Middle East

We are one of the largest and most reputable Litigation and Dispute Resolution teams in the Middle East, practicing both Common Law and Civil Law in multiple jurisdictions across a number of sectors.

At Charles Russell Speechlys, we are committed to managing and resolving your disputes as swiftly as possible. Our experienced, partner-led teams work closely with you to fully understand the issues you are facing. We focus our energies on achieving the best possible outcome for you and your organisation using the most appropriate dispute resolution techniques.

We work with governments, regulators, sovereign wealth funds, multinational corporations, major companies and family businesses. Our team has experts across a range of industries from media to medicine, telecoms to trusts, manufacturing to insurance and property to professional negligence.

We work throughout the Middle East on banking and corporate litigation, arbitration, mediation and negotiation; handling some of the most complex, sensitive and high value claims in the region.

We are able to conduct litigation and arbitration matters based on common law or civil law throughout the Gulf region.

A substantial proportion of our team our bilingual in Arabic and English and we are able to advise on and act in local, regional and international matters.

When you work with our award winning Real Estate team you work with a group of experts who believe in cutting through the red tape and making things happen.

We know that real estate matters can often involve complex legal issues, which is why we are committed to providing you with a jargon-free, practical approach.

We deliver a comprehensive range of property related services both locally and regionally to a range of clients including occupiers, corporates, major investors, developers, contractors, consultants, charities, government entities and high- profile families and individuals across the Middle East.

We have our on-the-ground Real Estate practice serves the region from our Bahrain, Dubai and Qatar offices. We believe in working proactively with our clients to understand their legal requirements and objectives and achieve their goals. We pride ourselves in providing practical, commercial and innovative advice which adds value and provides our clients with a competitive advantage.

In addition, we have extensive experience of advising our local clients (both corporates and individuals) in relation to investing into both commercial and residential property in the UK.

We are here to help you with:

• Urban development & regeneration
• Acquisitions and disposals
• Investment and property management
• Property finance
• Hotels & hospitality
• Real estate investment trusts
• Low cost housing/infrastructure projects and PPP’s
• UK Residential Property Investment

Our award-winning construction team delivers pragmatic, commercial advice geared towards timely, cost effective completion of projects.

Our regionally based Construction, Engineering & Projects team can serve you from our Bahrain, Dubai and Qatar offices.

We deliver a comprehensive range of construction related services both locally, regionally and globally. We advise on contentious and non-contentious issues relating to construction contracts and development, engineering and projects. Our projects cover a wide range of industries and sectors including residential, commercial, marine, infrastructure, healthcare, education, hotels and leisure.

We service both the public and private sectors and act on behalf of government and regulatory clients, project developers, lenders and investors, contractors, subcontractors and consultants. The team is experienced in drafting all forms of construction and engineering contracts including FIDIC, NEC and JCT.

We advise clients on contentious matters and disputes including use of ADR strategy, adjudication, expert determination, local and international construction litigation and arbitration.

We are here to help you with:

• Drafting, negotiating and amending bespoke construction and engineering contracts
• Advising on procurement and tendering
• Drafting and negotiating project forms, consultancy agreements and security documentation
• Advising on contract claims strategy and contract administration disputes, insolvency and dispute resolution matters including local and international arbitration

Global banking and finance markets are becoming increasingly complex.

Our team will advise you on the whole range of domestic and cross-border financing transactions including both conventional and Islamic structures and products. We also advise on restructuring existing facilities.

We work with both lender and borrower clients, including the major clearing banks, commercial and private banks, non-bank lenders, investment funds, institutional investors, corporate borrowers, hedge funds and family offices. We also act for some of the leading banking regulators in the region.

We can assist you with complex transactions, whilst providing the hands-on, practical and tailored support that you need. With a Partner-led service and international relationships across the Middle East, UK and Europe, our client relationships are long standing and we will work alongside you as your trusted adviser.

In tandem with the growing importance of Islamic finance, we have developed a team of specialists with expertise across key jurisdictions and practice areas, including banking, corporate finance, real estate and private client capital.

The team specialises in structuring, documenting and negotiating transactions compliant with Shari'ah principles.

We are here to help you with:

• Asset management structuring
• Islamic banking
• Islamic offshore products
• Conventional Banking Agreements
• Key developments in Islamic banking and finance
• Risk management and derivatives
• Loan and security agreements

Our Corporate lawyers give pragmatic and commercial advice.

We fully understand our client’s needs and aims from the start, embedding ourselves in their teams and working right alongside them to build strong relationships based on trust.

We act for some of the largest corporates in the Middle East and understand the particular challenges in the region, constantly advising clients on changing governance.

Whether a global brand or a regional entrepreneur our team will set you up for success. We are hands-on supporting a growing business through a major deal, advising investors or management teams on private equity transactions, management buy-outs and buy-ins, or advising a global business on the acquisition trail, our corporate team provides tailored expert advice and commercial common sense. We give fast-growing companies responsive advice that lets them scale-up, develop brands, build market share and attract new investment.

We act as a partner to established multi-nationals who need full-service legal support to operate across multiple jurisdictions.

We are here to help you with:

• Mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances
• Listing and public market issues
• Corporate Tax
• Employment
• Governance
• Immigration

Successful businesses identify opportunities, exploit gains, and assess and minimise associated risk in order to thrive.

We have extensive experience advising international clients across all the firm’s key sectors, particularly in Technology, Media, Telecommunications, Sports, Retail and Financial Services.

We provide advice to multinationals and GCC headquartered companies on all aspects of employment work, including transactional work, day-to-day employee relations and employment litigation. We also provide compliance advice in relation to relevant regulations and legislation, and assist with matters relating to immigration law, team moves, business protection and restrictive covenants.

Our local experts will guide you through the ever-changing employment environment in the region, working closely with you to understand your unique recruitment culture, and any employment issues, acting as an extension of your in-house team. We can also leverage our wider network of employment specialists in other locations of the Firm if required to provide a full international service.

If you’re a regional client, we can act as an extension to your in-house legal team, partnering with your staff, tailoring legal services to support your specific needs and objectives.

We are here to help you with:

• Supply and manufacturing agreements
• Standard terms and conditions of supply and purchase
• Sales, marketing, advertising, promotion and sponsorship agreements
• Representation, agency, distributorship, franchise arrangements, licensing & multi-channel strategies
• Joint ventures, co-operation and collaboration agreements, strategic partnerships
• Procurement and outsourcing
• Technology agreements and consultancy
• All forms of intellectual property contracting, consultancy, prosecution and maintenance
• Licensing, research, development and exploitation agreements
• Data protection
• Employment
• The full range of legal services to the media, entertainment and sports industries

Virtually every business worldwide has intellectual property that may be of vital importance to its continued success.

Our role is to enable you to make the most of your intellectual property assets through protection, enforcement and commercialisation. We will work with you to establish your needs and objectives for IP, and will identify the most suitable form, geographical extent, and availability of protection and manage the relevant process.

Our contentious experience ranges from the largest legally and technically complex multi-national patent disputes to copyright, design and trademark disputes involving developing legal issues such as the protection of colour and shape (often with multi-jurisdictional issues and which involve internet based infringements), to smaller disputes which (even though they may be of a limited nature) are often critical to our clients’ businesses.

We use a range of approaches (including alternative dispute resolution techniques) to resolve such matters, while remaining alert to our clients overall commercial objectives.

We are here to help you with:

• Acquisitions and disposals of intellectual property
• Franchising, merchandising & sponsorship
• Joint ownership agreements
• Licensing of all forms of intellectual property and confidential information
• Protocols for schemes of management of intellectual property, including jointly owned portfolios or pools of property
• Related agreements such as research and development agreements and confidentiality undertakings
• Trade mark applications, renewals and watches.

We are one of the leading Private wealth law firms in the world. We have been specialising in this area for over 250 years. Our private clients have shaped our business, and we’ve worked with them on all aspects of their legal affairs.

At all times we seek to draw on our long history and experience of acting for international private clients in relation to protecting, holding and structuring their assets and wealth. Our role is to enable people to make the most of their wealth now and in the future.

With a full service legal team, our advice is offered in the context of your succession planning, your marriage, your family life and values, your property and your assets. We are deeply embedded in the world of private wealth, advising private banks, trust companies and family offices.

We are here to help you with:

• Estate planning and succession
• Wills and inheritance
• Trust establishment, administration and restructuring
• Charities and philanthropy
• Matrimonial and family law
• Immigration law
• Personal tax and asset planning
• UK taxes and tax compliance
• International tax and trust planning
• Family office structuring and operations
• Pre-IPO and post-IPO trust planning
• Probate and estate administration
• Property (local and international)
• Reputation management
• Trust and estate litigation
• Business planning
• Art and luxury