Deals: Towering ambition in the UAE

Brodies’ new Middle East base is on Al Maryah Island in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Brodies launched its first international arm, Brodies Middle East LLP in Abu Dhabi in May this year to support its current clients in the Middle East and develop new relationships at a local level.

The Scottish-headquartered law firm has worked with clients in the Middle East from its UK bases for several years and now wants to further develop business in the area with a focus on the energy market.

Brodies Middle East is led by Greg May, along with Bryan Wilson, who has relocated to Abu Dhabi, and Josh McFadzen, who was recruited locally.

Nick Scott, managing partner at Brodies, explains why the firm decided to launch the international arm: “As always, with this type of decision, it’s about our clients. For a while we’ve had a group of clients in the Middle East, including the UAE, Qatar and Oman, to name just a few markets, and we’ve been looking to create a base where we could be closer to those businesses. For us, Abu Dhabi was an obvious place as it is a short trip to so many cities, which means we’re close to a lot of clients.”

Turning to the nature of the legal profession in the Middle East, Scott says that most major law firms have offices somewhere in the region, such as Abu Dhabi, Dubai or Saudi Arabia.

“It’s quite a competitive space, but it’s also a very big market. We have true energy sector specialists in Brodies across our UK team, and particularly Aberdeen. We see plenty of opportunities for us to win new client work, as well as support the existing clients we already have good connections with,” says Scott.

Clare Munro, head of energy and infrastructure at Brodies, says the Abu Dhabi office will be energy driven, from oil and gas to renewables. She explains that the energy knowledge-base Brodies has successfully created, centred in Aberdeen, is a major strength that the law firm can successfully optimise in the Middle East.

“Our clients are specialists in the energy sector. They choose the lawyers thatthey want to work with, who they know will deliver. Aberdeen has obviously been a renowned centre of excellence for the oil and gas sector for many years. We’ve worked with clients on groundbreaking deals and arrangements, and over that time other energy markets have matured,” she says.

In terms of the ongoing energy transition, Scott points out that there are many skills that are complementary between oil and gas and renewables that are well-developed in Aberdeen.

“We’ve watched our energy clients morph and become involved in new renewable technologies,” he says. “We’ve adapted with our clients to continue to service them. That transition is happening in all the major energy markets around the world, including the Middle East, where companies are on the same journey.”

Looking at where the Middle East is on that journey, Munro believes the market is at the forefront when it comes to its aspirations and willingness to invest. “Speaking to some of my clients who you would historically think of as oil and gas firms, they are now putting money into renewables and planning for new technologies. It’s these organisations that are able and willing to invest that will find a way of doing things to manage the energy transition,” says Munro.

“There are players in the Middle East who are very adept at seeing a vision and following it through and they will be critical in the global transition.

“This is a fantastic development for our UK energy practice. We always view ourselves as one firm and do not distinguish between different office locations. It’s very much the same with our Abu Dhabi office. The team there is part of my energy team. They are able to service clients on the ground in the market which gives us the opportunity to work with new businesses too,” explains Munro.

Scott develops that position by saying that Brodies sees itself as having one team in multiple locations, which he believes can also help attract new lawyers to the firm. For example, its lawyers based in Aberdeen will have the chance to get involved in client work in Abu Dhabi.

“There’s a great opportunity for our junior lawyers to work with clients across our business. There will also be secondment opportunities in other offices,” he says.

Commenting on the joined-up approach of the energy sector, he adds: “Global issues and challenges in the energy sector will have global solutions; that’s why there are businesses in the Middle East using services in the UK to support their activities. They are also investing in education and training in the global energy sector and creating infrastructure around the world.”