London – Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP announced today that it is launching offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with the hire of two partners from King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) in Dubai. Joanne Strain, KWM’s Dubai managing partner, and Parnika Chaturvedi will join Quinn Emanuel later this year.

Joanne specialises in commercial and financial disputes, including complex shareholder and joint venture arrangements. She has particular experience in resolving disputes emerging from large scale Middle Eastern projects and financial settlements, acting for major financial institutions, corporates and high net worth individuals.

An experienced arbitration practitioner, Joanne executes dispute resolution strategies under all of the major arbitral institutional rules, including the DIAC, LCIA and ICC Rules, and regularly sits as an arbitrator for the major institutions.  Joanne also handles cases before the Courts of England and Wales, the Courts of the Dubai International Financial Centre and the Dubai World Tribunal and coordinates strategies on disputes arising before the UAE Courts. 

Joanne said, “We are delighted to be joining Quinn Emanuel and look forward to building out the UAE platform, combining the firm’s significant reputation in the region with our many years of on the ground experience”.

Parnika has been based in UAE for more than a decade, specialising in international commercial arbitration and litigation, often with a cross border element. She represents clients from a variety of sectors including insurance, healthcare, construction, real estate, retail, commodities, telecommunications, energy and resources. She is qualified as a solicitor of England and Wales, a member of the state bar of California and is qualified as an advocate in India.

Parnika said, “We are excited to be joining Quinn Emanuel and driving the firm’s growth in the UAE .”

Joanne and Parnika will advise clients across the offices in the UAE.

John B. Quinn, Quinn Emanuel Founder and Chairman, said, “The UAE is without doubt one of the most exciting, energised places on Earth. We have been doing a lot of work in the region for some time and have been eyeing a UAE launch for a while. The hires of Joanne and Parnika are a real coup in a competitive partner recruitment market. Both have material practices that fit extremely well with our existing track record litigating cases for clients in the region.”

Richard East, Quinn Emanuel London Senior Partner, said, “Quinn has already developed a significant reputation in the UAE and we are delighted that Joanne and Parnika are joining us to assist in the further growth of our firm in the region.

About Quinn Emanuel:

Quinn Emanuel is a 1000+ lawyer business litigation firm—the largest in the world devoted solely to business litigation and arbitration with 32 global office locations. Surveys of major companies around the world have named it the “most feared” law firm in the world three times. Firm lawyers have tried over 2,500 cases, winning 86% of them. When representing defendants, Quinn Emanuel’s trial experience gets better settlements or defense verdicts. When representing plaintiffs, Quinn Emanuel lawyers have won nearly $80 billion in judgments and settlements. Quinn Emanuel has also obtained seven nine-figure jury verdicts, four 10-figure jury verdicts, 51 nine-figure settlements, and 20 10-figure settlements.

Quinn Emanuel has been named the No. 1 “most feared” law firm by The BTI Consulting Group three times in its annual “Most Feared Law Firms in Litigation” guide, in which in-house counsel named 46 firms they “want to steer clear of” when it comes to litigation. The American Lawyer named Quinn Emanuel the top IP litigation firm in the U.S. and the firm as one of the top six commercial litigation firms in the country. The UK legal periodical, The Lawyer named us “International Firm of the Year.” Law360 has most recently selected us as having Banking, Class Action, International Arbitration, and Trials “Practice Groups of the Year.” Managing IP twice recognized us as having the “Best ITC Litigation Practice” and honored us with the “Patent Contentious West” award. Legal Business has named us “US Law Firm of the Year” three times, and our German offices have twice been named both “IP Litigation Firm of the Year” and “Patent Litigation Firm of the Year” by JUVE, Germany’s most prestigious legal publication. Global Investigations Review, a leading legal periodical covering global white-collar investigations, named us the “Most Impressive Investigations Practice of the Year.” Global Arbitration Review named us the 3rd best arbitration practice in the world. Global Competition Review named our antitrust and competition practice among the “25 Global Elite,” and has included us in their list of the world’s top 10 competition litigation practices.

Contacts:
James Baxter
jim@jamesbaxtermedia.com
Elizabeth Urquhart
elizabethurquhart@quinnemanuel.com
US media:
Eric Herman
eherman@kivvit.com