(Dubai, UAE) – Akin Gump today announced that Graham Lovett has joined the firm as a partner in the firm’s Dubai office.

Mr. Lovett, who joins Akin Gump from Gibson Dunn, is one of the foremost disputes practitioners in Dubai and is top ranked by both Chambers and The Legal 500. He has extensive, market-leading commercial litigation and international arbitration experience covering a wide range of sectors and disputes and frequently represents clients before the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts. In October 2021, His Highness the Ruler of Dubai appointed Mr. Lovett as a director of the board of the recently expanded Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), the largest arbitration center in the Middle East. Mr. Lovett is the only non-Emirati to serve as a DIAC board director.

With a practice that is a mix of litigation and arbitration, Mr. Lovett handles complex, sensitive disputes involving joint ventures, shareholders, banking and finance, and fraud, as well as more technical matters involving high-end infrastructure disputes, project work, energy disputes and more.

Joining Mr. Lovett at Akin Gump in Dubai is an established disputes team comprising senior counsel Ryan Whelan and associates Michael Stewart and Sophia Cafoor-Camps.

“Graham and the team’s international arbitration and litigation practices are exceptionally highly regarded in the Middle East and internationally,” commented Akin Gump chairperson Kim Koopersmith. “They fit perfectly into our strategic priorities in experience and geography. We are highly focused on further investing in our international disputes capabilities, and Graham and the team are an outstanding complement to our established, top-tier litigation and international arbitration teams. They also fit squarely into the strategic commitment we have to growing in the Middle East, a region in which we are already among the strongest of any U.S. firm. I am delighted that they have joined the firm.”

Mahmoud (Mac) Fadlallah, partner in charge of Akin Gump’s Dubai office, added, “Graham is widely recognized as one of the leading disputes lawyers in the region. By welcoming his team, we are strategically building out our disputes and investigations practices not just in the UAE and throughout the Middle East, but around the world. Our clients will benefit immensely from Graham and his team’s deep experience and skills, and I could not be more excited that they have joined us.”

Added Mr. Lovett, “Akin Gump’s strong international disputes and investigations teams, its impressive global footprint and client base, and its unfettered commitment to continued growth in the Middle East combine to make this move a very attractive proposition for me and the team. I very much look forward to expanding the firm’s litigation, arbitration and investigations capabilities in the region, and I am keen to set to work with my new colleagues both in the UAE and around the firm.”

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About Graham Lovett

Graham Lovett previously led the disputes practice for Gibson Dunn in the Middle East. Before that he served as the managing partner of Clifford Chance’s Dubai office for nine years. He is a licensed advocate with full rights of audience in the DIFC Courts and is a solicitor advocate in England and Wales.

Mr. Lovett has been based in the UAE for 18 years. In addition to serving as a director of the board of the DIAC, Mr. Lovett currently chairs the DIFC Legislative Committee, the role of which is to recommend new legislation and to review existing legislation, and is a member of the DIAC Court of Arbitration.

Mr. Lovett is also a member of the Steering Committee for the ICC UAE, a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCIArb), a former member of the DIFC Arbitration Committee, and a member of the Advisory Board of the International Bar Association (IBA) Arab Regional Forum. He is co-editor of Summaries of UAE Courts’ Decisions on Arbitration.

He received the IFLR Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2021 IFLR Middle East Awards; is Band 1 for Dispute Resolution in Chambers Global, 2021 both for the UAE and Middle East-wide; and is a Leading Individual for Dispute Resolution: Arbitration and International Litigation in the EMEA Legal 500, 2021.

Renowned for his exceptional handling of cases in the UAE and throughout the Middle East, Chambers sources describe him as “the superstar of the region” and “a pillar of the UAE legal community.”

About Ryan Whelan

Mr. Whelan has broad experience of litigation in the Court of Session, Scotland, the High Court, London and the DIFC Courts, Dubai. He has also acted in arbitrations under a variety of governing laws and institutional rules, including the ICC, LCIA, SIAC, ADCCAC and DIAC rules.

In addition to his disputes practice, Mr. Whelan advises on legal strategy and the management of risk on major projects. Recent advisory representations include acting as project counsel on a multibillion-dollar transport development in Asia.

Mr. Whelan graduated from The University of Aberdeen with First Class Honours.

About Akin Gump in Dubai

Akin Gump’s Dubai office focuses on advising public and private sector clients in a range of practice areas. With the addition of Mr. Lovett and his team, Akin Gump’s presence in the UAE will increase to four partners across two offices, and over 15 lawyers in total, spanning disputes, finance, debt capital markets, Islamic finance, corporate, mergers and acquisitions, energy, public policy, investment funds, and a compliance and investigations practice that covers sanctions, export controls, and anticorruption/anti-bribery matters.

The work of the firm’s UAE lawyers has been recognized in leading legal and industry outlets including Chambers Global, The Legal 500 EMEA, IFLR1000 and The Oath.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 900 lawyers in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.