Dubai hotel chain lines up first legal panel

Dubai-based Jumeirah Group, owner of the Burj Al Arab hotel, has appointed its first-ever legal panel with 12 firms winning advisory roles.

The firm has launched a two-tier panel, with Clifford Chance, Clyde & Co, DLA Piper, Mayer Brown, Pinsent Masons and Simmons & Simmons being instructed on its main global roster.

Six other firms have won places on a second panel that has been retained to offer advice on specialist jurisdictions and sectors.

Al Tamimi will give advice on United Arab Emirates-focused work; Heller Ehrman on hotel work; Herbert Smith on arbitration and litigation; Penningtons on commercial, IP/IT (UK); Perkins Coie on hotel work (USA) and Rouse & Co on brand protection.

Chief legal officer Robert Swade said: ‘We looked for applicant firms who demonstrated a real passion and interest for our industry sector and the legal issues associated with it as well as for personal chemistry.”

The panels will be reviewed in two years.