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Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance

United Arab Emirates

Our team of over 80 lawyers advises clients on domestic, regional, and international matters and have delivered many first-of-a-kind deals. We opened our first UAE office in 1975 and are well known for innovative, market-leading work.

A sizeable team with a proven track record

We've advised clients in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for over 40 years, significantly longer than many other international law firms. We have in-house Arabic capability, and, in contrast to many other firms, we can advise on both English and UAE law.

Our offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are permanently staffed by over 80 lawyers. We base lawyers in the UAE, rather than bringing in out-of-region lawyers to resource complex transactions, because we believe that clients get the best results from teams who are familiar with the region's laws, languages, and business processes.

The size of our UAE team and our close links with the firm's other Middle East offices mean that we can quickly put together strong in-region teams who can work efficiently on complex domestic, regional, and international deals. These teams are used to working together and with specialist lawyers from the firm's international network.

We advise many financial institutions, corporations and government entities on regional matters and regularly deliver complex regional and international transactions.

Recent highlights

Recent work

Directory and client comments

Directory listings

Chambers Global: UAE, 2024

  • Band One in Banking & Finance
  • Band One in Capital Markets
  • Band One in Corporate/M&A
  • Band Three in Dispute Resolution
  • Band One in FinTech Legal
  • Band Three in Construction
  • Band One in Restructuring/Insolvency
  • Band Two in Real Estate

 

Legal 500: UAE, 2023

  • Tier One in Banking & Finance (including Islamic Lending)
  • Tier One in Financial Services Regulation
  • Tier One in Capital Markets
  • Tier One in Commercial, Corporate and M&A
  • Tier One in Projects and Energy/Infrastructure
  • Tier Two in Dispute Resolution
  • Tier Two in Construction
  • Tier Two in Oil, Gas and Natural Resources
  • Tier Three in Real Estate

Client comments

  • "Truly outstanding. They are my preferred go-to for anything complicated and sophisticated, because they will always come up with a workable solution.'
    Chambers Global: UAE, 2023 (Banking & Finance)
  • "It is a leading full-service law firm with a client-driven, proactive approach, and the lawyers are accountable and reliable."
    Chambers Global: UAE, 2023 (Construction)
  • "Clifford Chance knows the client inside out and can accommodate one-off urgent input with complete reliability."
    Legal 500: UAE, 2023 (Capital Markets)
  • "They're always able to maintain a quality service regardless of what else is going on, and cover issues ranging from investigation approach to litigation."
    Chambers Global: UAE, 2023 (Dispute Resolution)
  • "The team at Clifford Chance are unfailingly supportive and I very much consider them to be an extension of our in-house legal function due to their in-depth knowledge.“
    Chambers Global: UAE, 2023 (Real Estate)
  • "The team is knowledgeable, flexible, and sees matters through to obtain the right outcome."
    Chambers Global: UAE, 2023 (Fintech Legal)
  •  "Clifford Chance has one of the strongest Islamic finance practices of any law firm, covering the key Islamic finance markets, products and structures. A full-service firm in this practice area."
    Chambers Global: Middle East, 2023 (Islamic Finance)

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