Lawyers lured by partnership promises to jump ship may not be on the best career route, despite the thriving market conditions in the Gulf. Clifford Chance’s managing partner in Dubai, Graham Lovett, told ALB that the game of musical chairs – as lawyers move from one firm to another – does not translate to a higher quality of work by the lawyer or the firm.

“Some start-up operations have new or lateral hires from other firms. You can get very good lawyers, but the process must be managed properly such that the lawyers are culturally aligned to the firm’s standards and management style. If not, the quality drops off,” said Lovett.

He added that a lawyer in Clifford Chance will “typically make partner within seven to 10 years” in the job. But with the buoyant market conditions in the Gulf, lawyers are making partner within five years. “Sometimes this can be slightly too early for the course of events. The work here is getting more sophisticated. Experience in getting and doing these deals takes time to build up, as with the transition into being a partner,” said Lovett.

In recent months, many international law firms have set up shop in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, hoping to capture their share of the Gulf pie as economies in the UK and US slow down. Partners are parachuting in, while other lawyers are lured to other firms by the partnership promise. In one case, an entire team comprising three finance experts left to join another firm, leaving a big gap in one of the most profitable practice areas of their former firm.

Magic Circle firms such as Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer each billed in excess of US$1.85bn last year in the UK. Clifford Chance’s UK operations recorded a turnover of US$2.45bn, closely followed by Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. The going still looks good, but the impact of the economic slowdown is slowly being felt as law firms continue to look to the Middle East for deep pockets.

“The big firms like Lovells, Linklaters and Freshfields target the clients they want, and are looking to do bigger and more complex deals. Others set up representative offices here and have lawyers on the ground to pass off work to their offices in the UK, US or Asia. They will struggle to make it work,” said Lovett.

Magic Circle firm Clifford Chance set up operations in Dubai in 2005 and its Abu Dhabi office in June. Lovett said that the firm’s Dubai office has 85 fee-earners that operate at 100% utilisation and that it was six times more profitable than when it first started.

“We will continue to grow our practice as a leading international law firm in the Middle East and maintain our distance from the pack, in the likes of Allen & Overy, Linklaters and Freshfields. I would like to think we can stay ahead of them. It requires bloody hard work and that’s what we will continue to do,” said Lovett.