Shearman & Sterling LLP

After more than a decade of experience in representing oil and petroleum companies in North Africa and the Middle East, Shearman & Sterling’s Abu Dhabi office opened in 1975. What started as a base from which to service a handful of clients in the oil and gas sector has developed into a busy center of project activity for our firm.



Our lawyers in Abu Dhabi, working closely with colleagues throughout Europe and Asia, provide comprehensive legal services to clients engaged in international transactions in the Middle East and around the globe. Much of this work is in project development and financing of the oil and gas, power and infrastructure, and other cross-border investments. Clients located in this region have also turned to our lawyers for advice on foreign-based investments, such as the acquisition of significant positions in major international companies outside the region.

The Abu Dhabi office is a market leader in providing both US and UK legal advice to clients throughout the Middle East, including many of the area’s national oil companies. We also are pioneers in the field of Islamic (Sharia-compliant) financing, having advised on the first power project in the Middle East that included financing from Islamic banks and the largest ever oil and gas Islamic Financing. In 2005, our lawyers were invited to give a presentation to the Executive Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi on the subject of transparency and anti-corruption issues.