Fulbright Builds in Dubai as Gulf Push Continues

Jeremy Hodges

Legal Week

Fulbright & Jaworski has moved to boost its energy practice in the Middle East, hiring one new partner and relocating another to Dubai as U.S. firms continue to target the booming Gulf region.

David Silver joins the firm as a partner from Qatar firm Hassan Al-Khater Offices. He has been based in the emirate for the last 10 years and will service Fulbright's corporate, energy and finance clients in the region.

Veteran projects partner David Moroney, meanwhile, will relocate from Fulbright's London arm to the Dubai office -- which opened in 2005 -- to head up the firm's Middle East energy team.

The firm has also taken on corporate finance specialist Lyle Guard as an associate in Dubai.

This news marks the Texas-based law firm's latest effort to raise its profile in the Gulf, with energy partner Randel Young having switched from Fulbright's Houston office to Dubai last November.

The latest moves come as a number of rival U.S. firms look to ramp up their offerings in the Middle East in recent months, with DLA Piper and White & Case both having announced their intention to open new offices in the region in 2008.

Commenting on the moves, Fulbright Middle East chief John Lonsberg said: "There is an enormous amount of infrastructure and other project development that we are assisting with throughout the region.

"We have been building our Middle East team lawyer by lawyer as we work from a global platform of strategically placed offices [for] clients looking to work in emerging markets."