Dentons announced the appointment of Christopher Neal and Selman Ansari as partners in its Dubai office, strengthening the firm’s corporate practice and expanding its capabilities in transactional and regulatory matters across the Middle East.
Neal brings more than 17 years of experience advising clients on private mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate structuring, reorganizations, and general corporate matters. His practice spans multiple jurisdictions across the Gulf Cooperation Council region, Europe, and the United Kingdom and covers sectors including energy, infrastructure, real estate, technology, healthcare, and hospitality.
Ansari has more than 20 years of experience in competition and antitrust law, data protection, and public policy matters. Based in Riyadh since 2018, he has developed a leading regional practice advising clients on merger control filings, antitrust compliance, investigations, multi-jurisdictional transaction strategies, and cybersecurity and data protection issues. His arrival enhances Dentons’ regulatory capabilities, particularly in the technology, media, telecommunications, and energy sectors.
Dentons said the appointments are intended to strengthen the firm’s execution capabilities in both transactional and regulatory work while addressing growing demand for sophisticated legal services across the Middle East. The firm believes the combination of Neal’s sector expertise and Ansari’s regulatory experience provides a differentiated offering for corporate clients operating in the region.
As the world’s largest global law firm, Dentons continues to invest in expanding its Middle East platform to support clients navigating increasingly complex business, regulatory, and cross-border issues.
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“I am pleased to welcome Christopher and Selman to our Dubai team as we continue to bolster our service for corporate clients in line with growing demand for top tier legal support across the Middle East. Both Christopher and Selman bring strong client relationships and deep sector experience that enhance our bench strength in the region.”
Paul Jarvis, CEO, Dentons UK, Ireland And Middle East Region
“Christopher and Selman’s appointments align with our strategic priority to strengthen our execution capacity for corporate transactional and regulatory work. Christopher’s sector experience and Selman’s expertise in corporate regulatory matters combine to provide us with a genuine advantage in offering a comprehensive service to our corporate clients in the Middle East.”
Nick Simpson, Head Of Corporate In The Middle East, Dentons
“I am delighted to join a firm with such a broad and integrated regional and global offering and look forward to growing my practice at Dentons.”
Christopher Neal, Partner, Dentons
“Dentons’ global regulatory offering to corporate clients is excellent. I am excited to have the opportunity to continue to build my regional regulatory practice within the corporate team at Dentons, which will allow me to leverage my experience and strong GCC client relationships.”
Selman Ansari, Partner, Dentons
