Baker Botts Hires New Lawyer in Dubai Office

Baker Botts, the international law firm, has just named a new partner in their Dubai office, Vanessa Abernethy. Abernethy has extensive experience working with clients engaged in capital market transactions all over the Middle East, specializing in advisory as well as transactional work.

Vanessa Abernethy

Years of Experience

Ms. Abernethy has years of experience representing and advising clients who are raising capital utilizing equity securities through IPOs and privately, throughout the region. She has also counseled a large number of clients wishing to engage in mergers and acquisition transactions and has also obtained listings on the Dubai NASDAQ, Financial Market and the Abu Dhabi Securities Market.

“Vanessa’s wealth of experience in the corporate and financial sectors of the Middle East further strengthens our capabilities there. The addition of Vanessa to our team demonstrates our commitment to providing highly-skilled lawyers who can handle some of the most complex transactions in the Middle East,” said the Managing Partner at Baker Botts, Walt Smith.

Leading International Law Firm

Baker Botts is one of the world’s leading international law firms, with 13 worldwide offices and more than 725 lawyers. The 170-year-old firm has 3 offices in the Middle East utilizing the expertise of 25 lawyers who are specialists in the fields most needed in this region, including Islamic financing, conventional lending and project finance. This past year Baker Botts has added 7 new lawyers to their offices in Riyadh, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with Vanessa Abernethy being the most recent addition.

Unrest Increased Demand

The recent economic instability in the region has seen an increase in demand for the services of Baker Botts. In addition the firm has recently represented high profile clients such as the Saudi Electric Company (SEC) and the Mitsubishi Corporation which engaged the firm’s services for the highly publicized South Gas Project.

“Since opening in Riyadh more than 10 years ago, in Dubai in 2005 and Abu Dhabi in 2009, our Middle East portfolio has expanded beyond energy industry issues,” said Robert W. Jordan, Partner in Charge of the Middle East practice for Baker Botts. “While we remain heavily involved in energy, we are now regularly working on complex and novel projects and sophisticated transactions throughout the region, particularly involving government entities. We will continue to expand our capabilities to support the needs of clients either based in the region or looking to do business here.”