Akin Gump appoints disputes team in Dubai

Akin Gump appoints disputes team in Dubai

Leading the team is Graham Lovett, Middle East ex-disputes practice head at Gibson Dunn

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld has hired a team of dispute lawyers from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher to strengthen its arbitration and litigation practices in Dubai

Senior counsel Ryan Whelan and associates Michael Stewart and Sophia Cafoor-Camps, are also joining the firm, together with the former leader of Gibson Dunn's Middle East disputes practice, Graham Lovett.

Lovett is an experienced litigator who handles litigation and arbitration matters and he brings with him almost three decades of dispute resolution experience in joint ventures, shareholder disputes, banking and finance and theft claims.

In an interview with Akin Gump, Kim Koopersmith said: "Graham and his team have extraordinary reputations in the Middle East and abroad for their work with international arbitrations and disputes. Their experience and geographical location complement our strategic priorities perfectly."

Koopersmith stressed the firm is committed to further expanding its international conflicts capabilities, with Lovett and his team's arrival fitting in with the firm's strategy to continue to expand in the Middle East.

Lovett spent nine years as a partner in Clifford Chance's Dubai office, working a total of more than two decades at the Magic Circle firm. Since joining Gibson Dunn, he has spent just over six years there. Since he has been living in the UAE for 18 years, he has held the position of chairman of the Legislative Committee of the Dubai International Financial Centre, as well as a director of the Dubai International Arbitration Centre.

"Graham is widely recognized as one of the leading dispute lawyers in the Middle East," said Mahmoud Fadlallah, partner in charge of Akin Gump's Dubai office. Our dispute and investigation practices are strategically expanding not only in the UAE and throughout the Middle East but worldwide as well, with the addition of his team. Graham and his team have immense experience and skill and we expect our clients to benefit greatly from that."

With the addition of this team, the firm now has four partners and approximately 15 lawyers across Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Earlier this month, US peer Vinson & Elkins hired Hogan Lovells' Nabeel Ikram as a disputes partner to bolster its commercial litigation practice in Dubai. This occurred just days after Vinson's former Dubai managing partner Amir Ghaffari parted ways with the firm to create his own boutique disputes firm and take five lawyers with him.

Raza Mithani, a former partner in Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner's Dubai office, left the firm in January 2022 to start his own disputes and investigations business.

Gibson Dunn will remain in Dubai with six attorneys, according to the firm's website, after the departure of Lovett and his team.

Barbara Becker, the firm's senior partner, told Law.com earlier this month that she planned a trip to Dubai and had ambitions of expanding the firm's international offices.

The former Gibson Dunn Dubai disputes partner Peter Gray, who has been struck off from the British legal profession for lying to London's High Court, lost his appeal this month as well.