Lovells former Dubai head Shibeer Ahmed is looking to target energy work in his new role as a partner at Baker Botts although he will not, as had been suggested, be running an office.
The project finance partner left Lovells at the end of April, joining the five-partner Dubai office of Baker Botts this month.
Ahmed said that while Lovells has a good infrastructure practice, the energy work at Baker Botts was a major personal attraction.
He said: “The reason I moved is because of the energy [practice at Baker Botts], because in order to get the big deals [in the Middle East] you’ve got to be doing energy.
“Lovells came out of the UK PFI work whereas Baker Botts evolved out of a Houston energy background.”
When Ahmed resigned from Lovells after nine years at the firm, he said that his new role would “most probably” involve running an office at another firm, describing his departure as “amicable and ordered” (5 February).
Lovells replaced him with local partner Rahail Ali and London-based corporate partner Nick Parden Dubai as co-heads of Dubai.
Ahmed has advised banks, export credit agencies and financial institutions including the European Investment Bank, the African Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank.
He said that the geographical focus of the team at Baker Botts is on Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
