The Legal 500

Al Tamimi & Company is particularly valued for its ‘local contacts and experience dealing with government entities’. David Yates heads the TMT group, within which team Philip Brazeau takes the lead on telecoms matters, providing ‘excellent cross-jurisdictional knowledge’. The practice recently advised Comba Telecom on creating a major in-building infrastructure agreement with Etisalat. It is primary UAE legal counsel to Yahoo! Maktoob.

Allen & Overy LLP fields a ‘high-calibre’ TMT practice with ‘strong depth in the region’, and is a frequent presence on the most prominent TMT transactions in the UAE and the broader GCC. On the telecoms front, it advised Al Khair National for Stocks and Real Estate Company LLC on its proposed $12bn sale of a 51% stake in Mobile Telecommunications Company to Etisalat. Abu Dhabi based Tom Levine heads the practice, and is ‘very focused on achieving targeted solutions and outcomes for his clients’.

DLA Piper Middle East LLP’s TMT practice is ‘excellent, with on-the-ground local law knowledge that many other international firms lack’, despite Matt Glynn’s relocation to Hong Kong. Ken Dearsley now heads the Middle East IP and TMT practice, and newly promoted partner Paul Allen is valued for his ‘responsiveness, commerciality and client-facing approach’. Clients include Accenture, Etihad Airways and Infosys.

Clyde & Co LLP provides ‘excellent value for money, and pitches its advice at the right level’ for a sophisticated client base. The team advised Motorola on MENA-region aspects of the global separation of its consumer business from its professional arm, and on the $975m sale of its worldwide networks business to Nokia Siemens Network. Practice head Anthony Garrod is ‘a senior statesman in the region’.

Under the leadership of Lenka Glynn, Pinsent Masons’ emergent TMT practice has gone from strength to strength, thanks in part to a full MENA-region capability that attracts clients such as Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance and Alumco. The team’s regulatory expertise saw it advise ictQATAR on a national framework governing data protection and privacy for Qatar during 2011.

Simmons & Simmons Middle East LLP’s Alexander Shepherd has a formidable reputation as an expert on TMT and IP aspects of corporate transactions. This is the team which advised Tiger Global Management on the disposal of Maktoob, the Gulf’s largest Arabic language internet portal, to Yahoo! in 2009.

TheRightsLawyers is a boutique outfit with a strong reputation in the market. It attracts a broad range of international clients seeking advice on commercial matters.

Hadef & Partners’ TMT practice provides commercial and regulatory advice to clients such as Cisco Capital and LG Electronics. Commercial team head Michael Lunjevich advised Akamai Technologies on its network partnership agreements with several UAE telecoms providers.

Khasawneh & Associates (in association with Eversheds KSLG)’s absorption of Nasser Ali Khasawneh’s Dubai-based practice gave it a significant boost in the TMT sector, thanks to Khasawneh’s longstanding reputation in TMT-related M&A. Clients include Microsoft.

Dino Wilkinson’s relocation to Norton Rose (Middle East) LLP’s Abu Dhabi office means it now provides on-the-ground TMT expertise, and the team is already gaining praise for its ‘good industry knowledge and global experience’. In 2011, it advised ADS Securities, an Abu Dhabi based brokerage and trade services provider, on the procurement of an online trading platform from Squared Financial.

SNR Denton strengthened its practice by bringing in Joby Beretta, who now heads the TMT team, which displays ‘reliability and an excellent level of service’. Its heavyweight clients include Intel and the UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.