Oyster has a number of new instructions from our international law firm clients in the Middle East and, not least, in the areas of construction and engineering. In particular, we are currently recruiting for a back-end, contentious construction lawyer in Doha with 7-10 years PQE; a front-end, non-contentious construction lawyer in Riyadh with 4-6 years PQE and, similarly, a front-end, non-contentious construction lawyer in Abu Dhabi with 4-8 years PQE.

The Construction and Engineering practice in the EMEA region forms part of an international practice of over 100 lawyers and acts for a diverse range of clients, including government entities, developers, investors and lenders in the energy and infrastructure sectors, notably IWPP, Oil & Gas and Petrochemicals.

You should be familiar with international standard form (eg.FIDIC) and bespoke agreements. For the front-end roles you will have experience of drafting and reviewing, inter alia, terms and conditions of building contracts, professional appointments, joint ventures and security documentation including performance guarantees and parent company guarantees. You should also have experience advising on different procurement methodologies including, conventional General Contracting, Design and Build, EPC, Turnkey, Design, Build and Operate and Facilities Management. International arbitration experience, in particular, will be required for the back-end, contentious role.

Whilst local experience in the Middle East region and Arabic language skills are both desirable, lawyers from other jurisdictions such as the UK, Australia and New Zealand will also be considered.

For further details please contact Michael Pickup at Oyster Search & Selection.

11 March 2013

Whilst historically Oyster Search & Selection has tended to recruit lawyers in to private practice, the firm is slowly but surely picking up mandates for clients recruiting for in-house legal roles. In the past, for example, we have recruited a funds lawyer in to the in-house legal team of a major hedge fund in the City, a senior banking lawyer in to an investment bank, again in the City and, in Dubai, a construction lawyer for a leading construction and engineering company.

Looking ahead, we expect to continue to recruit for in-house legal roles in the UK and, not least, in financial services and not only in to in-house legal teams but also risk, regulatory and compliances teams. We would also hope to extend our offering in to other sectors we specialise in, notably shipping and energy and infrastructure.

Overseas, we continue to build on previous work in the Middle East and the UAE in particular. Indeed, at the moment we have in-house legal roles for a Corporate M&A lawyer (who might well be based in the City but looking to relocate to the UAE) and also a Real Estate lawyer with Strata law knowledge and experience – so a lawyer who is already either working in the UAE or perhaps a lawyer in a jurisdiction where strata law is also practised, such as Australia or New Zealand.

For further details of our work and current in-house legal opportunities please contact Michael Pickup.

7 March 2013

The demand for lawyers continues unabated it seems. Of particular note is the push by a number of top-end US law firms to recruit lawyers with backgrounds in corporate M&A/Private Equity, leveraged finance and international arbitration. We have previously noted the appetite amongst some English law firms to expand their own corporate M&A/private equity offering and, in one or two cases, their equity capital markets practices.

Other “in demand” areas of practice we are actively recruiting for include shipping, financial services and construction.

In the Middle East and the UAE, in particular, we currently have a small number of mandates for lawyers wishing to move in-house. Lawyers with a background in either Corporate M&A or Real Estate especially would be of interest to our clients. On the private practice front, there is a demand for shipping lawyers and also Arabic-speaking commercial litigation lawyers.

Closer to home here in East Anglia, we are seeing a steady and consistent demand for lawyers in construction, real estate and agriculture. Shipping lawyers would also be of interest.

For further details of these and other career opportunities then please contact Michael Pickup.

7 March 2013