Greenberg Traurig has added a senior arbitration partner in Dubai from UK firm Clyde & Co. 

Nassif BouMalhab moves across to the 2,700-lawyer firm as a shareholder after 15 years at Clydes, where he led the Middle East arbitration group. 

His hire follows Greenberg Traurig adding to its arbitration bench in London last month with the hire of Jason Hambury, Gurmukh Riyat and Clea Bigelow-Nuttall as shareholders from Pinsent Masons.

Greenberg Traurig’s executive chairman, Richard Rosenbaum, said BouMalhab’s experience in complex disputes in sectors including education, property development and hospitality was core to the firm’s plans to develop its international arbitration practice in key regions.  

“We are committed to being a major force in disputes worldwide, involving both litigation and arbitration and in civil and criminal forums,” he added. 

BouMalhab brings more than 20 years of legal experience and focuses on complex business disputes in the Middle East representing clients in international and domestic arbitration and mediation. Before joining Clydes in 2009 and relocating to Dubai he worked for Canadian firm Blake Cassels & Graydon in Montreal.

BouMalhab has served as party counsel in more than 50 arbitration cases and worked with clients in hundreds of court proceedings before the courts of the United Arab Emirates, including the Dubai International Financial Centre Courts, Abu Dhabi Global Market Courts and the Abu Dhabi and Dubai Courts.

Alongside his advocacy work, he also serves on arbitration tribunals for corporate and commercial disputes and advises lawmakers on reforming international and domestic arbitration legislation and rules, Greenberg Traurig said. 

He is the eighth shareholder in the US firm’s Dubai office, which it opened last year with a pair of real estate partners from BCLP. He will be the office’s sole arbitration lawyer, according to its website. 

“The opportunity to join Greenberg Traurig as both the firm and the Middle East region enter an exciting growth period was attractive to me,” BouMalhab said. “My being part of the firm’s truly global platform means that I can now provide my clients with a full-service offering.”

Greenberg Traurig, which grew turnover 6% to $2.3bn in 2023, also expanded into Saudi Arabia last year after forming an affiliation with US rival Squire Patton Boggs’ former ally, Khalid Al-Thebity Law Firm, in Riyadh.