LBKM Further Expands Capabilities in MENA with Sports and Entertainment Practice and the Addition of Nada Hachem as Foreign Legal Counsel
New engagements in the region include World Cup kick-off event in Qatar.
In recent weeks, Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss (LBKM)’s Middle East practice group expanded its reach to help launch a large-scale, multi-day event in Qatar to kick off the World Cup 2022. As part of these efforts, LBKM’s Sports and Entertainment group led negotiations with various talent agencies and third parties, managing myriad legal and logistical issues to bring together such public figures as Trevor Noah of The Daily Show; Jalen Rose and David Jacoby of ESPN; and NBA Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady. The event served to promote cross-cultural understanding and demonstrate the ways in which sports and entertainment can be used to bridge cultural divides and effect social change.
“The successful roll-out of this multi-day international event highlights the agility of LBKM and our ability to work with partners not only in relation to their general commercial needs – be it dispute resolution or corporate demands – but also bring our multi-jurisdictional skill-set to the relatively niche area of Sports and Entertainment,” said Waleed Nassar, co-chair of the firm’s Middle East practice group. “Working these past months on this event, one of many in the lead-up to the World Cup 2022, has been a pleasure and we are thrilled with the results,” said Brett Walter, who leads the firm’s corporate Middle East and Sports and Entertainment practices.
As part of its efforts to continue to expand its reach into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, LBKM has also announced that it has added Nada Hachem to the firm as Foreign Legal Counsel. Based in Lebanon, Nada will assist with the Corporate and Sports and Entertainment practices in the region. Ms. Hachem brings to LBKM more than 10 years of commercial and corporate legal experience. She has worked closely with numerous local and international clients, negotiating, structuring, drafting and reviewing complex cross-border transactions. She’s also overseen the establishment and day-to-day legal aspects of companies, foreign branches and NGOs in the MENA region and other jurisdictions. She brings special expertise in such areas as mergers and acquisitions, franchising, intellectual property, public-private partnerships, technology media and telecom, employment law and private equity. Ms. Hachem is fluent in Arabic, English, and French, and practices law in all three languages. She is a member of the Beirut Bar Association of Lawyers and has served as an expert contributor for Lebanon to the World Justice Project.
“Enhancing these capabilities helps assure our clients that they can seek out and capitalize on growing opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa, knowing that trusted attorneys, expert in local statutes, are mitigating related legal exposures,” said Brett Walter. “Nada will make it possible for us to better serve our growing client roster located here as well as those with strategic interests in the region.”
“It is unusual for firms with LBKM’s world-class legal reputation and exciting client mix to also offer a highly supportive culture and team-oriented approach,” said Ms. Hachem. “I am looking forward to further growing my legal practice in the positive environment LBKM has fostered, and serving clients here in the MENA region.”