Finalists: Clyde & Co; Eversheds; KBH Kaanuun; Pinsent Masons.

Demonstrating its strength in the region, Al Tamimi & Company was praised by the judges for "delivering a business-directed outcome in a complex commercial transaction".

The team's highlight work was advising on the employment aspects of a complex deal involving three separate transactions between two leading companies.

Each of the transactions were structured separately, involving a wide range of share and asset acquisitions, disposals and transfers across seven Middle East jurisdictions: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Jordan. The brief was to complete the transactions with minimal disruption to the businesses.

The regional advice was project-managed by a Dubai-based employment team, led by head of employment Samir Kantaria. The team coordinated the work of lawyers working across seven offices. A key challenge was that the arrangements for the employees agreed at company level needed to comply with local employment laws and regulations, in a context where employment law concepts recognised in the US and Europe – such as transfer rights – were unfamiliar.

The team achieved this by means of transitional services agreements, which were specifically designed to deal with all of the employment issues.

Click here to return to the full list of winners.

|