Clyde and Co announces the addition of two new Middle East based partners

Clyde and Co LLP has announced the addition of two new Middle East based partners; Peter Hodgins in the area of Islamic Insurance (Takaful) within Clyde and Co's Financial Services group and Scott Aitken as an Abu Dhabi Real Estate partner.

Clyde & Co is one of the major international law firms in the GCC with over 160 specialist lawyers and paralegals operating as a single unit from offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE, and in Doha, Qatar.

The firm is already exceptionally well recognised for both Real Estate and Insurance industry expertise in the Middle East, with team members named by multiple legal directories as leading lawyers in the region.

Peter Hodgins is an insurance and reinsurance law specialist who worked for 10 years with the insurance practices of Clifford Chance and Reynolds Porter Chamberlain in London before moving to the Middle East in the summer of 2007.

Peter has worked on a range of Islamic law matters, including Takaful and Islamic finance, in Dubai and Riyadh where he was involved in the establishment of DLA Piper's affiliation office prior to joining the corporate insurance practice at Clyde & Co at the start of 2009. The Middle East insurance group at Clyde & Co comprises six partners and twelve lawyers.

Peter acts for both international and regional insurance interests, routinely acting for conventional insurers, Takaful operators, brokers and third party administrators in relation to the establishment, licensing and regulation of insurance operations in the GCC. He has extensive experience in developing new insurance products and has been involved in the development of both general and family takaful products for use in the GCC and beyond.

Scott Aitken is a real estate specialist who heads a team of four lawyers in the firm's Abu Dhabi office advising on on-shore and off-shore structuring for ownership, leasing and/or licensing.

In particular Scott acts for owners and operators in the branding of hotels and related residential developments and advises owners and operators of shopping malls, commercial buildings and labour camps in relation to all aspects of facilities management services including leasing, asset, property and facilities management. Included amongst Scott's major clients are some significant local banks.

Scott joined Clyde & Co as a consultant in December 2007, following 5 years with Australian law firms Clayton Utz and Mallesons Stephen Jaques where he was involved in a wide range of top-level Australian property work. Prior to entering the law, Scott spent some 15 years working for a major Australian bank across four jurisdictions.

--AME Info