Baker McKenzie UAE strengthens tax and arbitration practice | Newsroom

Baker McKenzie strengthens its tax and disputes practice in the UAE, recruiting leading partners in the fast-growing areas of VAT and international commercial arbitration.

The firm’s UAE offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, currently operating as Baker McKenzie LLP, continue to invest in the UAE, building on the firm’s primary transactional and advisory practice.

Tina Hsieh joins Baker McKenzie from EY, where she has been tasked with growing EY’s VAT practice in the Gulf region, following her success in this area at PwC. Tina qualified at EY Australia and spent several years on secondment in their Asia office before moving to the Middle East in 2017.

With the introduction of VAT in several jurisdictions in the Middle East, Tina is recognized as a key player with a number of major clients in the financial services industry and beyond. She dedicates her time to the market, working with other practice groups, leading forum groups and associations, and developing the region’s approach to VAT.

Luka Kristovic-Blazevic recently joined the firm from White & Case, where he was a partner in the firm’s Riyadh office. Luka started his career in 2005 as a trainee at White & Case Paris, where he also held associate and legal counsel positions, before moving to the Middle East, where he worked for several years in the Doha, Dubai and Riyadh offices.

Luka leads the Middle East arbitration practice and specializes in international commercial arbitration, with a particular focus on complex international construction disputes. He has extensive experience in arbitration proceedings conducted in various institutional arbitration centers (ICC, LCIA, DIAC and ICSID). Luka’s previous work includes arbitration proceedings, ADR and dispute avoidance in relation to projects such as nuclear power plants, airports, highways, hotels/resorts, petrochemical plants, ports and oil pipelines.

Commenting on the appointments, Baker McKenzie UAE Managing Partner Borys Dackiw said:

“As Baker McKenzie begins a new chapter in the UAE, we are very encouraged to welcome talented practitioners such as Tina and Luka to our practice. We continue to invest strategically in our people, while we also refocus on our key transactional and advisory businesses areas such as international arbitration and complex cross-border disputes. A key part of our service offering in the Middle East is leveraging the firm’s people and knowledge here and globally, for our international clients as well as local and regional clients with ambitious growth plans for profit. Has that changed.”