Berkeley Rowe—Akbar Ali

Specialist commercial and corporate law firm Berkeley Rowe has announced the appointment of Akbar Ali as a partner and head of corporate.

Akbar will be based in the firm’s London office in Mayfair. He has many years of experience as a mergers & acquisitions lawyer and joins from a highly reputable law firm where he was also head of corporate. Akbar has a wealth of international experience, having worked for a leading global US-based law firm, as well as in-house at a Swiss corporate.

His principal focus at Berkeley Rowe will be expanding and developing the established corporate practice while evolving the team by targeting niche areas including capital markets and international cross-border transactions. Akbar is sector agnostic and has worked on deals from £1m to hundreds of millions.

Akbar will also undertake general commercial work including franchise arrangements, terms and conditions, banking and finance, legal opinions and more.

Tom Keya, chief executive officer, Berkeley Rowe, said: ‘Corporate is an area that is rapidly expanding in our practice and I am excited to have Akbar Ali on board to lead it. We have acted on a number of complex and interesting reported corporate and commercial matters in the past few years. His talent and results-led approach enabled him to have a swift rise to become head of department and leading a team specialising in M&A at his previous firm. He brings with him this wealth of experience, a high level of energy and dynamic approach that has made Berkeley Rowe stand out among our peers.’

Akbar Ali, commented: ‘I am excited to be joining the team at Berkeley Rowe and feel that my experience complements the firm’s innovative approach to corporate transactions and ambitious plans for the future. I am looking forward to working with and growing the department into new exciting areas.’