The growth and vitality of the UAE economy is presenting new and exciting opportunities for business both nationally and internationally. In order to respond to these opportunities and thrive in a globally competitive environment, businesses and management need commercially astute and pragmatic advice from their legal team. Through an in-depth understanding of our clients’ business, and listening to what they want to achieve, we are able to deliver this.
Our Corporate & Commercial team has expertise in all aspects of commercial and corporate law and regulation, based on technical skills and qualifications, substantial experience and knowledge that is constantly being updated. We provide the solutions and services to enable our clients to develop new markets and grow existing ones effectively. Our lawyers have in-depth knowledge of the regulatory, compliance and transaction regimes, and their advice always takes account of our clients’ strategic and operational needs.
Our lawyers have extensive experience advising companies on capital raisings and listings. We offer our clients a comprehensive range of services from project managing the capital raising and listing process, to assisting with complex technical aspects, including tax and corporate governance.
Corporate & Commercial
Our Corporate & Commercial team is highly respected in the market and advises on:
- Mergers and acquisitions, and corporate reconstructions
- Fundraising
- Compliance and risk management
- Corporate governance
- Takeovers
- Joint ventures
- Corporations Act
- Due diligence investigations
- Private equity
- Capital raisings
- Contracts
Dispute Resolution & Litigation
Being involved in a dispute can disrupt your business and your life. We aim to give our clients a prompt, thorough assessment of their position, the various options available to them, and recommend a strategy to achieve a timely, commercial and cost-effective solution. We work hard to understand our clients’ business, to allow us to assess legal risks to attempt to identify problems and disputes before they arise.
Proceeding in court is not always the best commercial solution. We actively promote alternative dispute resolution processes including mediation, conciliation and arbitration, and have achieved exceptional results for our clients using these strategies. Where litigation is unavoidable, we are experienced in running large and complex litigation matters, and will swiftly and rigorously pursue it. Where a court or tribunal hearing is required, we actively manage the litigation process with a view to reducing the size, complexity and cost of the hearing, without compromising our client’s interests.
Our Dispute Resolution & Litigation team operates in all jurisdictions in UAE , Egypt and Austria, and works closely with our Corporate & Commercial, Banking & Finance, and Tax teams to provide our clients with commercially oriented advice that addresses specific business objectives and takes into account broader industry issues.
Our approach to dispute resolution encourages early intervention and sensitivity to costs, both in terms of legal fees and client time and effort. We focus on your commercial interests at risk in the dispute and advise on alternative strategies in an effort to protect and advance those interests.
We offer clients the highest quality of legal advice across the following areas:
- Alternative dispute resolution, including arbitration and mediation
- Complex, multi-party litigation
- Competition and consumer law
- Class actions
- Enforcing your IP rights
- Project management and dispute resolution (particularly for large, complex litigation)
- Insurance litigation (including product liability)
- Building and construction disputes
- Tax litigation
- Intellectual property, copyright, trade marks, computers and software
- Defamation
- Corporations law and securities
Insolvency, Recovery & Restructuring
Our Insolvency, Recovery & Restructuring lawyers are responsive, outcome-oriented, and understand what action is required to achieve the best possible outcomes for our clients. We understand that the early involvement of skilled insolvency lawyers is often critical to the survival, recovery or salvage of a business.
Through our affiliations with leading specialist insolvency and accounting firms, we are able to recommend those that can best service our clients’ business and circumstances. We also have affiliations with international workout specialists and lawyers in relation to international insolvency.
Our team has complementary skills and a strong commercial acumen, and works closely with our Corporate & Commercial, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Tax and Banking & Finance teams to provide a full-service and cost effective approach on a range of technical legal issues including:
- Receiverships, workouts, bankruptcy and liquidation
- Corporate reconstructions
- Voluntary administrations
- Securities enforcement
- Corporate fraud investigation and asset tracing
- Schemes of arrangement
- Cross-border insolvency work
- Enforcing the rights of secured creditors
- Insolvency litigation and dispute resolution, including investigations and preference recoveries
- Leasing advice and lessor recoveries
- Debt recovery and enforcement
- Tax asset protection and superannuation advice
- Insolvency risk management and minimization
- Contracts and commercial disputes
- Administrative law
- Property and development disputes
- Insolvency and reconstructions
Intellectual Property
Trademarks, trade dress, patents, designs, copyright and confidential information are critical assets of many organizations. It is vital that these assets are carefully identified, preserved and protected. Our experienced, focused Law firm “ M.A. Intellectual Properties & Rights Management ” with our clients in the key areas of identification, protection, management, commercialization and enforcement of their intellectual property.
Making the most of intellectual property requires careful identification and management of ownership and exploitation opportunities. It also requires robust procedures for enforcing and defending intellectual property claims. Our intellectual property management services include maintaining a detailed database of our clients’ trademarks, designs and other intellectual property and policing key deadlines.
We advise our clients on securing, maintaining and enforcing their intellectual property rights in GCC and overseas. We negotiate and document agreements on all aspects of the use, commercialization and transfer of intellectual property rights. We understand the importance of integrating commercial and dispute resolution skills to provide a holistic approach to managing our clients’ intellectual property and have extensive experience advising clients on commercialization strategies.
When the need arises to vigorously defend our clients’ rights, our Intellectual Property team works closely with our Dispute Resolution & Litigation team to offer our clients both litigious and commercial solutions to intellectual property issues.
We represent clients in contentious and non-contentious matters involving trademarks, trade dress, copyright, designs, patents and the related areas of confidential information, passing off and misleading or deceptive conduct.
We have an international network of experienced intellectual property agents to assist us in providing our clients with excellent intellectual property services throughout the world.
Our Intellectual Property team offers the following key legal services:
- Worldwide trade mark, patent and design searches and watches
- Worldwide trade mark and design registration services
- Advice on all forms of intellectual property protection and allied rights
- Representation in trade mark oppositions, removal actions and other proceedings before the Registrar of Trade Marks
- Drafting and negotiating license agreements, assignments and other agreements involving all forms of intellectual property
- Drafting and advising on confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements
- Conducting due diligence and intellectual property audits
- Conducting litigation relating to all forms of intellectual property and allied rights
- Advice on competition and consumer law issues relating to intellectual property
- Conducting intellectual property and trade practices training and creating training DVDs
- Advice on confidential information, trade secrets, copyright ownership and enforcement and moral rights issues
- Advice on tax effective restructuring of intellectual property assets
Mergers & Acquisitions
Our Mergers & Acquisitions team is one of the most respected in Europe. We have a strong record of being involved in some of the most complex public company takeovers, takeover defenses, capital raising, acquisitions, mergers and reconstructions in Austria.
Many of the transactions that we work on involve multiple jurisdictions. We work in dedicated cross-functional client teams bringing a wide range of legal experience and industry knowledge to each deal. This integrated approach gives you access to complementary areas of law including competition, financial services, tax, dispute resolution and workplace relations and employment.
In transactional work, it is especially important to achieve pragmatic business outcomes, always considering the client’s priorities and commercial sensitivities. The key to our success in mergers and acquisitions is the size of our team, our energy as committed dynamic professionals and our positive attitude to driving our clients towards their desired commercial outcomes.
Our depth of experience and market knowledge means clients trust us to find practical solutions in their merger and acquisition deals, whatever the value.
Our client base includes listed corporations, large private companies, private equity funds and venture capitalists.
We provide practical, realistic advice designed to give our clients the commercial edge, with a focus on:
- Acquisitions and disposals
- Due diligence
- Vendor due diligence
- Transaction documentation, negotiation and drafting
- Tax structuring
- Venture capital
- Shareholder buyouts
- Management buyouts
Property & Development
We understand that property law involves much more than simply selling and buying. Our team of property experts assists our clients in all aspects of property legal advice – from simple transactions to large, complex development projects.
Our team of pragmatic and outcome-focused people combines strong technical legal skills and sound industry experience with a commercial and innovative approach to our clients’ needs. We work closely with our clients to understand their business. We draw on the broad experience of other teams in the firm such as our Tax, Construction & Infrastructure, Banking & Finance, Corporate & Commercial and Mergers & Acquisitions teams, to enable us to assemble a team of specialists to address a wide range of property issues and projects, whilst being able to meet tight deadlines and achieve the best possible commercial outcome, in the most cost effective manner.
Our Property & Development team advises on the development of properties, landmark urban renewal projects, residential land, strata and community title, industrial estates, commercial buildings, shopping centers, golf courses, hotels, clubs and rural properties.
Our clients include multi-national corporations with extensive real estate holdings, federal and state government development authorities, listed and unlisted property trusts and privately held property developers.
We have a strong track record of providing client focused, strategic and commercially practical advice in the following areas:
- Acquisitions and disposals
- Contract negotiations and preparation
- Commercial, industrial and retail leasing
- Property development
- Property management and maintenance
- Property issues for government
- Property due diligence
- Construction
- Community/strata titling
- Environmental issues
- Stamp duty, Goods and Services Tax (GST) and other property based taxes
- Property support for corporate and commercial transactions
- Planning advice
- Property dispute resolution
- Land divisions
- Joint ventures
- Property financing
- Corporate real estate