The Rights Lawyers.

du now plans to at least double the number of law firms it turns to regularly in a bid to increase flexibility. It is thought that those already on the panel have been guaranteed a place.

The panel covers general commercial; corporate, corporate governance and corporate finance; intellectual property; litigation and disputes; and telecoms and regulatory legal work.

du contacted firms last month with initial pitches expected this week.

The company intends to pull together a shortlist by the end of August, with the line-up to be finalised by the last quarter of this year.  General counsel Anneliese Reinhold is leading the review.

Reinhold said: "We recognised we need to extend pitch opportunities to more law firms in order to get more choice, as we find that both the needs of du's growing business, and the shape of the UAE legal marketplace, have changed significantly during the existing panel's life. The idea is to augment our panel with extra firms in more specialist areas. Ideally we will have a choice in each of our main areas, with at least two to three firms allocated to each."

Reinhold added that du plans to include more local firms and deepen its relationships with them. She is also placing more emphasis on value-added arrangements.

She said: "A successful pitch would involve what a firm has to offer by way of value added services. Support for secondment arrangements, including reverse secondments, are highly desirable as well as access to in-house training more generally."

The telecoms operator, which is listed on the Dubai Financial Market, is one of two providers in the UAE alongside rival Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat). Its revenue for 2013 was AED10.8bn (£1.75bn).

 

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