James Dallas: 'Dubai is like Hong Kong in the 80s'
Denton Wilde Sapte's chairman on relocating to the Middle East and why he couldn't yet move back to London
Taking a break from the old routine is actually quite healthy. It’s terribly easy in London: you’ve got your settled friends, you know everybody in the office, the whole pattern of your life is very well established. Moving to Dubai, where I’ve been based since January, has meant starting again. But I’d say that my wife and I are adapting quite well — and I’m certainly not missing the morning rush hour on the Tube.
Dubai reminds me of Hong Kong in the 80s. I’ve been coming here since we took over some offices from a firm called Fox & Gibbons about ten years ago. What’s always stood out is this almost tangible sense of energy and entrepreneurialism. Every month brings new people and projects, so there’s a constant sense of change, which obviously fits in with the rapidly developing physical topography. The contrast with London at the moment is quite acute.
Still, there’s a limit to how many law firms the place can actually sustain. If you look at China, for example, there are an awful lot of also-rans and the same thing seems to be happening here. Too many firms come in without a clear strategy then attempt to buy market share through undercutting on prices, which just isn’t sustainable with inflation so high. Abu Dhabi and Doha are becoming better bets for start ups.
If I wasn’t a lawyer I’m not sure what I’d be. I actually think I could have been happy in a lot of careers, provided whatever I was doing afforded a reasonable degree of variety. That’s probably what I enjoy most about law. In the last few months I’ve advised on a uranium mining programme, assisted the Jordanian government with a feasibility study on oil shale extraction and represented a consortium on a huge power project in Saudi Arabia. Of course, the downside of doing lots of different things as an energy lawyer is that it tends to involve spending an awful lot of time on planes.
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What does JG Ballard have to do with the credit crunch? Linklaters' global head of banking explains There have been few better times to be involved in energy and natural resources. China and India’s massive need for power will obviously drive a lot of business. Then you’ve got the threat of global warming, which is going to stimulate a huge amount of investment during the next few years. Nuclear power, in particular, looks likely to come back strongly onto the agenda. Associates in this field who are prepared to roll up their sleeves and get in front of clients have a great opportunity.
It all feels a long way from the early days of my career. Back then the big thing was North Sea oil. The government was very heavily involved, so you’d get these eccentric Department of Energy negotiators calling the shots. I remember one fellow, in particular, who was famous for sitting cross-legged on a windowsill during meetings and blowing a whistle every time he heard something he didn’t like — quite extraordinary, really, when you think about it now.
I don’t think it’s for lawyers to make judgments about the regimes with which our clients do business. The geopolitical aspect of the job is one of the aspects I enjoy most, but I don’t look at it in moral terms. I’ve worked on transactions in countless countries, including Sudan, Pakistan and Iran. For me it has always just been a case of applying the highest professional standards to whatever transaction I do.
Claims that deals in the Middle East are done “on the back of an envelope” are way off the mark. We’re dealing with international banks and investors who want the same levels of assurance for transactions as they do elsewhere, so in no way are we cutting corners. Admittedly, there is rather less regulation here than in the UK, so from that perspective I suppose it’s true that some of the contracts may be less sophisticated than City lawyers are used to.
The endless pursuit of higher and higher profits worries me. As firms race to become the biggest and the best there is a concern that they loose sight of what the job is all about. For me, the real virtue of being a lawyer is being able to provide quality advice and innovative solutions — something that is difficult to do in an overly hours-oriented environment.
I’ve promised myself not to come back to London until my tennis is good enough for me to regularly get the better of my son. However, it’s looking like that may necessitate staying here significantly longer than the three years I’ve agreed with the firm, and possibly remaining in exile permanently.
