The London and New York markets are currently “very quiet” for pure M&A, corporate and PE work, says Abernethy. Meanwhile, the UAE has not been so hard-hit by the economic slump and more large foreign firms have realised this and begun opening new offices. This year alone has seen DLA Piper and Gide Loyrette expand their practises in the Gulf with the addition of new offices, and Jones Day and Malaysian firm Zaid Ibrahim enter the region for the first time.
Brimson believes there will also be plenty of work in Abu Dhabi, since it is tipped to grow dramatically as a legal centre. He says that development plans for the city, the capital of the UAE, are extremely “ambitious”, particularly in the energy and infrastructure sectors.
Abernethy agrees, adding that Abu Dhabi and Dubai will provide “massive” and “unrivalled” work opportunities for at least a decade. “I am doing crossborder deals into India, Turkey the UK, Kuwait and Bahrain. A lot of the outbound investment is going to India. What we are working on is going into India, South Asia, Syria, Jordan and North Africa. Turkey is also a very popular destination,” he says.
Maria Coombe, manager of Hays Recruitment in Dubai, says that UAE law firms are looking to fill vacancies in practices such as corporate, banking, real estate, construction, projects, energy, oil, gas, shipping, IT and telecommunications. However, candidates must have a genuine reason for coming to the UAE.
“It is not enough to be interested because there is strong economic growth… Organising a visit to Dubai under your own steam and looking around is really valuable in deciding whether it is what you are looking for. It definitely adds weight to an application,” she says.