Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Credit: shutterlk/Shutterstock.com

Dechert has added its first real estate attorneys to its Dubai office, bringing on a pair from King & Spalding to fill a hole in its Middle East practice.

With the acquisition of former King & Spalding partner Stephen Kelly and of counsel Sarah-Jane Mahood, now a national partner, the firm brings its Dubai headcount up to 12 lawyers. Dechert also has two lawyers who split time between the Gulf and London, and has an association with a Saudi Arabian firm.

"We have an enormous commitment to the Middle East already, which is not just lawyers there but in London, Paris and elsewhere," said Rick Jones, who chairs the firm's global finance and real estate practice groups. "A piece of the puzzle we were missing was the ability to do commercial real estate in Dubai."

The real estate market in Dubai is booming, with a recent report pegging transactions at $30bn in the first half of 2018. Institutional interest has been growing as well.

"That oil wealth, it has to be put to work, and the leadership in Dubai and the Gulf has decided they're building world-class infrastructure and world-class cities," Jones said. 

Kelly spent just over five years at King & Spalding, joining from Clyde & Co in March 2013. He has experience advising on the development on large commercial assemblages in the Gulf and also does work on behalf of the hospitality industry.

Mahood joined King & Spalding in April 2014, and before that spent more than a decade with Norton Rose Fulbright.

Jones said Dechert was eager to weave together its real estate practices with its private equity and funds capacities in London and Paris, noting that expertise on these underlying assets was key to success in funds.

The firm is bullish about the region, with Jones calling it a "go-go environment" thanks to the "spigot" of oil wealth that shows no signs of being turned off.

"We think there's tons of growth in the Middle East, particularly in [the] Gulf area, especially in the next generation or so," Jones said. "With that much money sloshing around, a bunch of good lawyers should be able to do darned well."

Other firms betting on Dubai include Pinsent Mason, who hired two energy partners from Eversheds Sutherland in May and K&L Gates, who brought on an arbitration partner from Baker Botts that same month.