Lawyers in United Arab Emirates

Shiraz Khan

Partner, Head of Taxation

Al Tamimi & Company

Shiraz Sethi

Shiraz Sethi is the regional head of employment based in Dentons’ Dubai office. He joined Dentons in 2020 and has more than 14 years of experience working on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious employment law matters. He has worked with multinational clients in a variety of sectors, including technology, media and telecommunications, professional services, financial services, insurance and energy. Shiraz provides advice on all aspects of employment law, including recruitment, termination, terms and conditions of employment (benefits, bonuses and remuneration), restrictive covenants, team moves and terminations, and is a specialist in complex workplace investigations. Shiraz’s practice also covers matters involving fraud, bribery and corruption as well as employee misconduct claims. Shiraz assists on jurisdictional projects (including covering restructures, sales of a business as a going concern and employee status issues) as well as issues arising out of employee mobilisation and international assignments. He regularly presents at seminars and workshops as part of Dentons’ regular client training programme and at external events organised by various business councils, HR consultancy firms and other freezone authorities, including DIFC, DMCC and JAFZA. He is acknowledged as a leading individual for employment law and is ranked in the UAE by both Chambers and Partners and Legal 500. His robust experience and achievement in the industry has also led him to win the Young Lawyer of the Year Award and Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year. More recently, he was recognised by Lexis Nexis Middle East as a leader in HR and Employment and was subsequently appointed to the Board of the Lexis Nexis HR Middle East Journal. He is also regularly quoted in publications such as The National, Gulf News and Arabian Business and has regularly appeared on Dubai Eye Radio as well as making several television appearances with Asharq Business News, Dubai One and CNBC. Shiraz has been involved in shaping the legislative landscape for the UAE. He was retained by the Chief Justice of the DIFC Courts to draft the first commentary on the DIFC Employment Law. He was subsequently mandated on an exclusive basis by the Chief Legal Officer of the DIFC Authority to draft the new DIFC Employment Law. Shiraz was also invited to participate in an exclusive committee to draft the DIFC Presidential Directive during COVID-19. In addition, Shiraz and his team were asked to draft similar COVID-19 provisions for the DMCC. Shiraz has also recently been retained by another GCC jurisdiction to assist with the legislative drafting and reform of their existing labour laws. More recently, he was asked to review the employment ecosystem for JAFZA which included a review of its entire suite of employment contracts, policies and procedures and was supplemented with training to key stakeholders within the senior leadership team. Shiraz is consistently recognised as a leading lawyer in his field. Some of his clients say: “Having worked with all of the top law firms and lawyers, Shiraz ranks far above his peers, and is clearly a leader in his field”, “Shiraz is an outstanding lawyer. He has encyclopaedic knowledge, coupled with a reasoned, practical approach. Overall simply the best in class”, “I believe he is the best employment lawyer in the market.

Dentons

Shivangi Bhasin

Associate

MRP Advisory LLC

Shriya Mishra

Associate

MRP Advisory LLC

Shwini Dsouza

Associate

Stephenson Harwood Middle East LLP

Simon Fraser

Partner

King & Spalding LLP

Simon Green

Partner, Head of Asia

Charles Russell Speechlys LLP

Simon Shooter

Simon is the Head of Country for Saudi Arabia, the Head of TMT for the Middle East, and he established the international cyber-security team back in 2010.

Bird & Bird

Slava Kiryushin

Partner

HFW

Sleiman Jorr

Global Advocacy and Legal Counsel

Sonia Abdul-Rahman

Partner

White & Case LLP

Sophia Cafoor-Camps

Associate

King & Spalding LLP

Sphurti Dalodria

Associate

Audiri Vox

Stefan Mrozinski

Stefan Mrozinski is a partner in Paul Hastings’ Corporate Department, based in Abu Dhabi. He advises corporates, government-related entities, sovereign wealth funds, private equity investors and family offices on mergers and acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures, restructurings and corporate governance. He has particular experience in the infrastructure (especially data centers and telecoms), energy, power, natural resources and tech sectors. Ranked Band 1 in consecutive editions of Chambers and recognized as a “Leading Partner”/“Next Generation Partner” in multiple editions of Legal 500, Stefan is also rated in IFLR1000 as a “notable practitioner” for M&A. Clients have commented to Chambers Global that “Stefan is an excellent lawyer … technically very capable and competent”; he is “[V]ery bright, exceptionally hard-working and commercial, [he] is a highly responsive and commercially aware lawyer”; and he “makes sure he delivers, and he works relentlessly in order to do so.” Stefan was shortlisted for Legal 500’s Middle East and North Africa “Next Generation Partner of the Year” Award 2024. Legal 500 has praised Stefan as “outstanding,” “instrumental,” “excellent to work with” and “a standout partner … [t]here is simply no one better for high stakes M&A/commercial work in the region,” that his “deep understanding of the M&A landscape combined with his strategic thinking means he has a workable solution for even the most complex matter” and he has the “ability to provide strategic and practical advice on complex legal issues.”

Paul Hastings LLP

Stephen Ballantine

Senior Counsel

Galadari Advocates & Legal Consultants

Stephen Burke

Partner

Addleshaw Goddard

Stephen Knight

Stephen Knight is a partner and co-head of the Middle East Banking and Finance practice in Dentons' Abu Dhabi office. He has 18 years' experience of working on a wide range of finance matters, including advising grantors, sponsors/borrowers and lenders on finance transactions and he regularly advises on both finance documents (conventional and Islamic) and commercial contracts. He has experience across a range of different sectors, including infrastructure/BOT/PPP transactions (especially in the healthcare, education and retail, leisure and hospitality sectors) and also power (renewable and thermal) and water financings. Stephen advises on English law and UAE law transactions. Stephen is ranked Band 2 in Chambers Global Guide 2024 for Banking and Finance and ranked as "Highly Regarded" by IFLR1000 2024/5 for Project Finance and Banking and Finance.

Dentons

Stephen McKenna

Stephen McKenna has been working in the Middle East region since 2009, focusing mainly on the UAE. He specializes in mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate structuring/restructuring and local corporate regulatory issues across various sectors, including aviation, healthcare and industry. His clients range from SMEs to blue chip companies, local and international, and government-related entities. As a former in-house group legal counsel, Stephen provides his clients with legal solutions to real commercial issues.

Dentons

Steven Worthington

Partner

White & Case LLP

Stuart James

Partner

Ashurst LLP

Stuart Paterson

Managing Partner, Dubai

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP

Stuart Ure

Stuart Ure specialises in structured finance and conventional and Islamic debt capital markets across the GCC (including Saudi Arabia) and Turkey.

Clifford Chance

Stuart Walker

Partner

Afridi & Angell Legal Consultants

Suditi Surana

Associate

Stephenson Harwood Middle East LLP