“Middle East Notes” is Herbert Smith Freehills’ blog where clients will find the latest updates, articles and case summaries on topics relevant to the Middle East. The blog covers developments relating to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC.
There are a number of ways to navigate the blog site, depending on what you are looking for:
Click on a category from the list in the right-hand sidebar if you want to find everything published on the site relating to a general topic or practice area.
Click on a tag from the “tag cloud” if you want to track what has been happening in relation to a more specific topic or development. (Note that the size of text in the tag cloud varies depending on how many posts are tagged to a particular term.)
Enter a term in the search box if you want to find all articles containing the term in question.
Click on a month from the archive list if you want to find all articles on the site that were published in a particular month.
Although the blog was launched in March 2025, to make the site more useful from “day one” we have “pre-populated” it with selected articles available on other blogs before that date.
You can subscribe to this blog if you would like our updates sent to you by e-mail as soon as they are posted, or you can subscribe via a reader.
Our team
Herbert Smith Freehills has a long-standing presence in the Middle East operating from our offices in Dubai and Riyadh. We have a team of approximately 35 lawyers (including 11 partners) in the region, who are available to deliver a full service across the Middle East and beyond.
Dispute resolution
Stuart Paterson
Managing Partner, Middle East and Head of Middle East Dispute Resolution, Dubai
