The Middle East Legal Awards 2017 - who won what, and why...
All the details of the winners at the Middle East Legal Awards in Dubai
June 14, 2017 at 08:19 AM
3 minute read
The cream of the Middle East business law community assembled in Dubai last month for the Middle East Legal Awards.
DLA Piper, Clifford Chance, Clyde & Co and Baker McKenzie were among the big winners; alongside the legal teams at Pepsi-Cola International, the Qatar Financial Centre Authority and Total Marketing Middle East; as well as top regional firms including Al Tamimi & Company and Hadef & Partners.
Jointly hosted by Legal Week and the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Middle East Chapter, and supported by Legal Week's sister title, The American Lawyer, the awards took place at the Ritz-Carlton in Dubai on 11 May and were attended by nearly 400 lawyers from private practice and in-house legal departments.
The evening culminated with two achievement awards: the ACC Achievement Award went to former Qatari national football player Salman Al-Ansari, a partner at Al-Ansari & Associates, and the ACC Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to outgoing ACC Middle East chapter president Elias Hayek (pictured above).
Al-Ansari, a partner at Al-Ansari & Associates, was recognised for his work promoting the welfare of professional footballers in his home country, including the establishment of the Qatar Sports Arbitration Tribunal and also the Qatar Players Association. Hayek has joined Squire Patton Boggs as a partner from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, where he was vice-president, legal.
Click on the links below for full details of the winning entries:
Legal Department of the Year – Large Team - Pepsi-Cola International Legal Department of the Year – Small Team – Total Marketing Middle East Legal Department of the Year – Government Department, Agency or Public Body – Qatar Financial Centre Authority General Counsel of the Year – Sponsored by Eversheds Sutherland – Khalid Khan, The Zubair Corporation Senior Corporate Counsel of the Year – Rahul Sharda, Al Ghurair Investment Junior Corporate Counsel of the Year – Rabah Bashir, Zakher Marine International Innovation Award – The Bench CSR Initiative of the Year – Dentons Diversity Initiative of the Year – Clyde & Co International Law Firm of the Year – Sponsored by Fox Rodney Search – DLA Piper Regional Law Firm of the Year – Large Practice – Al Tamimi & Company Regional Law Firm of the Year – Small Practice – Al Jallaf Advocates & Legal Consultants Associate Solicitor of the Year – Christina Sochacki, Senior Associate, Al Tamimi & Company Banking and Finance Team of the Year – Dechert Infrastructure and Energy Projects Team of the Year – Bracewell Construction Team of the Year – Sponsored by Arcadis – Dentons Real Estate Team of the Year – Hadef & Partners Corporate Team of the Year – Hadef & Partners Arbitration Team of the Year – Reed Smith Litigation Team of the Year – Baker McKenzie Regulatory and Investigations Team of the Year – Clyde & Co TMT Team of the Year – Simmons & Simmons Middle East Employment Team of the Year – Stephenson Harwood Middle East
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
KMPG Moves to Provide Legal Services in the US—Now All Eyes Are on Its Big Four Peers
International Arbitration: Key Developments of 2024 and Emerging Trends for 2025
4 minute read
The Quiet Revolution: Private Equity’s Calculated Push Into Law Firms
5 minute read
'Almost Impossible'?: Squire Challenge to Sanctions Spotlights Difficulty of Getting Off Administration's List
4 minute readTrending Stories
- 1'It's Not Going to Be Pretty': PayPal, Capital One Face Novel Class Actions Over 'Poaching' Commissions Owed Influencers
- 211th Circuit Rejects Trump's Emergency Request as DOJ Prepares to Release Special Counsel's Final Report
- 3Supreme Court Takes Up Challenge to ACA Task Force
- 4'Tragedy of Unspeakable Proportions:' Could Edison, DWP, Face Lawsuits Over LA Wildfires?
- 5Meta Pulls Plug on DEI Programs
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
