Gowling WLG has hired a partner from Watson Farley & Williams in a boost to its Dubai office. 

The firm has appointed corporate partner Suhail Mirza as a partner in its Dubai office, the firm said in a statement.

Mirza joined Watson Farley's newly opened Dubai office  in 2015 as a partner from K&L Gates, where he had been a senior associate. 

His practice includes advising clients in the infrastructure market, government sector clients, off-takers, sponsors and lenders on energy and utilities projects across the Middle East and North Africa region, according to the statement by Gowling WLG. 

"It is great to have Suhail join the Dubai office and strengthen our international projects offering. [His] appointment will… enable us to serve better the needs of our developer clients in the energy and infrastructure/PPP sectors," Jonathan Brufal, international projects group head at the firm, said in a statement.

The hire comes amid a slowed recruitment market, hit by a shaky outlook for firms.

The region is currently grappling with plunging oil prices as well as wider disruption caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Several firms have taken steps to slim down their offerings in the Middle East in recent years. At the start of 2020, Norton Rose Fulbright shuttered its Bahrain base two years after closing its Abu Dhabi office.

Other recent exits from the region include Winston & Strawn, which closed its Dubai base in January.