(January 26, 2009, Weil Gotshal News)
NEW YORK (January 26, 2009) – International law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges has formally opened its
Dubai office, the firm’s first in the Middle East. The opening culminates a long period of planning and provides the firm with a base of operations from which it will service long-standing clients that are becoming more active in the region, as well as new clients throughout the world that have significant business interests in the region. Weil Gotshal veteran
Joseph Tortorici is Managing Partner of the Dubai office and Middle East operations.
Tortorici first joined Weil Gotshal’s Corporate Department in 1987. Prior to relocating to Dubai, he was based in Europe and was instrumental in the development of Weil Gotshal’s European platform.
"Our firm already works on client assignments with large Middle Eastern components, such as the global business partnership between General Electric and Mubadala Development Company," remarked Tortorici, "so starting up a physical presence in the region is a natural extension for us. The office is new, but we’re hardly newcomers to the region."
Due to Weil Gotshal’s active presence in the banking, hedge fund, restructuring, private equity, chemical, and oil and gas industries, the firm has long assisted clients facing challenges particular to doing business in the Middle East, from addressing issues of Saudi contract law in US courts to assisting financial clients in Middle East fund-raising matters.
"This office puts us where our clients want us to be and gives us an excellent platform to develop new relationships throughout the region. Our practice has never been to merely plant flags randomly without a strategic rationale," said firm Chairman
Stephen Dannhauser. "When we invest in a new office, we do so with an eye toward the long term, but the near-term economics needs to make sense to us as well. Dubai is an excellent opportunity for us because of the work we already handle in the region."