January 6, 2023
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP has expanded significantly in the Middle East, opening an Abu Dhabi office in Abu Dhabi Global Market and hiring a team of seven lawyers in the United Arab Emirates.
The new team includes three key partners in the Middle East: Renad Younes and Samuel Ogunlaja, who will join the new Abu Dhabi office, and Jade Chu, who will be based in Dubai. Renad is one of the highest-ranked attorneys in the region and is recognized as a leader Chambers M&A and energy.She is the only lawyer inducted into the UAE Oil, Gas and Natural Resources Hall of Fame The Legal 500 EMEA 2022.
The announcement follows the arrival of leading capital markets partner Marwan Elaraby at Gibson Dunn’s Dubai office last October. The firm also recently announced that it has promoted private equity attorney Hanna Chalhoub and international arbitration attorney Nooree Moola to its partnership in Dubai.
Commenting on this significant expansion, Gibson Dunn Chairman and Managing Partner Barbara Becker said: “Gibson Dunn has been doing business in the Middle East for over forty years, and Abu Dhabi’s evolution into a global center for energy, finance and commerce has led us to the opening of Abu Dhabi. Dhabi office. This is the latest exciting development for the company which sees great opportunity in the region and looks forward to continued growth.”
“We are committed to continuing to expand our work in the United Arab Emirates and the wider Middle East region and investing in this by hiring more top-notch lawyers and promoting our great talent internally.”‘
Leonard Younes
Younes advises companies, financial institutions and governments on international M&A transactions and project development. She focuses on the energy sector, including renewable energy and infrastructure, and has extensive experience in upstream, midstream and downstream sectors. She also has particular experience in structuring complex, regulated and market-oriented global joint ventures.
jade beads
Chu advises corporations, government entities, sponsors and financial institutions on corporate transactions, including domestic and cross-border public and private mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and equity capital markets transactions.
Samuel Ogunlaya
Ogunlaja focuses on project development and financing in the energy and infrastructure sectors. He advises sponsors, governments, government-owned entities and financial institutions on a wide range of corporate matters, including greenfield and brownfield project development, mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs, restructuring and capital markets transactions in the Middle East and Africa region.