Legal Route

The Gulf Legal Brief

Nigel Byrne's weekly read on the Gulf legal market, written from twenty-five years of placing lawyers across the region. Every issue lives here as well as on LinkedIn.

23 September 2026Abu Dhabi's arbitration centre is busier than ever. The next wave is being signed now.

Short one again. Before putting any job in front of you this week I opened the senior in-house ads myself. Every one of them was past a hundred applicants. One took more than four hundred in a single day.

22 September 2026Sullivan & Cromwell finally opened in the Gulf. They hired Latham's regional chair to do it.

Short one. The big news this week is not a deal. It is a law firm that has watched this market from London for years finally getting on the plane.

16 September 2026Nine law firm partners moved in four days. One of them came back from PIF.

9 September 2026Baker McKenzie lost two heads in seven days. That is the market talking.

Subscribe free to get it by email on Wednesdays. Also from Legal Route: the Gulf legal salary guide 2026, the Gulf legal moves tracker and straight answers on Gulf legal pay and hiring.