SJ Berwin - PLUM 2009

Dubai
In the same month SJ Berwin opened an office in Hong Kong, the plan to open an
office in Dubai was also announced. The Dubai office is expected to open formally in
autumn 2009 and is spearheaded by London-based litigation partner Tim Taylor and
Paris-based corporate partner Ben Aller.
We talked to Ben about the exciting plans for Dubai.
What type of work will you do in the Dubai office?
There are currently two partners in the Dubai office: Ben Aller and Tim Taylor.
My practice focuses primarily on the formation of private investment funds,
including private equity funds and infrastructure funds. I also advise institutions
investing into private equity funds. Tim specialises in complex dispute
resolution and international arbitration. The office builds on SJ Berwin's strong
European network and our many years of experience in the Middle East. For
example, we are able to draw on our expertise in international taxation, Islamic
finance and financial regulation to provide specialist advice to our clients
throughout the region.
What are the future plans for the office?
Dubai is an excellent location from which to service clients throughout the
Middle East, Africa and India. Our goal is to build our client base and
reputation in a few core areas: investment funds, commercial litigation and
arbitration. We hope to expand our core areas to include private equity deals
and corporate transactions. In any event, the Dubai office will remain relatively
small and focussed for the foreseeable future.
What is the main difference between working in Dubai compared to Europe?
Dubai is a city of superlatives: it has excellent infrastructure, a growing
financial sector and a remarkable skyline that includes the world's tallest
building, the Burj Dubai. However, the most striking difference to Europe or
North America is the Islamic calendar: the weekend starts on Friday and ends
on Saturday. During the holy month of Ramadan (late-August to late-
September this year), the entire region moves in slow motion and it is difficult
to do business during the day. Another striking difference is the extent to
which the economy of Dubai and the rest of the Gulf region depends on
expatriate labour. The local Emirati population represents barely 10% of the
total. Among lawyers, this percentage may be even lower.
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