Top International Law Firm
Based in Dubai
Leading international law firm based in Dubai, specializing in Corporate Law, M&A, Intellectual Property, and Family Law. We provide strategic, client-focused legal solutions across the UAE, Singapore, the UK, the US and beyond.
ABOUT US
Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP is an international law firm based in Dubai, providing legal solutions in the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Singapore. We deliver high-level legal solutions across borders, combining global expertise with deep regional insight. Our firm is built on precision, integrity, and a commitment to achieving exceptional results for every client we serve.
Years Experience
Global Offices
Lawyers & Partners
Industries We Serve
Artificial Intelligence
Consumer Products
Energy
Healthcare & Life Sciences
Industrials
Technology
Real Estate & Property
Automotive & Mobility
Education & EdTech
Practice Areas
We specialize in a wide range of legal services, offering expert advice, strong advocacy, and trusted solutions to help our clients move forward with confidence.
01
Corporate
02
Finance
03
Immigration
04
Property
05
Family
06
ADR
07
TAX
08
High Court
09
IP
10
Criminal
“Strong legal strategy prevents disputes before they arise, and when conflicts are unavoidable, experienced lawyers deliver clarity, control, and decisive outcomes.”
Starting, scaling or reorganizing a business is a legal exercise as much as a commercial one. The decisions you make at incorporation — entity type, share structure, governance rules, capital rules, and contractual rights — shape tax exposure, investor appetite, regulatory obligations, financing options and exit outcomes for years to come. That is why experienced company registration lawyers and a top-tier corporate law firm are not optional extras: they are strategic partners.
What corporate lawyers do differently from accountants or formation services is view the business through a legal lens: they assess liability allocation, contractual protections, governance mechanisms, shareholder minority protections, investor rights, and future fundraising or exit mechanics. This legal-first view prevents structural mistakes that cannot be fixed later without cost — think irrevocable tax consequences, disputed shareholdings, or unenforceable investor protections.
Key components of high-quality corporate structuring advice:
Entity selection and justification. Lawyers evaluate whether a private company limited by shares, a public company, a limited liability partnership, a trust, or another vehicle best matches client goals, risks, and reporting obligations. This includes cross-border implications if the business will operate or receive funding internationally.
Share capital mechanics. How much authorised capital, share classes, voting rights, pre-emption and dilution protections, and convertible instruments should be created at formation? Lawyers draft these with investors, founders and future financings in mind.
Governance, directors’ duties and compliance. Board composition, reserve powers, delegated authorities, and statutory filings are not boxes to tick — they’re controls that enforce accountability while limiting director personal liability.
Founders’ and shareholder agreements. Clear rules on vesting, transfer restrictions, deadlock resolution, buy-outs, tagging/dragging rights, and anti-dilution provisions reduce future litigation risk.
Investor-focused documentation. Term sheets, subscription agreements and investor rights agreements must be drafted to align commercial negotiations with enforceable legal terms.
Regulatory interfaces. Corporate law firms manage licensing, AML/KYC, statutory filings, registries and ongoing compliance obligations that vary by industry and jurisdiction.
Why this matters commercially: investors, lenders and acquirers perform legal due diligence. Defects in corporate structure slow or kill deals. A business that looks clean legally commands better valuations and smoother transaction timelines. Conversely, start-ups that defer legal structuring routinely face unexpected tax liabilities, investor disputes, or governance crises that distract founders and drain cash.
A corporate law firm’s engagement typically begins with a structuring workshop: mapping business model, investor roadmap, and regulatory triggers. The lawyers then produce an actionable plan — incorporation steps, mandatory registrations, foundational documents, and a compliance calendar — and execute formation and filings on the client’s behalf.
For founders and companies, the ROI of hiring skilled company registration lawyers is concrete: faster bank account openings, accessible funding rounds, cleaner audits, fewer penalties and a clear path to scaling. For boards and investors, corporate law firms provide comfort that governance, fiduciary duty exposure and statutory compliance are actively managed.
If you are forming a business, restructuring capital, preparing for investment or simply want to audit your legal foundations, do not treat corporate formation as an administrative task. Treat it as the legal architecture of your company. Book a consultation with our corporate lawyers and turn formation into a competitive advantage.
International investment brings opportunity — market access, diversification, scale — but it introduces legal complexity: exchange rules, tax treaties, regulatory approvals, sectoral licensing, local ownership conditions, and enforcement uncertainty. A seasoned FDI law firm and dedicated foreign investment lawyers transform these complexities into predictable frameworks that enable investments to perform rather than expose them to avoidable legal shocks.
Effective cross-border legal advice is multi-disciplinary. It blends corporate structuring, tax planning, foreign-exchange strategy, employment considerations, compliance with sectoral rules (e.g., energy, telecoms, financial services), and commercial contracting. The best law firms coordinate these elements into a single, defensible investment plan that anticipates regulatory friction and aligns with investor objectives — entry speed, control, tax efficiency, repatriation, and exit flexibility.
Core FDI law firm services include:
Market-entry strategy and entity mapping. Lawyers determine whether to enter by acquisition, greenfield entity, joint venture, strategic partnership, or franchising — and design that route to balance control, speed, and regulatory constraints.
Investment structuring to minimise legal and tax exposure. This includes holding structures, choice of governing law, bilateral investment treaty (BIT) considerations, and layering of local and international entities to reduce double taxation and manage repatriation.
Regulatory approvals and licensing. From industry-specific permits to investment agency registration and environmental approvals, law firms coordinate with regulators and prepare submission dossiers that withstand official scrutiny.
Capital movement and foreign exchange compliance. Legal counsel ensures capital inflows, repatriation, and dividend distribution comply with foreign-exchange controls and central-bank procedures where applicable.
Joint venture and partner selection. Legal due diligence, negotiation of shareholders’ agreements, and minority-protection clauses are essential to avoid partner disputes later.
Exit and contingency planning. Lawyers draft robust exit mechanisms, options, buy-sell clauses, and dispute resolution terms to protect investor value.
Why this legal advice is mission-critical: cross-border investments are frequently subject to politicised review, national-interest conditions, or unexpected regulatory change. Investing without legal scenario planning is a high-risk gamble. Compliance missteps can result in frozen assets, revocation of licenses, or restrictions on profit repatriation.
A practical engagement begins with a legal due diligence and risk assessment: mapping legal risks, tax exposures, regulatory hurdles, and commercial mitigants. The law firm then recommends a preferred structure, drafts documentation, obtains required approvals, and establishes a compliance and reporting roadmap.
The commercial benefits are clear: quicker regulatory approvals, lower effective tax and compliance costs, reduced chance of interference by authorities, and a better negotiating position in financing and M&A. Investors that integrate legal planning into their earliest decisions realize value faster and avoid costly restructurings later.
If your organisation is evaluating an international investment, don’t treat legal advice as a closing checklist. Engage foreign investment lawyers early to design a structure that supports scale, protects capital, and provides flexible exit options. Contact our investment law firm to develop a legally resilient market-entry plan tailored to your goals.
Real estate is inherently local, but the legal risks involved share global patterns: title uncertainty, registration errors, encumbrances, zoning and planning constraints, developer defaults, and inheritance claims. Property transactions often involve large sums and long investment horizons, so legal clarity must come first. Property lawyers and a trusted real estate law firm provide the due diligence, documentation, regulatory navigation and dispute prevention that protect value across transactions.
Property law work is rarely glamorous; it is meticulous. The core legal tasks that materially reduce risk include:
Title and chain-of-title verification. Layered searches, historical registries and documentary verification reveal hidden claims, easements, mortgages or forged transfers that can derail a deal.
Encumbrance and priority checks. Ensuring the property is free of third-party charges, liens, or unresolved disputes is critical for lenders, buyers and investors.
Drafting of sale and purchase agreements. Precise drafting of payment schedules, completion conditions, representations, warranties and indemnities allocates risk and provides contractual hooks for remedy.
Regulatory compliance and permits. Zoning, planning, environmental approvals and building permits often constrain development potential and must be cleared before closing.
Lease, tenancy and landlord-tenant management. High-quality lease drafting protects rental income, clarifies repair obligations and sets enforceable termination paths.
Developer/contractor agreements and construction law. Construction contracts must manage milestone payments, delays, defects liability, performance bonds and contractor insolvency risk.
Conveyancing and registration. Legal counsel ensures transfers are properly recorded, taxes and duties paid, and registration steps executed to perfect title.
Real estate finance interfaces. Lawyers advise on mortgage/security structures, lender covenants, and enforcement mechanisms to protect both borrowers and lenders.
Inheritance, partition and co-ownership disputes. Property within families or joint ventures often generates litigation; early settlement frameworks, wills, and succession planning reduce conflict.
A real estate law firm brings additional value through litigation readiness and dispute resolution. When title disputes, eviction issues or construction conflicts occur, prompt legal action — injunctions, possessory remedies, or arbitration — preserves assets and cash flow.
Transactional risk management is a key deliverable: lawyers attach conditions precedent that protect buyers and investors, design escrow or trust structures to hold funds pending clearance, and draft earnout or holdback mechanisms to preserve recourse for latent defects or undisclosed liabilities.
From the investor’s perspective, the difference between a cautious legal approach and a reactive one is significant: the former prevents costly litigation, enables cleaner financing and supports repeatable development models; the latter often results in delayed projects, loss of funding, and erosion of asset value.
If you are buying, developing, financing or inheriting property, engage property lawyers to run a forensic legal review before you commit funds. A real estate law firm not only drafts documents but also anticipates regulatory change, litigates when needed and structures transactions to be bankable and saleable. Book a consultation to secure your real estate transaction legally and commercially.
Family law matters are intimate and consequential. Divorce, child custody, maintenance, asset division and succession issues touch life, reputation and long-term financial health. While every jurisdiction applies different statutory rules, the strategic legal approach is consistent: protect client interests, preserve privacy, and pursue outcomes that allow clients — and their families — to rebuild. Family lawyers and private-client teams at a reputable law firm deliver that balance: legal rigor plus practical sensitivity.
Family law encompasses several practice areas:
Divorce and separation. Lawyers manage fault and no-fault proceedings, negotiate settlement terms, and handle contested hearings where necessary. Crafting pragmatic settlement frameworks reduces escalation.
Child custody and guardianship. Custody decisions determine parental responsibilities and access. Lawyers prepare social, financial and welfare evidence and push for arrangements that serve the child’s best interests.
Spousal and child maintenance. Calculating appropriate maintenance involves income tracing, lifestyle adjustments and enforceable payment mechanisms. Lawyers draft enforceable orders and navigate modification or enforcement proceedings.
Asset division and marital property. Complex marital estates require forensic disclosure, valuation of businesses, pensions and international assets, and strategic claims for equitable distribution or prenuptial protections.
Domestic violence and protective orders. Immediate legal interventions protect clients and their children through injunctions, emergency applications and coordination with enforcement agencies.
Estate planning, wills and succession. Protecting family wealth and preventing future disputes often requires well-drafted wills, trusts and succession mechanisms aligned to family dynamics and legal regimes.
Mediation and collaborative law. Many family lawyers prioritise ADR to reduce cost, speed outcomes and maintain confidentiality; collaborative processes focus on negotiated, sustainable settlements.
High-quality family law practice is evidence-driven and anticipatory. Lawyers prepare financial disclosure packages, forensic accounting if needed, parenting plans, and risk assessments for domestic safety. They also implement enforcement mechanisms — attachment orders, garnishee proceedings or contempt applications — to secure compliance.
Privacy and reputation considerations make family law especially sensitive. A trusted family law firm maintains strict confidentiality, limits public filings when possible, and designs strategies to contain reputational risk while maximizing legal protection.
For high-net-worth individuals and cross-border families, lawyers coordinate international aspects: maintenance enforcement across jurisdictions, foreign asset tracing, international relocation issues and cross-border guardianship disputes. Private-client teams also integrate wealth protection strategies — trusts, pre- and post-nuptial agreements, and succession plans — to minimize future family conflict.
Choosing a family lawyer requires a blend of empathy, confidence and tactical acumen. Clients need counsel who can negotiate when possible and litigate decisively when necessary. If you face family legal issues, begin with a confidential assessment to map risks, timelines and meaningful options. Our family lawyers provide discreet, client-centered representation geared toward durable resolutions and future stability.
Conflict is a constant in commercial and personal life. What separates successful organisations and individuals from the rest is not the absence of disputes but the quality of their dispute-resolution strategy. Litigation and arbitration are tools — powerful ones — and they must be wielded with legal precision, evidentiary strength and tactical foresight. Experienced litigation lawyers and an accomplished arbitration law firm deliver that capability.
Dispute resolution practice is multi-dimensional:
Pre-dispute advisory and contract drafting. Strong preventative drafting can avoid disputes entirely. Lawyers prepare contracts with clear dispute resolution clauses, limitation of liability caps, escalation mechanisms and choice-of-law or jurisdiction provisions to reduce future uncertainty.
Early case assessment and risk triage. At the first sign of conflict, quality law firms evaluate procedural risks, commercial consequences, evidentiary strengths and cost-benefit scenarios before committing to litigation or ADR.
Domestic court litigation. Civil and commercial litigation requires mastery of procedure, evidence, interlocutory remedies and enforcement mechanisms. Lawyers pursue interim relief (injunctions, freezing orders) to prevent irreversible harm.
International and domestic arbitration. Arbitration provides confidentiality, speed and specialised tribunals for complex commercial disputes. Lawyers draft arbitration clauses, represent clients in ad hoc and institutional hearings, and manage award enforcement.
Mediation and negotiated settlement. Many disputes are best resolved through mediated or negotiated solutions that preserve business relationships and reduce costs. Lawyers structure mediations to secure enforceable outcomes.
Enforcement and execution. Winning in court or arbitration is only half the battle — enforcing judgments and awards across jurisdictions requires legal strategy, built-in enforcement mechanisms and cross-border coordination.
Specialist litigation: insolvency, shareholder oppression, intellectual property, construction, employment and regulatory enforcement. Each specialist area brings unique evidence and procedural rules that demand experienced litigators.
What distinguishes accomplished litigation and arbitration lawyers is the combination of courtroom skill, strategic patience and commercial sense. Effective advocates know when to push for an immediate injunction and when to leverage settlement momentum; when to seek discovery and when to preserve confidentiality for trial.
A tactical approach to disputes includes preserving evidence, building forensic narratives, preparing expert witnesses, and integrating parallel remedies (e.g., injunctive relief paired with arbitration claims). For cross-border disputes, lawyers plan for multi-jurisdictional enforcement and manage local counsel relationships to secure assets and judgments.
Commercial outcomes hinge on timely legal action. Delays can mean lost evidence, eroded bargaining leverage, or dissipated assets. That’s why businesses and individuals working with high-stakes legal exposures choose litigation lawyers and arbitration law firms that offer an end-to-end service: pre-dispute prevention, aggressive or measured dispute advocacy, and practical enforcement strategies.
If you are facing a dispute or want to harden your contracts against future conflict, engage lawyers who combine legal force with strategic clarity. Book a consultation to design a dispute resolution plan that preserves value and enforces your rights decisively.
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WHAT DOES PEOPLE SAY ABOUT US
The team was professional, responsive, and truly cared about my company registration process. Their clear communication and attention to detail made everything far easier than expected. Highly recommended.
Excellent service from start to finish. The team guided me through the import/export process with clear communication and reliable expertise. They handled all documentation efficiently, making the entire operation smooth and stress-free.
Fantastic experience! The team was knowledgeable, responsive, and guided me through the restaurant property purchase with ease. Their attention to detail and clear communication made the process seamless from start to finish.
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