Meysan Partners has announced the launch of its London office, its first office outside of the Middle East. Meysan London will focus on heavyweight commercial and investor-state disputes, with a mission to apply the firm’s international litigation and arbitration know-how to the most complex cross-border cases. It will serve the interests of corporates, investors, funds, state-owned entities and high-net-worth individuals, all looking to achieve positive results with a trusted partner.
Founder Bader El-Jeaan commented: 'We’re very proud of the success of our business in the region but international expansion has always been part of our ambition. As a highly evolved and exciting market, London is an obvious choice that our clients want us to explore. We are confident that this will solidify and strengthen our offering to enable us to better serve our clients with their most complex and challenging disputes.'
Leading the London team is disputes heavyweight John Reynolds (pictured), who takes on the role of London managing partner, and that of firmwide head of international disputes. Reynolds, who spent over 15 years at White & Case as head of the London litigation department and global co-head of the firm’s financial institutions practice, has helped clients resolve complex problems for more than 30 years and is a deeply connected member of the global dispute resolution community.
He plans to build out a destination firm for corporate and M&A disputes, investor-state arbitration, finance litigation, shareholder disputes, investigations, crisis management, fraud and competition litigation and international commercial arbitration. He is joined by seasoned disputes lawyer, Oliver Green, and a dedicated operational team with a mandate to grow the firm with pace.
Reynolds comments: 'After 30 years at some of the world’s leading law firms, I am excited to bring that experience to Meysan to help build a business with real focus and momentum. Now, more than ever, London is one of THE preferred locations for international litigation and arbitration, and remains a significant arena in international dealmaking. Couple that with the incredible pace of economic growth in the Middle East and its ascendency as a global powerhouse in business, and in law, and you have a unique market opportunity.'
With buoyant levels of legal talent in London, Meysan is also looking to match rapid pace of growth that it has enjoyed over the past few years in the Middle East, where it has grown its revenue by almost 230% over the past five years. As the firm’s focus is on deals and disputes, it hopes to attract some of the industry’s leading litigation and corporate teams who are looking beyond the challenges and established ways of working within larger rivals.
El-Jeaan concludes: 'The pace of change in our region, and in the legal profession more broadly, means that we’ve always been agile, ambitious and progressive in our business. So, as our region grows its reputation, we’re hoping to attract people who crave that momentum. We think that it’s an exciting proposition.'
