Pinsent Masons has launched it’s Alternative Legal Service Provision, Vario, in the Middle East with an offering based out of the firm’s Dubai office.
Vario, the preeminent flexible legal service in Scotland, celebrated its tenth birthday last year. This latest move will provide businesses operating out of the UAE with a flexible legal resource that can be tailored to fit their busy in-house legal teams.
This latest move has seen senior legal counsel Britta Spachtholz relocate from Munich to Dubai to engage with clients across the region. It also represents Pinsent Masons’ continued commitment to the Middle East, and it follows the recent opening of the firm’s Abu Dhabi office. The Middle East launch also comes after a period of expansion for Vario – as well as the wider firm – with the Practice Group having established a presence in Ireland after already embedding teams across Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Germany.
What does Vario offer?
Vario Flexible Services matches in-house legal teams with experienced flexible lawyers who can be parachuted into businesses to help support on specific projects or to cover staff absences and over particularly busy periods. This service line is complemented by a range of other alternative legal service offerings including Managed Legal Services, Company Secretarial Services, Legal Project Management and Consulting for both Process and Technology.
This model is now well-established in Scotland and in particular Vario have been heavily involved within the energy sector. This provides a natural overlap with work in the Middle East, with many Scottish energy firms doing business there.
Catherine Workman, Partner, Head of Middle East at Pinsent Masons in Dubai said: “The market for innovative legal and professional services across the region is developing at a rapid pace. Expanding the firm’s Vario offering into the UAE and into our Dubai office will play an important role in enabling us to meet the evolving needs of our clients and further strengthen our position in the legal services arena.
“The Flexible Services model will be appealing to legal talent currently based in the UAE and will enable us to tap into the wealth of expertise in the Middle East. Vario has been a game changer for many clients across the firm’s network and we’re confident it’ll be an asset for us working alongside our sector-led specialists in energy, infrastructure, tech science and industry, real estate and financial services.”
Geraldine Kelm, Partner and Head of Flexible Services for Pinsent Masons Vario added: “The UAE represents a significant opportunity for Vario’s flexible resourcing services. Increasingly, clients are looking for innovative solutions to improve their efficiency, bridge resource gaps and manage workload across their in-house legal teams. We’re excited to be developing our bench in the region as the Middle East continues to be an important global hub for a wealth of multinational clients demanding sophisticated and innovative legal services.”
“Globally, there has been a growing desire within the legal profession for working practices to modernise to allow lawyers to have greater autonomy over their work life. Vario meets this desire by offering lawyers a way to engage in high-quality legal work (with big name clients) in a more flexible way to suit their work-life balance.”