Akin Gump’s Dubai Office Returns to Dubai International Financial Centre

(Dubai, UAE) – Akin Gump is pleased to announce that, effective September 20, 2020, the firm has moved into new office space in ICD Brookfield Place in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The DIFC is Dubai’s global financial center and was the location for Akin Gump’s first office in the UAE in 2007.

The office’s new address is ICD Brookfield Place, Level 10, Al Mustaqbal Street, Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Akin Gump now occupies space totalling 4,350 square feet in the state-of-the-art building. Designed by world-renowned architects Foster + Partners, the development comprises 990,000 square feet of Grade A office space and 160,000 square feet of retail space.

Akin Gump Dubai partner in charge, Mahmoud (Mac) Fadlallah commented, “In 2007, the DIFC licensed Akin Gump as the first U.S. law firm in what has since become one of the world’s leading financial free zones. This move marks the next exciting chapter for the firm in its original UAE home. We look forward to welcoming our clients and colleagues in what will make an ideal office environment both now and in the future.”

ICD Brookfield Place is not only conveniently located and enjoys modern design, but it has also been engineered with the changing times in which we are living in mind by making a top priority the health and safety of those working or visiting the building. It maintains the highest standards of cleanliness aided by innovative technology that ensures occupants can enter the building and travel to their office floors without touching any surfaces. It is also equipped with state-of-the-art air filtration systems that combine increased fresh air with ultraviolet treatment to protect against the spread of infection. Finally, the building has been awarded the highest sustainability rating, LEED Platinum, by the U.S. Green Building Council, making it the tallest and largest building with this rating in the MENA region.

Akin Gump’s Dubai office advises public and private sector clients across a range of practice areas including: energy, oil and gas, antibribery and anticorruption, sanctions, export controls and other compliance and investigations matters, debt and equity capital markets, Islamic and conventional finance, corporate M&A, public policy, investment funds and dispute resolution, as well as construction and engineering, cybersecurity, entertainment and other economic activity in the region. 

Last year, the firm welcomed finance and capital markets partner Rizwan Kanji to the Dubai office. The Dubai team has been very active on numerous first-of-its-kind transactions, including advising on a deal named Export Finance Deal of the Year at the Bonds, Loans & Sukuk Dubai Awards, 2020 (learn more here) and on a project financing recognized as the Global Multilateral Deal of the Year at the PFI Awards, 2019 (learn more here), as well as being shortlisted for both Financial Institutions Bond Deal of the Year and Islamic Finance Deal of the Year (learn more here).

Further details on the new building can be found here, and details of Akin Gump’s place as the first U.S. law firm to open in Dubai’s DIFC are here.

A high-resolution photograph of the new building is accessible here, with others available on request, and a video of Akin Gump’s new office can be found here.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 900 lawyers and advisors in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Founded in 1945, the firm is proudly celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2020. #AkinGump75

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