Middle East

"Certainly one of the best, if not the best, sets in relation to construction and engineering matters – the experience its members have is really the one you need for complex, international disputes.”

The Legal 500 EMEA

Members’ expertise and experience in construction and energy disputes, in the key contractual forms particularly FIDIC, with fact-heavy/technical cases and with complex issues of local legal systems, including Shariah law, is renowned.

Members have been instructed on some of the largest and most high-profile matters in the region for over 50 years. They act on major project disputes spanning the full range of Chambers’ specialisms, namely transport, energy generation and distribution, water and waste projects, government infrastructure projects, commercial and residential developments and leisure stadia as well as wider commercial work.

Members have advised and acted in disputes across the Middle East, including in the UAE, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq, among others.

Recent examples include: Muscat International Airport; significant commercial and residential developments, leisure stadia and complexes such as the Palm Jumeirah; highway projects in Oman; Dubai Marina; Dubai International Airport; a new embassy building; Dubai Metro, as well as transport systems such as airports, road and rail projects and marine facilities.

Atkin Chambers has, for many years, been recognised as a leading set by The Legal 500 EMEA Guide and was named ‘English Bar in the Middle East: Construction Set of the Year’ at the inaugural The Legal 500 Middle East and North Africa Awards in 2024.

Her Honour Frances Kirkham CBE is a Justice of the Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre.