- Middle East
- Big Law Weekly
Week covered: 28 September – 4 October 2026 · Back to the week page
The week's Gulf news turned on investment funds and corporate partners, the two practices closest to sovereign capital. James Burdett, who led Baker McKenzie's Middle East and Africa Funds Group, left as the firm's third practice-group head to depart since late August, which Law.com International framed as a Middle East retention problem.
Burdett did not stay off the market. He resurfaced at Ashurst Perkins Coie as head of investment funds for the Middle East and Africa in Abu Dhabi, The Oath reported, a single move that took a practice head from Baker McKenzie to a direct competitor.
James Burdett leaves Baker McKenzie for Ashurst Perkins Coie in Abu Dhabi
The move follows a surge in regional sovereign capital. MENA sovereign wealth funds are forecast to invest $136bn across 327 deals in 2026, down from a $176bn peak in 2025 but still their second-busiest year on record, per AGBI, with Abu Dhabi's Mubadala the most active Gulf investor over the first nine months at $26.2bn.
Those funds hold more private capital than their peers. Middle East sovereign investors allocate 43 per cent of their exposure to private markets against 35 per cent for global peers, Executive Moves reported, the demand that firms advising on fund formation and outward deployment are chasing. Baker McKenzie has continued to invest in the Gulf despite the exits, adding a banking and finance partner in January.
Linklaters adds Clyde & Co's Almarzouki in Riyadh as US firms open there
Linklaters announced that Mohammed Almarzouki, a Clyde & Co corporate partner with more than a decade advising on M&A and joint ventures, joined its Riyadh practice on 1 October, Law.com International reported. He is the firm's second Middle East lateral this year, following the departure of its former Saudi managing partner, as it rebuilds a Riyadh corporate bench around Vision 2030 deal flow, per Legalcommunity MENA.
The Riyadh build-out runs wider than one firm. Morgan Lewis opened a Riyadh office on 3 November 2025, and Bird & Bird and Reed Smith both opened there across 2025, part of a run of US and international firms establishing on-the-ground Saudi presence chronicled by AGBI. Clyde & Co, which lost Almarzouki, has seen partner mobility across the Gulf, with departures to DWF and CMS tracked by Legalcommunity MENA.
Pinsent Masons and Covington name leaders and partners in Abu Dhabi and Dubai
Pinsent Masons appointed William Reichert, a corporate partner with more than 30 years advising multinational corporations, private equity sponsors, institutional investors and founders, as head of its Abu Dhabi office, The Oath reported. The firm pointed to its 20-year UAE presence, with Middle East head Catherine Workman calling Abu Dhabi one of the most exciting global markets today.
Covington promoted 15 lawyers to partner across five offices, among them Marc Norman in Dubai, Pulse 2.0 reported. Norman is a project development and finance lawyer active in Middle East data-center work. Energy and infrastructure are a second Gulf growth line alongside funds and corporate. Read more.
Squire Patton Boggs and DSK Legal advise on sovereign and cross-border deals
The deal flow matched the hiring. Squire Patton Boggs advised sovereign-wealth fund Arab Invest on acquiring a 15 per cent stake, worth $37.5m, in regional healthcare operator AKDITAL KSA, alongside AKDITAL Group and private equity firm Mediterrania Capital Partners, The Oath reported.
DSK Legal and Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu advised Japanese logistics group KRS Corporation on acquiring a majority stake in Coldrush Logistics, a deal that involved a secondary purchase from UAE-based shareholder Hydra Commercial Investments, Law.asia reported.
Fasken reshuffles South African leadership as BonelliErede reviews the UAE Civil Code
Across the broader region, Fasken named pensions partner Ludwig Frahm-Arp to lead its South African team and rehired finance partner Bontle Bopape less than a year after she left for an in-house role, Law.com International reported.
On the technical side, Letizia Santin of BonelliErede examined how the new UAE Civil Code, Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025 which entered into force on 1 June 2026, reshapes construction arbitration across hardship, termination, liquidated damages and risk allocation, The Oath reported.
Read together, the week's moves point to one source of demand. A funds head lost by one firm and gained by another in Abu Dhabi, a corporate lateral into Riyadh behind a run of new Saudi offices, and office and partner appointments across Abu Dhabi and Dubai all sit on the same sovereign capital that AGBI measures in the hundreds of billions, concentrated in the private-market and project work those lawyers advise on.
The full list of the week's moves is on the Middle East week page.
