Latham & Watkins has hired Islamic finance lawyer Mark Morris as an associate in the Dubai structured finance & securitisation practice.
Morris (pictured) joins from Norton Rose’s Dubai office where he spent four years as an associate advising Islamic banks on major Islamic finance and banking deals in the Middle East, including the US$2.1bn Kuwait Paraxylene Production Company aromatics project in Kuwait.
His appointment comes as Islamic finance continues to gain momentum around the world on the back of the adverse effect on conventional banks in the GFC. The fast-growing industry is expected to be worth up to US$4 trillion globally, according to Moody’s, a rating agency. Currently, the sector is worth US$700bn. Many non-Islamic nations – such as Japan, Korea and now France – are seeking opportunities to develop their local Islamic finance industries.
Latham & Watkins has been bolstering its Gulf offices by transferring lawyers to the Middle East, most recently including banking & finance lawyers Oliver Vermuelen and Phillip von Randow from the Paris and Frankfurt offices.
The firm currently has 36 lawyers spread across three regional offices, in Abu Dhabi, Doha and Dubai (see table).
Latham & Watkins Middle East scope
|
Office
|
Total lawyers
|
Partners
|
|
Abu Dhabi
|
6
|
1
|
|
Doha
|
11
|
3
|
|
Dubai
|
19
|
5
|
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