LAWFUEL – The Law Firm Newswire – Denton Wilde Sapte has announced the launch of a seventh Middle East office in Doha, Qatar.
The firm has made the lateral hire of Leigh Hall as the managing partner and has also appointed Safwan Moubaydeen to head the Qatari law offering.
Leigh Hall joins Denton Wilde Sapte from the US firm Patton Boggs, where he was a partner in their Qatar office. Leigh has been based in Qatar since 2003 and has experience of working in the Middle East since 1995. Leigh has notable experience in the energy and finance (including Islamic Finance) sectors.
Safwan Moubaydeen has been Of Counsel at Patton Boggs for the past two years and also has a private practice in both Doha and Amman. Safwan will be joining Denton Wilde Sapte as Of Counsel.
The Doha office, to be located in the Qatar Financial Centre, will be opened as soon as the regulatory formalities have been completed. Alongside the Doha office, Denton Wilde Sapte will also be forming an association with Safwan Moubaydeen’s Jordanian practice in Amman.
“Opening a Qatar office and forming an association in Jordan are major additions to our Middle Eastern network and follow shortly after our expansion into Saudi Arabia. The Middle East is an extremely important element in our efforts to offer outstanding client service,” says Denton Wilde Sapte chief executive, Howard Morris.
“Leigh and Safwan have both been our preferred source of Qatar-related legal advice for a number of years. Leigh’s experience mirrors the finance and energy work that we are doing across the Middle East, as does Safwan’s. Safwan’s vast knowledge of Qatar Law is a further outstanding asset,” says Gulf Managing Partner Neil Cuthbert.
“I am extremely pleased to be setting up the Doha office for one of the leading law firms in the Middle East and also to be joining a firm which has shown such commitment to the region. Qatar is one of the region’s major oil producers, and is also scheduled to be the world’s largest producer of LNG by 2008. As part of Denton Wilde Sapte’s Middle Eastern network, the office will be able to offer both international and local clients a truly international legal service,” says Leigh Hall.
Denton Wilde Sapte has an unrivalled regional network of over 80 lawyers spread across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Muscat and Dubai Internet City. In June 2007 Denton Wilde Sapte added an associate office in Riyadh through an exclusive association with the well-known Saudi Arabian lawyer Wael Abdulrahman Alissa.
