Paul Hastings to Ride #AbuDhabi AI Push With New Office - Bloomberg

Paul Hastings to Ride Abu Dhabi AI Push With New Office - Bloomberg

Paul Hastings, the law firm with longstanding links to Abu Dhabi, is opening an office in the city to capitalize on its multibillion-dollar push into sectors like artificial intelligence, energy, and infrastructure.

The firm has tapped White & Case Partners Din Eshanov and George Kazakov to run its operations in the Gulf city, according to a statement on Tuesday. The duo will lead an international team spanning colleagues in London and Paris.

“With our new office, we’re now able to deepen the commitment,” Kazakov said in an interview. “The office will serve as a hub for the regional clients and transactions, as well as a vital bridge with Europe, the US and Asia for the firm’s clients. That shift will be huge.”

Paul Hastings already has ties to Abu Dhabi. Martin Edelman, a veteran lawyer at the firm, serves as general counsel of AI firm G42 and was involved in the firm’s negotiations with the US government last year, Bloomberg News has reported.

He’s also a director at GlobalFoundries Inc. — one of the largest providers of outsourced chip production that’s backed by Abu Dhabi wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. — and he advises both the sovereign investor as well as Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s Royal Group.

The Abu Dhabi royal has been leading the push into AI through entities he oversees — MGX is helping fund US President Donald Trump’s $100 billion Stargate project and partnering with Microsoft Corp., BlackRock Inc. and xAI on data centers, while wealth fund ADQ recently unveiled a $25 billion venture to invest in power generation for AI projects.

Abu Dhabi has unveiled significant moves elsewhere too, which could present an opportunity for Paul Hastings. State oil firm Adnoc recently set up a new company to focus on international gas and chemical deals, with an enterprise value of $80 billion that it aims to double within a decade.

“Infrastructure is clearly a major focus here,” said Eshanov, who has a background in energy, oil, and gas and renewable projects. “We’re well positioned to bring meaningful value to the infrastructure boom underway in the UAE - particularly in Abu Dhabi.

With the decision to establish an office in Abu Dhabi, Paul Hastings is following in the footsteps of other top law firms from New York, London and Chicago, who are all deepening their presence in the Gulf and chasing profits from a region that’s announced more than $150 billion in deals last year.

Growth at Paul Hastings exceeded the averages of its peers last year. Revenue surged by a fifth to more than $2.2 billion last year as the firm aggressively hired partners from rivals. That came after the firm’s attorneys billed a record 2.21 million hours in 2024, up 15% from the prior year.

In Abu Dhabi, the law firm will look at growing investment ties between the United Arab Emirates and Europe as an opportunity. The oil-rich country has pledged billions of dollars in investments in both Italy and France.

“We’re seeing significant investment flows both from the UAE and into Europe and vice versa,” Eshanov said. “Expanding the reach of European investors into the Middle East and facilitating investments from the region into Europe is a cornerstone of what we want to achieve at Paul Hastings.”