As it celebrates its silver anniversary, Middle Eastern giant Al Tamimi & Co is looking at Africa and Asia for its next stage of growth – with a bit of help from Linklaters.
Back in 1989, United Arab Emirates (UAE) lawyer Essam Al Tamimi decided to set up a firm which would be very different from its local rivals. Al Tamimi & Company was launched with the intention of following a Anglo-Saxon model and breaking away from the local mould of family-run practices.
Today, Al Tamimi is the largest law firm in the region and the one with a presence in most countries. Following its 2013 launch in Oman (29 October 2013), the firm completed its Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) presence with a Bahrain office in June, hiring Royal & Sun Alliance’s Middle East head of legal Foutoun Hajjar as office head.
But even now that it has 14 offices in eight countries – the six GCC nations, plus Iraq and Jordan – Al Tamimi is not stopping.
It recently hired Linklaters’ emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa (EEMEA) chief operating officer (COO) Patrick Earl to replace outgoing COO Kevin Hall who is returning to his native Australia for personal reasons. As managing partner Husam Hourani explains, Earl’s appointment is a clear step in Al Tamimi’s ongoing strategy of expansion.
“In 2004, Al Tamimi took the decision that it would move from a local law firm to a regional law firm,” Hourani says. He says the firm now feels that it needs more people on board with experience of management at an international level “to help and support and see that we don’t make any obvious mistakes”.
What appealed about Earl, adds Hourani, is that he brings experience of expansion into new markets “without losing culture and quality”.
“We thought that he can add a lot with his experience and knowledge to what we’re intending to do,” Hourani says.
Earl spent five years as the EEMEA COO and chief financial officer at Linklaters, seeing it through expansion into Abu Dhabi (7 July 2011), the signing of a new cooperation agreement in Saudi Arabia (14 December 2012) and perhaps most significantly the firm’s alliance agreement with South Africa’s Webber Wentzel (3 December 2012). His knowledge of tricky markets does not end there, as he was previously in charge of the magic circle’s CIS operations.
Accordingly Hourani sees Earl’s experience at Linklaters as critical for Al Tamimi’s future. One operational area where Al Tamimi wants to improve is IT, to bring it to a consistent standard across the firm.
“What I’m looking to do is to upgrade our IT to the extent that all the offices have the best systems,” he reveals. “That’s something where I feel we need to improve and learn from those who have worked in international and global law firms.”
Al Tamimi is also examining its opportunities both within and without the borders of its own region.
“We continue to look for opportunities in the Middle East,” says Hourani, but he adds that Africa and Asia are now also on the firm’s horizon. Nothing is imminent, but this is the sort of firm likely to seize any chances which do come up.
For example, take its 2013 hire of the Yas Marina Circuit general counsel Steve Bainbridge to launch a sports law practice ahead of the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar (17 November 2013), or its launch in Iraq’s second city of Erbil earlier last year (9 October 2013) – both moves designed to take advantage of potential growth in those areas.
A potential foray into Libya was less successful, with a mooted launch in 2011 shortly after the death of the country’s dictator Muammar Gaddafi never eventuating (22 December 2011).
However any expansion outside the region will be limited, and don’t expect to see Al Tamimi popping up in London or the US any time soon. “We understand civil law very well, and we’re a civil-law based firm,” says Hourani. “We’ve had success in Arabic-speaking countries and we’ll continue to look for opportunities in neighbouring countries where we understand the positive value to our clients.”
One key area where the firm can differentiate itself from the many international firms with lawyers in the region is undoubtedly culture. With relationships still a critical part of doing business in the GCC and its neighbouring countries, the firm’s emphasis on hiring Arabic-speaking lawyers will continue to give it an edge – as will its size. It has double the number of lawyers and partners than its closest international rival, Baker & McKenzie, and with further growth almost inevitable, Al Tamimi seems to have forged a pretty solid space for itself in a difficult market.
For more on doing business in the Middle East, look out for our 24 November report on the region