Less than four months after seeing its head of IP for the Middle East, South Asia and Africa, Joycia Young, defect to Clyde & Co, DLA Piper has lost yet another practice head in the Gulf. This time the lawyer treading the now well-worn path out of DLA’s Middle East practice is Rebecca Kelly, formerly head of the firm’s UAE law regulatory practice for the region.

Kelly will join Clydes as a Dubai-based partner in the firm’s nascent regulatory and compliance group. Kelly’s past experience involves advising on strategies for clients involved in, or potentially exposed to, litigation in the UAE. She has also been active in developing UAE regulatory compliance manuals for corporate covering a range of legal obligations and commercial applications, and specifically addressing anti-corruption, corporate governance confidentiality, document retention, and employee and employer obligations in the UAE. 

Kelly’s broader dispute resolution experience covers the full spectrum of contentious matters including pure contractual claims, termination of agency relationships and employee and shareholder disputes.

Kelly’s appointment follows the recent lateral hire of George Booth from Simmons & Simmons.ALB

Other related stories:

• Simmons & Simmons loses partner in ME projects practice (5 Oct 2010)
• Clyde & Co score two new laterals in the Gulf (17 Mar 2009)
• Clyde & Co on Gulf promotion spree (7 Jul 2010)