Dubai by the sea: Top UK Law firm Denton Wilde Sapte looking for fresh talent...

Published from the original

Story by: Wenee Yap
January 15, 2008

An indoor ski field that snows. Sixteen Starbucks in one super-shopping complex. A hotel - underwater. All at the edge of the desert, riding the boon of Middle-Eat oil wealth, Dubai is currently the prized destination for high-flying professionals of all fields, from engineers to corporate lawyers. At the fore of its latest recruiting drive for the region is top UK law firm Denton Wilde Sapte, Christopher Aylward (pictured above), who is UTS:LAW graduate and partner of the firm, has flown into Sydney over Christmas and New Year 08 to seek talented law graduates or young lawyers interested in working in the Middle East.

"To say this is a boom region is really understating the situation," said Aylward. "Dubai has a thriving economy. You can do everything, from real estate projects to project finance." Aylward estimates ex-pat numbers in Dubai to be about 80-85%. "Dubai is in a really odd situation: the person who builds a building, the person who picks up the rubbish, plus the person who designs the building, and even the person who owns the building could all be ex-pats."

Aylward describes Dubai as "fascinating, challenging. The financial rewards are considerable, of course. The firm is very collegiate. Within our office we have a great mix of nationality - quite a few Australians, New Zealanders, English, South Africans, Jordanians, and Lebanese. A really good social scene; people work reasonable hours. It's not pulling all-nighters four nights a week. It does allow for balance. We're there to make a profit, obviously, but you're not going to do that if people are stressed or tired."

As a former 'ex-pat kid' himself, Aylward said he was always attracted to the idea of practising law overseas. "It's not the same as London or Sydney or New York," he observed. "Dubai is an emerging market. You're sometimes dealing with less sophisticated companies and banks; at the same time, you're also dealing with high-flyers who have done these kinds of transactions in twenty different jurisdictions. You've got to be able to hold your own."

Aylward is a veteran of ex-pat corporate law, having also worked in Bangkok on the waning end of the Asian Tiger fallout. The Middle East is quite a different prospect. "You need continuity for your clients. It is part of the Arab culture: 'If you show you're committed to us, then we'll show you a great deal of loyalty." The last thing our clients want is to pick up the phone and speak to a different lawyer every time they ring.

So what does it take to succeed in this flourishing mid-East metropolis? "People who have initiative," said Aylward. "We need people who aren't afraid to pick up the phone and communicate with clients - professional services are the nature of our business, after all. If you can do this in under thirty-eight pages of footnoted advice, then we would be interested in hearing from you."

To near and new graduates, UTS:LAW graduate Aylward has this advice: "Do your time in a firm. Make the most of your rotation when you get there, to find out exactly what you want to do - especially in a big firm. If you are in a smaller firm, or the smaller office of a big firm, you can have the opportunity to try a number of different things. We want people who are happy with what they're doing. Within the practise areas that we offer, we're more than happy to move people as suits their interests."