International law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) today (15 August 2011) announced that Richard Davies is joining its growing Abu Dhabi-based Middle East and North Africa (MENA) team. This partner appointment reflects the office’s distinctive focus on the built environment and strengthens BLP’s existing construction capabilities.
Richard, who was previously at Linklaters, has spent most of the last three years in Dubai working with clients on major international construction and engineering projects in the MENA region. He has proven experience advising on contentious and non-contentious construction across major mixed use developments, as well as on rail, petrochemical and power projects. His clients include some of the leading infrastructure and real estate organisations in the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Richard’s hire comes shortly after the appointment of head of real estate for MENA, David Nunn, and real estate partner Mohammed Kamal, who both joined BLP’s Abu Dhabi office in January of this year. David previously headed up Simmons & Simmons’ regional real estate team and Mohammed joined from Hogan Lovells where he was head of real estate for the Middle East. Collectively these hires enhance BLP’s ability to provide clients based in the MENA region and those investing in the area with a team of leading legal advisors on the built environment.
David Nunn said: “We aim to provide our clients with the highest quality advice across the entire built environment spectrum. As a consequence, being able to attract leading individuals like Richard is pivotal and means we are now even better placed to deliver our clients, active in this sector, a comprehensive multidisciplinary service across the region.”
John Hughes-D’Aeth, head of commercial construction at BLP, said: “We are delighted that Richard has decided to join our construction team. He brings with him a wealth of regional expertise and his arrival marks a significant step in the internationalisation of BLP’s market leading construction brand.”
