Legal (Private Practice)

Recruitment into law firms across the Middle East remains consistently busy with the strongest candidates having options in a buoyant market.

Competition for top talent is high resulting in firms being more open to considering those from outside the region or paying outside of their usual pay-brackets to secure the best laterals on the market. The core areas of recruitment largely remain the same (i.e. Projects, Project Finance, Corporate (M&A and PE), Funds, Litigation) but with other practice areas such as Real Estate and Employment becoming increasingly areas of growth within the larger firms. 

Within the disputes space, there has been a shift from the demand for high level lawyers with experience within the construction space to those with experience within the investigations/WCC space which is deemed an area for further expansion across the UAE in particulr. 

With the emergence of new law firms within the Abu Dhabi market in particular, this has created a number of new legal opportunities within the capital where firms are looking to expand their newly formed teams or others (who are already in the market) are looking to keep pace.