When Latham & Watkins unveiled plans to open in the Middle East in February, the US firm opted for a ‘big bang’ approach. Rather than concentrate its firepower in one location, it decided to launch simultaneously in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar.
Latham’s management said it hoped to pick up more instructions like its role advising Qatar Gas Transport Company on a $7.3bn (£3.7bn) project financing for liquefied natural gas vessels – the largest ship financing ever completed. Many other projects in the region attract similar superlatives, with the record oil price fuelling economic growth and stoking soaring ambitions. While most attention has been on Dubai’s transformation into a global business centre, there are now grand schemes underway across the whole of the Middle East. For example, Plan Abu Dhabi 2030, which proposes massive investment in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, is worth $164bn (£83.7bn). Entire new cities such as the $26.6 bn (£13.6 bn) King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia are being developed.
