The IFLR1000 Middle East rankings have gone live today, June 6, and Newton Legal, Sharkawy & Sarhan, Shibolet Law Firm and Ibrahim & Partners are among the firms that have made it to the top tiers.
You can see the full rankings below.
A total of 594 firms across 11 jurisdictions were ranked for their work in the Middle East. More than 390 firms participated in the research for this edition. There were 61 newly ranked firms.
The IFLR editorial team does not select these rankings but we sat down with IFLR1000’s global research editor, Danielle Ngwana-Joseph, to learn more about the research process and why some firms have moved up the ranks.
Jurisdictions covered
The rankings cover 11 jurisdictions across the Middle East. Click on a jurisdiction to see the 2024 rankings.
· Bahrain
· Egypt
· Iraq
· Israel
· Jordan
· Kuwait
· Lebanon
· Oman
· Qatar
· UAE
Rankings trends
While many firms retained their 2023 spots, the IFLR1000 team made 253 changes this year, including 67 upgrades.
The top five jurisdictions with the most changes were Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were the top jurisdictions for upgrades in the rankings, with 60 across eight practice areas. Bahrain and Israel had the most women-ranked lawyers added this year.
Regulatory environment in flux
The rapidly changing regulatory environment in the Middle East has influenced the focus of the research rankings, including the addition of new practice areas and an increase in submissions for M&A in the UAE and Saudi Arabia and for equity and debt capital markets as well as restructuring and insolvency in Israel.
For the first time, the research produced a real estate ranking in the UAE. This was driven by a new law that allows permits for real estate developers to register without obtaining bank guarantees, which makes registration much easier and is prompting more work for lawyers.
“From our conversations with law firms in the UAE, we found that there was demand for the recognition of the work that’s taking place in the real estate market, so it made sense to introduce a real estate ranking for the first time,” said Ngwana-Joseph.
There was a slight increase in M&A deals submitted for the research due to the rise in these transactions in the UAE.
“Six firms moved up the rankings in the UAE for M&A this year compared to just one firm last year,” said Ngwana-Joseph.
The project finance sector in Abu Dhabi has also seen an increase in work due to the positive impact of a federal public-private partnerships law that was enacted in December 2023.
A new projects ranking was introduced in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
“In order to have a more holistic ranking for projects, we decided to merge the project finance and project development rankings for Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” Ngwana-Joseph explained.
Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, a new law that allows for foreign firms to practise without being affiliated with a local firm has instigated a rise in international firms making submissions and a decrease in local firms submitting as some local affiliates of international firms have closed down.
"While this change hasn't affected rankings this year, we'll be keeping an eye on how this may impact the market over the next 12 months," said Ngwana-Joseph.
Tier 1 entrants
Of particular interest are the firms that entered the tier 1 rankings this year; only 15 firms moved up to tier 1 across the 11 jurisdictions.
Ibrahim & Partners, which moved up to tier 1 for equity capital markets in the UAE, was one such firm.
“The firm submitted a broad spectrum of deals, including those that were cross-border, innovative and of a high transactional value in a low-market practice such as equity capital markets,” said Ngwana-Joseph.
She added that client feedback was positive for the firm. For instance, one client said: “Their responsiveness, documentation and strategy are unparallelled.”
Sharkawy & Sarhan in Egypt is another firm to highlight. The firm moved from tier 2 to tier 1 for both project development and banking.
Ngwana-Joseph said that the firm submitted deal work that was on par with firms in tier 1. One particular client said: “They provide full services to high standards. Plus, they know the sectors well, can draw from many precedents and are well-connected with the business community and governmental authorities, which helps a lot when negotiating direct agreements with the state authorities.”
Climbing up the ranks
In Bahrain, newly ranked Newton Legal advised on a number of notable deals, including acting as counsel to Ahli United Bank. Working alongside Linklaters, in October 2022, the firm represented the bank on its takeover by Kuwait Finance House and subsequently supported the bank with post-acquisition advice. This earned the firm a tier 2 ranking for financial and corporate.
Ngwana-Joseph said that an M&A client praised the firm, noting that “their knowledge, client service and approach to work stands out”.
A notable firm that moved from tier 3 to tier 2 for banking as well as restructuring and insolvency was Shibolet Law Firm in Israel. One client said that “the firm is very responsive and professional".
The methodology
Firms can partake in the IFLR1000 research process by completing submission forms that explain the matters they’ve worked on and provide a list of client referees.
Ngwana-Joseph explained that the research team implements a thorough process before moving firms up or down.
“Deal evidence is the decisive factor in determining rankings and client feedback supports the reasoning, as they help to assess the quality of advice that law firms are providing,” said Ngwana-Joseph.
The full rankings list is available on the IFLR1000 website.
