Fast-growing Middle East firm responds to client demand for top-tier UK base John Reynold’s Letter

LONDON/KUWAIT: Meysan Partners announces the launch of its London office today, its first office outside of the Middle East. Meysan London will focus on heavyweight commercial and investor-state disputes, with a mission to apply the firm’s international litigation and arbitration know-how to the most complex cross- border cases. It will serve the interests of corporates, investors, funds, state-owned entities and high-net- worth individuals, all looking to achieve positive results with a trusted partner.

Founder Bader El-Jeaan commented: “We’re very proud of the success of our business in the region but international expansion has always been part of our ambition. As a highly evolved and exciting market, London is an obvious choice that our clients want us to explore. We are confident that this will solidify and strengthen our offering to enable us to better serve our clients with their most complex and challenging disputes.”

 Leading the London team is disputes heavyweight John Reynolds, who takes on the role of London Managing Partner, and that of firmwide Head of International Disputes. Reynolds, who spent over 15 years at White & Case as Head of the London Litigation Department and Global Co-Head of the firm’s Financial Institutions Practice, has helped clients resolve complex problems for more than 30 years and is a deeply connected member of the global dispute resolution community.

He plans to build out a destination firm for corporate and M&A disputes, investor-state arbitration, finance litigation, shareholder disputes, investigations, crisis management, fraud and competition litigation and international commercial arbitration. He is joined by seasoned disputes lawyer, Oliver Green, and a dedicated operational team with a mandate to grow the firm with pace.

Reynolds comments: “After 30 years at some of the world’s leading law firms, I am excited to bring that experience to Meysan to help build a business with real focus and momentum. Now, more than ever, London is one of THE preferred locations for international litigation and arbitration, and remains a significant arena in international dealmaking. Couple that with the incredible pace of economic growth in the Middle East and its ascendency as a global powerhouse in business, and in law, and you have a unique market opportunity.”

 With buoyant levels of legal talent in London, Meysan is also looking to match rapid pace of growth that it has enjoyed over the past few years in the Middle East, where it has grown its revenue by almost 230% over the past five years. As the firm’s focus is on deals and disputes, it hopes to attract some of the industry’s leading litigation and corporate teams who are looking beyond the challenges and established ways of working within larger rivals.

El-Jeaan concludes: “The pace of change in our region, and in the legal profession more broadly, means that we’ve always been agile, ambitious and progressive in our business. So, as our region grows its reputation, we’re hoping to attract people who crave that momentum. We think that it’s an exciting proposition.”

About Meysan 

1. Meysan is an ambitious international law firm comprising skilled legal experts from the Middle East and the UK. The firm was founded in January 2015 by Bader El-Jeaan, former general counsel at private equity giant, The Carlyle Group, and Abdul Aziz Al-Yaqout, former Middle East regional managing partner of DLA Piper.

2. The firm sets itself apart by offering high-quality, innovative legal advice delivered by a team of highly experienced Arabic, English and French-speaking lawyers. The firm has advised clients across various industry sectors on some of the most noteworthy and complex transactions and high-stakes commercial litigation.

3. From a handful of lawyers in 2015, Meysan now operates from seven offices: Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Cairo, Dubai, Kuwait, London and Riyadh, with over 140 staff. The firm is ranked in the region by Chambers and Partners in Band 1 (Kuwait-Dispute Resolution), Band 2 (Kuwait-Corporate and Finance); Legal 500 in Tier 1 (Kuwait-Commercial, Corporate and M&A) and Tier 2 (Kuwait- Dispute Resolution). The firm was also designated as “Kuwait Law Firm of the Year” by International Financial Law Firm of the Year in 2022.

4. Founder Bader El-Jeaan enjoys an enviable reputation, especially when it comes to large-scale M&A mandates, described as “thinks cross-jurisdictionally and is able to develop strategies no one else thinks of.” In addition to M&A, he has further experience advising on joint ventures and capital markets issuances.

5. Senior Partner and Eminent Practitioner Abdul Aziz Al-Yaqout is considered by sources to be “a dynamic lawyer and very proactive.” He is highly regarded for his wealth of expertise advising on M&A, capital markets and business restructuring matters.

6. The firm’s clients comprise regional blue-chip companies and family groups, multinational corporations, international financial institutions, sovereign governments and domestic corporations, and high-net-worth individuals. They include Citi, Ford, BP, GE, World Bank Group, NBK and Daimler.

7. John Reynolds joins Meysan as London Managing Partner. He was formerly head of White & Case’s London Litigation Department and Global Co-Head of Financial Institutions Practice. He was also a partner at Herbert Smith, McDermott Will & Emery and Avonhurst. As a leading figure in the legal world, Reynolds has been involved in many of the landmark cases that have shaped the litigation landscape, from the collapse of Lehman Brothers and BCCI to the nationalisation of Northern Rock and the Maxwell Fraud. His expertise has been recognised by both Chambers and The Legal 500 for more than 20 years, particularly for commercial litigation and banking disputes. He is a Legal 500 Hall of Fame litigator, included in The Lawyer Hot 100, and Chambers UK referred to him as an “esteemed litigator” who was “vastly experienced” and “strategically very astute”. He is also ranked as a “global leader” in “Who’s Who Legal — Litigation”.