Baker Botts, a leading international law firm with offices across the globe, has opened its third office in the Middle East in Abu Dhabi owing to the surge in the client demand for legal services in the region.

Boosting its presence in the Middle East region, the company has upgraded and expanded its current offices in Dubai and Riyadh.

Abu Dhabi is a natural fit for Baker Botts given the firm’s extensive background in energy-related matters, which has been recently confirmed by a Band 1 ranking in Chambers Global 2009 Projects & Energy: Oil and Gas and Projects Work categories, said a top official.

"Since we opened in Dubai, clients either based in or with interests in the Middle East have increasingly sought out our lawyers for assistance on a broad range of matters," stated Baker Botts managing partner Walt Smith.

"We reached the point where we needed to expand our resources in order to maintain the high level of client service that is a trademark of our firm," he remarked.

The growth of office space corresponds with the increase of Baker Botts lawyers in the region. During the past five years, the firm has more than tripled the number of lawyers based in the Middle East.

When Baker Botts opened its Dubai office in early 2005, there were only five Baker Botts lawyers in the region. Now more than 20 Baker Botts lawyers work with clients from offices in Dubai, Riyadh and the recently-established Abu Dhabi location, he explained.

During the past year, Baker Botts lawyers have worked on significant representations from Middle East offices as the firm builds a strong footprint in the region.

These representations include a major independent power project program, a number of key merger and acquisition matters, projects relating to the development of Iraq’s oil and gas fields, and the financing of expansion plans for a number of chemical plants.

Recently, Shibeer Ahmed joined Baker Botts as a partner in Dubai. Ahmed has extensive experience in conventional banking and infrastructure and power project finance, with expertise in Islamic financing that encompasses project, structured and syndicated financings.

He also advises clients on financings involving export credit agencies, development finance institutions and multilateral agencies.

In addition, Greg Golden, a partner in the firm’s Washington, DC office with an extensive background in international transactional matters, has relocated to the region to serve as the Partner in Charge of the firm’s new Abu Dhabi office.-TradeArabia News Service