Clyde & Co. strengthens regional partner team

These additions will further strengthen Clyde & Co.'s presence in the Middle East and its commitment to providing its clients with the highest quality of legal services and solutions.

Clyde & Co. currently employs over 100 lawyers and paralegals in offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha making it the largest international law firm in the GCC.

The firm plans to further increase its number of partners from 19 to 25 and will recruit a further 50 associates within the next 12 months.

Rob Deans has been promoted from Associate to the position of Equity Partner, and heads up the firm's intellectual property practice.

Rob joined the team, which is now widely regarded as the leading IP practice in the region, in 2003.

His practice covers all aspects of IP, both contentious and non-contentious, with the range of work covered by the team extending to registration work relating to trade marks, patents and copyright, brand enforcement and anti-piracy, high technology work (particularly in relation to life-sciences and pharmaceuticals) and the commercial exploitation of IP (particularly in the fields of sports and media).

Rob is ranked as a 'leading lawyer' in the Chambers Global (2008) legal directory.

Alexis Waller has also been appointed to Equity Partner, from Associate, in Clyde & Co's real estate & property division.

Alexis joined Clyde & Co in 2003, and relocated to the Dubai office in 2005.

She handles a wide range of commercial property work including acquisition, management and sales of development sites, investment acquisitions and disposals, hotel development, retail and industrial leasing and commercial property transfers.

Alexis is also ranked as a 'leading lawyer' in Chambers Global.

Hamish Walton* has been laterally appointed to join Clyde & Co.'s corporate and finance teams. Hamish joins the Dubai office from Baker & McKenzie where he was a partner based in Melbourne, Australia.

Recent deals for Hamish have included acting as lead partner for DaimlerChrysler on the Australian aspect of the sale of the Chrysler business; acting as lead partner on the complete restructuring of the Trans-urban Group of Companies, Australia's largest toll road operator and owner with a market capitalization of approximately AU$7bn; and acting as lead partner for Macquarie Bank, Australia's largest investment bank on a number of significant capital market transactions.

James O'Shea has transferred to Dubai from Clyde & Co's London office where he is chair of Clyde & Co.'s regulatory group and is a prominent partner in Clyde & Co.'s corporate insurance practice.

He has extensive experience of corporate and commercial transactions of all types involving both public and private companies.

Recent deals James has advised on include GMAC Insurance on its £170m acquisition of Provident Insurance; Mutability Operations on its £1.6bn insurance cover arrangements for one of the world's biggest rental car fleets; and on the first cash demutualisation/MBO of a UK friendly society.

James is also one of the authors of 'Demutualisation' in the Sweet and Maxwell 'Law and Tax' series.

Michael Grose has been promoted from Equity Partner to Senior Equity Partner. Michael heads Clyde & Co's projects, infrastructure and construction across the Middle East.

He has been based in Clyde & Co.'s Dubai office for 10 years, prior to which he spent 5 years as a construction lawyer in the UK.

Michael is involved in many of the regions' largest projects, including the Burj Dubai and Dubai World Central, a new six runway airport city on the outskirts of Dubai.

Michael is ranked as a 'leading lawyer' in the Chambers Global (2008) legal directory.