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International Edition

Transportation, Energy and Infrastructure Team of the Year: Ashurst

Ashurst's standout deal for this category was its work advising Etihad Rail on the UAE's ambitious project to build a federal railway, the first part of which is due to start operating later this year. For the judges, the firm's role advising on one of the most prestigious transport projects in the Middle East, combined with an impressive range of instructions and client wins, underlined the strength and depth of the firm's transportation, energy and infrastructure practice.
2 minute read

International Edition

CSR Award: Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance (CC) is running an initiative to help 100,000 people across the world through community and pro bono work. One example of the work undertaken by Middle East-based staff was a drive to raise AED100,000 (£18,000) to pay for a school bus for the Special Needs Family Centre in Dubai. The cheque was delivered to the centre in December. The bus will allow more children to attend the school and facilitate larger field trips. Staff at CC's Middle East offices formed a fundraising committee and arranged a series of events to raise the cash. The fundraising drive was just one of several initiatives undertaken by the firm's regional branches as part of a co-ordinated strategy by the firm to boost access to justice through pro bono work; access to finance through microfinance initiatives; and access to education.
2 minute read

International Edition

Achievement Award: Angel Wesley

Al Dhabi Investment general counsel and corporate secretary Angel Wesley received the Corporate Counsel Middle East Group (CCME) Achievement Award for her work on forming Abu Dhabi-based charity Labor of Love UAE. The initiative was founded in 2011 to assist low-income workers in the emirate with healthcare, education and provisions for basic needs, as well as offering emotional support and social events and activities to help integrate workers into the wider community. The charity, which is not permitted to engage in fundraising, co-ordinates with several labour camps to provide services and asks individuals and groups to sponsor the programmes and items needed.
2 minute read

International Edition

Middle East Law Firm of the Year: Al Tamimi & Company

The judging panel described Al Tamimi & Company, winner of Middle East Law Firm of the Year for a second year running, as a "truly regional player with scale and scope". The firm was able to demonstrate strategic vision, business winning and a strong commitment to employee development, backed up by an impressive financial performance. Such has been the level of expansion at the firm that its headcount increased by 25% in 2012, with turnover up 14%. Headcount is forecast to grow by another 12% this year, with the firm currently doing due diligence to add to its existing network of 11 offices across six countries.
2 minute read

International Edition

Legal Department of the Year (Small Team): China State Construction Engineering

China State Construction Engineering's (CSCE's) team of five in-house lawyers serve the legal needs of almost 5,000 staff at the real estate and construction giant, working across eight countries. To do this successfully requires ingenuity and resourcefulness. Measures such as a 30-day guillotine period for all disputes to be resolved convinced the judging panel to make this team Legal Department (Small Team) of the Year. The team is made up of lawyers from China, Singapore and Egypt, affording the company knowledge of both common law and civil law jurisdictions. The team says its biggest challenge is the fact that the laws within the countries where CSCE operates are "relatively nebulous and nascent". A priority is the tracking of court judgments and arbitration awards to ensure know-how is kept up to date. The legal team makes use of technology to ensure it keeps abreast of legal developments and passes on its knowledge to the business units. Legal updates are tweeted, in-house lawyers make themselves instantly available to staff via a real-time messaging system, and cases are closely monitored with regular updates fed through to senior management.
2 minute read

International Edition

Arabian night – the Corporate Counsel Middle East Awards 2013

The cream of the Middle East legal community gathered in Dubai last month for the second annual Corporate Counsel Middle East Awards. Three hundred guests attended the event on 16 May at The Western Dubai Mina Seyahi hotel to celebrate the achievements of lawyers, law firms and in-house legal departments working across the Middle East. Allen and Overy (A&O), Al Tamimi & Company and The Emirates Group were among the big winners at the awards – which were jointly held by Legal Week and the Corporate Counsel Middle East Group (CCME) – scooping International Law Firm of the Year, Middle East Law Firm of the Year and Legal Department of the Year (Large Team) respectively. The top individual award – General Counsel of the Year – was won by Aluminium Bahrain's Afshan Akhtar. Commenting on the award, chief executive Tim Murray said it highlighted "the priority the company gives to upholding the principles of corporate governance and transparency across the organisation".
3 minute read

International Edition

Norton Rose Fulbright set for Dubai departures as Baker Botts eyes team

Norton Rose Fulbright is expected to see the post-merger departure of a number of lawyers in Dubai, with a team from legacy Fulbright & Jaworski understood to be on the verge of a move. The bulk of legacy Fulbright's operation in Dubai's Festival City, which comprises eight partners, is understood to be considering a move to another firm in the emirate, with US firm Baker Botts understood to be in talks to take on a team.
2 minute read

International Edition

Sharia-compliant insurance underwriting has potential for growth in Western market

In May, Cobalt Insurance Holdings launched the world's first sharia-compliant managing general agent, Cobalt Underwriting Services. The London-based entity will, among other things, underwrite a variety of global risks on behalf of major insurance companies interested in offering sharia-compliant insurance and reinsurance through the London market. Sharia-compliant (or Islamic) insurance – widely known as takaful – has existed in one form or another for more than 1,000 years. However, it is only in the past four decades that it has experienced real momentum. The catalyst for the growth of the industry was the ruling in 1985 by the Islamic Fiqh Academy in Saudi Arabia that conventional insurance policies were haram (forbidden) according to sharia law, but that an alternative policy conforming to the principles of Islamic dealings founded on the basis of charity and co-operation was permissible.
5 minute read

International Edition

Norton Rose Fulbright sets sights on key Africa markets and US west coast

Norton Rose Fulbright is eyeing expansion into new markets in Africa and the west coast of the US, as the newly merged firm's transatlantic tie-up gets off the ground. The $2bn (£1.3bn) firm, which went live at the start of this week through the combination of Norton Rose and Texas firm Fulbright & Jaworski, is already considering further geographies into which it could expand. In Africa – where the firm currently has bases in South Africa, Morocco and Tanzania – Nigeria, Egypt, Mozambique and Angola have all been identified as potential destinations for office launches, while a move into northern California is also under discussion.
3 minute read

International Edition

Legal Week teams up with in-house group to launch African Legal Awards

Legal Week has teamed up with a leading African in-house lawyers group to recognise the explosion of legal work taking place across the continent by launching The African Legal Awards. The pan Africa awards, which are now open for entry at www.africanlegalawards.com, will take place in Johannesburg on 24 October.
3 minute read

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