Baker Botts LLP
Baker Botts has been providing world-class legal services for more than 170 years. We now deliver our services to the international business community from fifteen key locations around the world, namely Abu Dhabi, Austin, Beijing, Brussels, Dallas, Dubai, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Moscow, New York, Palo Alto, Rio de Janeiro, Riyadh and Washington.
Our Commercial Practice:
In the Middle East, Baker Botts has a long history of representing regional and multi-national clients on complex transactions across a number of industry sectors. We are particularly experienced in the fields of private equity and funds (with an emphasis on real estate), projects (with an emphasis on energy), international trade (with an emphasis on sanctions) and construction (with an emphasis on healthcare, leisure and tourism).
Clients doing business in and from the Middle East choose us for “first of its kind" projects and transactions, as well as for their day-to-day needs. With more than three decades experience of living and working across the region, many of our lawyers have cultivated important and long-lasting relationships. This vital network of local contacts, combined with in-depth knowledge of local legal requirements, business practices and culture, gives us a critical advantage in identifying key issues and delivering superior legal services to our clients.
Our Dispute Resolution Practice:
Baker Botts has one of the most experienced Middle East focused disputes groups of any international law firm. Our Dubai and Riyadh based group is led by internationally ranked arbitration, asset recovery and construction partners who are supported by a team of highly qualified counsel and associates. Importantly, the members of our team are not only highly qualified legal advisors, but also very experienced advocates and arbitrators.
Our group includes lawyers qualified in Saudi Arabia, England and Wales, the United States of America and Egypt. Recently, our team has represented clients in disputes governed by Public International Law, the laws of Egypt, the laws of Saudi Arabia, the laws of the United Arab Emirates, the laws of Qatar and the laws of England and Wales. Our team’s most recent arbitration merits hearings have been held in London, Geneva and Dubai.
Our team members have considerable courtroom experience gained over many years in the courts of Egypt, the courts of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the courts of Saudi Arabia and the courts of England and Wales. In addition, our team has many years’ experience of the courts of the United Arab Emirates, particularly Dubai. We regularly work with locally qualified advocates on behalf of clients involved in commercial, civil and criminal matters before the Dubai Courts and are very experience in co-operating with the police and the public prosecutor’s office in both domestic and international matters.
Philip Punwar
Philip Punwar is a practising English barrister who has been resident in Dubai since November 2005. During his 25 years as an advocate, he has appeared before all divisions of the English High Court, the English Court of Appeal, the DIFC Court of First Instance and the DIFC Court of Appeal.
Philip has been extensively involved in the development of the DIFC Courts. Among other things, he obtained the first Freezing Order from the DIFC Courts in 2007, appeared in the first appeal to the DIFC Court of Appeal in 2008 and authored the first official commentary to the Rules of the DIFC Courts in 2011. In 2014, he became the first Supervising Lawyer appointed by the Courts to oversee the execution of a DIFC Courts Search Order.
Philip is an internationally recognized arbitration practitioner. He has recently acted in arbitration proceedings arising out of aircraft charter agreements, agreements for the provision of armed security and logistics in areas of conflict, sub-development agreements, construction agreements, operating agreements, distribution agreements, production sharing agreements and diverse joint venture agreements.
Philip is a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR and a Vice President if the ICC-UAE Arbitration Steering Committee. Philip is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Chartered Arbitrator. He is also an Accredited Mediator (CEDR).
