Dentons appoints Umera Ali as a partner
In between the firm's Dubai and Riyadh offices Umera Ali will split up her time
By : Legal Era
Update: 2022-06-23 03:30 GMT
Dentons appoints Umera Ali as a partner
In between the firm's Dubai and Riyadh offices Umera Ali will split up her time
To expand its Middle East finance and banking practice, Dentons has hired DWF's former head of Middle East finance and banking.
Ali will work in Dentons' Dubai and Riyadh offices, with a special focus on Saudi Arabia. Ali has advised lenders, financial institutions, funds, sponsors, borrowers, and issuers on a wide range of financial transactions, including loans, asset finance, Islamic finance, and debt capital markets transactions.
As the chief executive of Dentons' Middle East UK and Ireland business, Paul Jarvis said: "Banking and finance has always been of strategic importance to the Middle East region. Currently, we have strong finance capabilities throughout the region and Umera's arrival will provide additional strength in Saudi Arabia."
In May 2021, Ali became co-head of the firm's financial services sector practice group at DWF in Dubai, according to her LinkedIn profile. As its global head of Islamic finance, she was also responsible for its operations.
She worked for Michelman & Robinson for a year before joining DWF and for Baker McKenzie before that in Bahrain for seven years. Additionally, she worked as an associate at Kuwaiti and Pakistani firms in the past.
Dentons' Middle East managing partner Alastair Young explains: "Saudi's national growth strategy envisages many high-profile projects that will need financing.". The experience Umera has gained through its work on a broad range of finance-related mandates will enable us to give our clients the support they need as they seek to grow in this market."
Through an association with Alrubayyi & Attorneys, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan hired Saudi litigator Nasser Alrubayyi to establish an office in Riyadh. For international firms to operate in the country, they must form an alliance with a local firm. With the help of local firm Al-Ohaly & Partners, DWF launched in Riyadh last October.