Abu Dhabi, Here We Come.

BLT:

Move over, Dubai. Looks like there’s another emirate in town that is attracting law firms’ attention. In mid-November, Vinson & Elkins announced that it was setting up shop in Abu Dhabi. And now White & Case is moving into Abu Dhabi too. The firm announced today that it has opened up an office in the United Arab Emirates’ capital.

Villiers Terblanche, a partner in White & Case’s New York office, has left New York to head the new six-attorney office, which will focus on energy, infrastructure, private equity, investment funds, M & A, and Islamic finance.

The firm is also looking to beef up its Riyadh office and is adding four attorneys there as well. The firm has had an office in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia since 1991, and has been doing business in the region since the 1950s, when it started representing what became the Saudi Arabian Oil Company.

Interesting info on Vinson & Elkins:

Vinson & Elkins represented the failed energy company Enron prior to the company's collapse in 2001. Currently, the firm represents former Congressman Bob Ney in connection with the Jack Abramoff corruption scandal.

About White & Case:

On it's website it states that it provides advice in areas such as "banking and financial services, mergers and acquisitions, equipment and facility finance, legislative reform, privatization, project finance, securities, and sovereign law. We handle antitrust, arbitration, bankruptcy, commercial litigation, environmental law, intellectual property, international trade, and labor and employment law. We also deliver global tax support in such areas as controversy, planning, and legislation and provide private clients with superior advice on preserving and transferring personal wealth."

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, White & Case was one of five firms that formed a steering group to coordinate the efforts of New York lawyers to provide free emergency legal services to victims.