Clyde & Co Promotes 5 Lawyers in Dubai to Equity Partner Level

Clyde & Co Promotes 5 Lawyers in Dubai to Equity Partner Level

Clyde & Co will promote 22 international lawyers as equity partners on May 1, 2023, in recognition of the firm's continued expansion across its regions and practices. The promotions include a record-breaking five in Dubai, demonstrating the firm's growth in the MEA region, which has been further bolstered by the launch of a new affiliated office in Egypt earlier this year.

Among the partner promotions, two are made in APAC, two in Europe, four in North America, and a significant majority of 13 in the UK.

By promoting lawyers across a range of practice areas, including Insurance, Projects & Construction, Real Estate, Disputes, Corporate, and Energy, Marine & Natural Resources, the firm is reinforcing its expertise and globally integrated services.

Carolena Gordon, the senior partner of Clyde & Co, expresses the firm's commitment to pursuing excellence in their chosen sectors and providing expert, integrated counsel and service to clients worldwide. Gordon finds it highly gratifying to promote exceptional talent across the globe and support individuals in building fulfilling careers within the firm.

“Our new partners embody our core values – not only do they have the professional skills, commercial understanding and sector specialism to allow them to excel for our clients, but they work collaboratively, act with ambition and lead our diverse teams with understanding and care. They are a credit to the firm and I wish them well as they join our 500-strong partnership,” Gordon said.

The promotions in Dubai include Alexa Hall, Alexandra Lester, Sherif Maher, Jeremy Munce, and Leonard Soudagar, all of whom have been elevated to partner status.

Alexa Hall, based in the Dubai office, is a Legal Director in the Clyde & Co international projects & construction team. With more than 10 years of experience, she specialises in providing legal advice on construction and engineering projects in the Middle East.

Hall has a diverse background in both contentious and non-contentious construction and projects work, covering various sectors, including infrastructure, transport (rail and airports), building/property development, leisure, and retail. She advises a range of clients, such as contractors, sub-contractors, suppliers, professional consultants, developers, and public sector bodies, who are engaged in projects situated in MENA countries, including the UAE, Qatar, and Oman.

Solicitor Alexandra Lester is a Legal Director within Clyde & Co's Middle East Dispute Resolution Group, based in the Dubai office. Her area of expertise lies in technology, digital, media, and telecommunications disputes. Additionally, she co-manages Clyde & Co's Technology and Digital sector group.

Lester is well-versed in commercial litigation and arbitration and possesses extensive knowledge in disputes involving technology, digital, telecommunications, and media. She has worked in the legal industry in both the UK and UAE and has been providing advice to clients in the Middle East since 2015.

Sherif Maher is a Partner at Barakat, Maher & Partners in association with Clyde & Co and a Legal Director within Clyde & Co's dispute resolution practice. He divides his time between the Dubai and Cairo offices and advises both local and international clients on commercial contentious matters throughout the MENA region.

Maher specialises in resolving complex, high-value disputes, and his practice primarily focuses on Middle East disputes arising from commercial agreements. He also provides counsel to multinational corporations and government-owned entities in international commercial arbitrations, particularly those involving interests in the Middle East, under a variety of rules. With his extensive knowledge of regional laws and procedures, Maher is a seasoned expert in his field.

Jeremy Munce is a Legal Director within the Projects & Construction team based in Dubai. With his experience in advising and representing both public and private sector clients, he has dealt with major construction project issues throughout the Middle East. He provides commercially focused advice on legal issues that arise throughout all stages of construction projects.

Munce’s extensive experience covers a variety of sectors, including property, mining, and public infrastructure. He has advised clients on cases involving medium and high-rise commercial and residential buildings, shopping centres, LNG onshore plants, closed and open-cycle gas-fired power stations, coal handling preparation plants, underground longwall systems, drill and blast operations, ship-loading facilities, onshore and offshore port marine works, rail maintenance facilities, and roads, among others.

His extensive experience covers a variety of sectors, including property, mining, and public infrastructure. He has advised clients on cases involving medium and high-rise commercial and residential buildings, shopping centres, LNG onshore plants, closed and open-cycle gas-fired power stations, coal handling preparation plants, underground longwall systems, drill and blast operations, ship-loading facilities, onshore and offshore port marine works, rail maintenance facilities, and roads, among others.

Leonard Soudagar is a Legal Director based in Dubai and specialises in international arbitration and litigation. He has extensive experience as a commercial disputes lawyer and has been associated with Clyde & Co since 2012.

Soudagar moved to the Dubai office in 2014 from London. He has represented clients in diverse industries, such as energy and natural resources, marine, international trade and commodities, logistics, banking, insurance, defence, construction and engineering, TMT, real estate, retail, and FMCG.

Soudagar's main focus is on representing corporate and financial clients in international commercial arbitration, including both institutional and ad-hoc arbitrations.