Law Firm EKP Announces New Growth Strategy Focused On Serving Middle East Markets

As part of its new Middle East-centric strategy, El-Khoury & Partners Legal Counsel (EKP) chose to amicably demerge from international law firm HFW, effective January 1st, 2019. Guided by its ambition to continuously support its regional client base, EKP’s new strategy aims at solidifying its commitment to supporting the development of the Middle East region.

In line with this new direction, and despite the downturn in today’s legal market, EKP has announced a number of recent growth initiatives:

The launch of a new office in Dubai in association with Diana Hamade Attorneys at Law, resulting in the addition of 2 new partners – Diana Hamade and Patrick Khoury – as well as 6 associates;
The addition of Beirut-based partner, Georges Okais Member of the Lebanese Parliament, joining from a reputable law firm; and
The inauguration of its new offices in Beirut.

Dubai-based partners Diana Hamade and Patrick Khoury joined EKP effective January 1st, 2019.  Ms. Hamade, a prominent figure in the Dubai legal community, will be leading EKP’s Family Law and Succession Planning practice. Prior to joining EKP, she led her own law firm for 10 years. Mr. Khoury, who practiced law for more than 17 years in the UAE, has joined EKP to cement its Corporate Practice in Dubai.

Beirut-based partner MP Georges Okais joined EKP on May 1st, 2019 and is tasked with leading EKP’s Policy and Governments Practice. Mr. Okais started his career as a judge in Lebanon where he presided over the Tribunal of First Instance of Beirut for more than 17 years. He then moved into the legal profession and in 2010 he served as Head of the Strategic Planning and Management Bureau in Abu Dhabi, then as the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department’s Undersecretary. In 2014 he was appointed as an adviser to the Minister of Justice in the UAE until 2018. In 2018, Mr. Okais was successfully elected as a parliament member during the General Legislative elections in Lebanon, and as a result, he is currently serving as a member of the Justice and Administration, Foreign Affairs, and Human Rights Parliamentary Committees.

As part of these expansion plans, EKP unveiled a new, state-of-the-art office in Beirut. Equipped with cutting edge technology. The newly launched office is innovative, dynamic, and modern, which further amplifies EKP’s commitment to its clients and its people. EKP will leverage the new office to continue to provide outstanding levels of service to clients while enhancing the workplace experience for its team members.

The same team in EKP’s office in Riyadh operates in association with Khulaif Al-Enezee and has added three team members to its ranks. Over the last 15 years, EKP has built a strong platform in Riyadh with partners grounded in the Saudi market and who continue to serve it together today.

EKP has also created a new Chief Operating Officer (COO) position, which is now held by Elie Choueiri who joined EKP’s Beirut office after having served as Chief Information Officer at Chalhoub Group in Dubai for more than 17 years.

EKP is now a team of 7 Partners and 20 associates who are spread across 3 regional offices in Beirut, Dubai and Riyadh. EKP’s Managing Partner, Ziad Ghassan El-Khoury, commented: “This is the first of a series of expansion actions based on a 10-year growth strategy that EKP has carefully designed and is seeking to implement. Very few local firms in the region are capable of providing international quality service to regional clients at competitive rates. EKP aims at becoming the top firm in this category”.

Diana Hamade, new Dubai-based partner with EKP, said: “We are very excited to now be part of the EKP’s regional platform. This will allow us to extend new offerings to our clients in several practice areas and locations that we did not cover before.”

“The move into this wonderful group of professionals will allow us to offer corporate clients a sizable, extremely experienced team of lawyers, capable of offering clients a regional one-stop shop. This will also mean that we now have the capability and ease of following clients into regional cross-border transactions”, said Patrick Khoury, new Dubai-based corporate partner with EKP.

MP George Okais, new partner with EKP serving clients in Lebanon and the UAE, commented on these recent developments: “I am honored and pleased to be joining this highly ambitious team, and working on further expanding EKP’s regional Policy and Governments practice. EKP’s commitment to deliver world-class legal services to the local market is a real strategic fit with my own ambitions working on regulatory, government, corporate and commercial law matters. I am confident that EKP’s growth initiatives will bolster its capabilities to serve current and future clients, and I look forward to the journey ahead.”

Elie Choueiri, new Dubai-based COO with EKP, said: “It is rare to find a regional forward-thinking law firm like EKP with a clearly defined strategy. I will be supporting this strong business institution by putting in place corporate governance schemes and driving its performance and efficiency to new heights via the establishment of metric-driven planning and financial management, and by aligning legal with finance, IT and HR. I am very excited to be part of EKP and look forward to helping the firm attain its quest of building the best quality legal platform in the Middle East”.