Companies based in the Middle East have not employed many in-house lawyers, if any, traditionally. But, in keeping with the pace of business in the region, things are changing fast. As Chris Sioufi, former general counsel of Bahrain-based Unicorn Investment Bank and now a partner at DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary’s Dubai office, notes: “A lot of businesses that five or six years ago did not have an in-house legal team or general counsel are now used to the idea.”
Robert Swade, general counsel of luxury hotel and hospitality company Jumeirah International, agrees. “The market here has changed beyond recognition compared with five years ago,” he says. “I was on a secondment at the Emirates Group about four years ago and you could count the number of in-house lawyers on one hand. Now there are 11.”
