Corporate

Our UAE corporate team, led by Christopher Skipper, is part of Mishcon de Reya’s full-service corporate group, comprising just under 80 fee-earners, including over 30 partners.

In the UAE, our corporate team advises clients across all aspects of their business lifecycle, including market entry, structuring, and leveraging the UAE’s free zones and tax advantages to support regional and international growth. The team help clients navigate not only the present, but the future, anticipating regulatory change within the UAE and across the GCC, the impact of evolving technologies, and the pressures of a dynamic landscape shaped by culture, governance and innovation.

Our clients operate in fast-moving, innovative industries including software, biotech, digital communications, life sciences, healthtech and financial services. We also advise leading innovators and operators in more traditional sectors such as real estate, hospitality, retail and sport, all of which are central to the UAE economy and undergoing rapid transformation.

Dispute Resolution

Our UAE dispute resolution team, led by Bushra Ahmed, is part of our extended global disputes practice, comprising over 350 litigators across more than 40 specialist dispute areas. Known as a dispute powerhouse, we combine breadth of capability with the creativity and tenacity to resolve any dispute, however complex or new, regardless of  scale or jurisdiction.  

Our UAE team advises on high-value cross-border litigation, international arbitration, digital assets, enforcement, and strategically significant disputes across the UAE and wider GCC region. We also handle complex commercial disputes through litigation, arbitration and mediation, with a focus on efficiency, discretion and international best practice.

While the landscape continues to evolve, we take ownership of managing our clients' disputes, fight their corner, and fiercely protect their interests.

Employment

Our UAE employment team, led by Natalie Jones, is part of the broader Mishcon de Reya's employment team, with almost 20 partners and nearly 60 other lawyers dedicated to supporting employers with their people-related legal needs.

Central to our ethos is an unwavering dedication to our clients, ensuring that we deliver bespoke and forward-thinking solutions to complex legal challenges. Our proactive approach and innovative mindset position us at the forefront of a dynamic and competitive legal sector.

Our team advises on a wide range of employment-related matters, supporting clients on day-to-day issues as well as more complex challenges, including immigration and global mobility, education, enforcement of restrictive covenants, nationalisation, and reward and incentives. We have particular expertise in managing the employment aspects of complex corporate transactions (including the privatisation of government entities), conducting sensitive internal investigations, and advising on team moves and unfair competition issues.

Impact

At the heart of our firm lies a commitment to use the law to positively impact society and the environment, aligned with the UAE’s forward-looking vision for sustainable and inclusive growth.

Our Impact department's purpose is to empower our clients in the UAE and wider region to engage with the world's increasingly urgent and complex challenges confidently and effectively. We look beyond compliance and risk mitigation by focusing on emerging best practices and new opportunities. 

Working with social and impact ventures, large corporates in transition, charities, and families, we have a unique perspective on the importance of organisational and personal purpose as the animating force for value creation and the bedrock of governance. 

Our team brings together specialist lawyers with ESG consultants and sustainability specialists, combining insight, strategy and implementation. 

Innovation

As one of the region’s most dynamic and forward-looking economies, the UAE continues to experience rapid transformation. New technologies, evolving business models, and innovative thinking continue to reshape industries, unlocking opportunities that would have seemed unthinkable only a few years ago.

Our UAE Innovation team led by Rob Flaws is part of a truly integrated international Innovation team.

We bring together expertise from across the firm, creating a highly collaborative and focused approach to meet the needs of clients operating in dynamic and fast-moving sectors. Our legal insight is enhanced by advanced legal technology, enabling better data-driven insights, improved client service, and increased efficiency.

Real Estate

We support clients within the region's ever-evolving property market and most dynamic area of growth.  

We provide comprehensive advice on commercial and residential property transactions, development and investment, assisting clients through every stage of the real estate lifecycle in the UAE and beyond.

Our experience is reflected in the wide range and size of businesses that we advise, including some of the leading developers, investors and institutions.

Private Wealth

In the UAE, we provide holistic advice for wealthy individuals, families and family offices, supporting them protect and grow generational wealth through tailored structuring, succession, cross-border planning guidance on residency solutions, and family governance.

We do this against a backdrop of a dynamic and increasingly regulated world, combining deep regional expertise with the strength of our international network and a deep understanding of international law tax and trust concepts as well as expert knowledge of global residency and citizenship requirements. Drawing on our family office consultancy MDR Mayfair team, we are well placed to support our clients' complex cross border matters.