Shane Jury, a senior disputes lawyer based in Dubai, has joined Addleshaw Goddard as a Partner in the firm’s Dubai office.

Mr. Jury will be leading AG’s Dubai-based commercial disputes team.

Mr Jury joins from Gibson Dunn, where he had a substantial practice as a litigator in the DIFC and ADGM Courts and has acted on major commercial arbitrations throughout the Middle East region, including in the UAE, Lebanon, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.  

Mr. Jury has been based in Dubai for over eight years and was formerly a Senior Associate at a magic circle law firm.  He has a high profile as a senior litigator in the region, having appeared as an advocate in various matters before the DIFC Courts and holding active memberships with the DIFC Courts Arbitration Working Group and the ADGM Courts Young Members Group.

Mr Jury's hire is part of a strategic drive to grow the firm's already strong commercial disputes practice internationally (now at 51 partners and over 150 fee earners globally) in high value and complex commercial matters. In February 2021 the firm hired partner Maria Frangeskides from Orrick, an expert in advising multinational companies, large corporates and high net worth individuals in Commercial Court litigation and international arbitration. In January 2021, the firm opened an office in Paris, which includes two dedicated disputes partners, David Pére and Cécile Terret (both of whom are experts in cross border fraud work), expanding its capability across continental Europe. The firm now has strong capabilities in the arbitral hubs of Paris, London, Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong.

In Dubai, the team of five focuses on complex commercial and banking/financial cases in the DIFC and ADGM Courts, arbitration under all of the major institutional rules, investigations and oversight of strategic litigation in the Onshore Courts. The team’s caseload frequently involves matters which are governed by DIFC/ADGM Law or English Law, as well as onshore UAE law, or which require advice on laws in the wider GCC, including Saudi law. Mr Jury will focus on growing the team’s existing bench strength in Commercial Arbitration, Investigations, and Litigation - for the latter drawing on the continued success of the DIFC Courts (a forum in which Mr Jury regularly appears as an advocate) and the rapid growth of the ADGM Courts.  

Andrew Johnston, head of Middle East and Asia, said: "Shane's expertise is a perfect fit for us as we target high value, general commercial and financial services claims in the UAE. We can only see these types of disputes gaining in traction, particularly with an uptick in fraud-related and other general commercial disputes and investigations that are inevitable by-products of the current economic cycle. Shane brings with him strong client relationships and a wealth of experience, enhancing our offering to meet the demands of a growing and more sophisticated international disputes market from Dubai."