DLA Kuwait, Bahrain head to quit
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The office managing partner of DLA Piper’s Kuwait and Bahrain offices - Alex Saleh - is to leave the firm.
Alex Saleh
Saleh, who launched the Kuwaiti office in October 2008 through a joint venture with Al Wagayan Al Awadhi & Al Saif ( 13 October 2008) and the Bahraini office earlier this month (1 June 2008), has been replaced in the role by a Kuwaiti laywer - Abdulaziz Al Yaqout.
Al Yaqout was parachuted in to run both Kuwait and Bahrain from Cologne, where he was based since 2004 when he first established that German office.
This news follows DLA Piper’s move between three different local sponsors in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the course of six months (26 January 2009) and two rounds of job cuts at the firm’s offices in the region (18 June 2009).
A Kuwait-based lawyer at another firm said: “This is just a replay of Riyadh and other jurisdictions…none of the resources [Saleh] thought he’d get to bolster a local practice happened.”
The Kuwait office currently has 11 lawyers, according to DLA Piper.
David Church regional managing partner said: “Abdul Aziz has the perfect combination of local knowledge, energy and management skills to take our Kuwaiti office forward, building on our existing presence following the creation of the joint venture last year.”
Readers' comments (6)
Anonymous | 4-Jul-2009 3:05 pm
So whats the real story behind this guy Saleh?
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Ahmed Nader | 12-Aug-2009 6:23 pm
saleh was ok..but abdul aziz is a pro and the kuwait office can use his expertise (which saleh never had). he's going to stear the boat to safety.
another pro when mentioning aziz...he's fluent in both arabic,english and german (which again saleh never had and only claimed he did)...i still think saleh was ok btw...
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Anonymous | 15-Nov-2009 4:14 pm
Mr. Saleh is a wonderful lawyer, and does his best to portray economic and professional stability in his firm. For anyone that says otherwise is wrong and doesn't know justice and law like he does. He is very professional and never crossed the line. DLA piper is nothing without him.
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Anonymous | 15-May-2010 6:07 am
I hear DLA Kuwait is expanding and lawyers are happier. The client base has really gone up since the last time Saleh was there. No doubt this is due to efficient integration with the DLA family. "DLA Piper is nothing without Saleh"? funny.. .
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Anonymous | 10-Sep-2010 9:39 am
Lets see, in the last year since Saleh left to establish Tamimi in Kuwait, Tamimi has gone from zero to twelve lawyers and now represents most of the banks in Kuwait as well as handles most of the restructuring deals. IFLR has just nominated him and his team for Restructuring Deal of the Year and Restructuring Team of the Year for all of the GCC.
DLA Piper Kuwait? They have completely collapsed, and apparently have no work. Under Saleh, they had13 lawyers and now only have 6 with 3 really being glorified legal translators.
Yes..DLA Piper is nothing without Saleh...Nothing funny about that!
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Insider | 3-Oct-2010 7:42 am
Wow I am surprised anonymous@ 10-Sep-2010 9:39 hasn't forgotten about DLA and moved on. Happily DLA Kuwait keeps growing, anonymous; just go to the city and pay your old friends a visit. Oh and by the way, have you started preparing for a new knock out? remember the three year mark is closer now:) Let's meet soon!
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