HFW Continues Middle East, Global Growth With Kuwait Partner Hire

Global, sector-focused law firm HFW has continued to expand its fast-growing Middle East offering with the hire of Partner Kashif Syed in Kuwait City.

Kashif has a broad corporate and commercial practice and joins HFW from International Legal Group, having previously been at DLA Piper and Dentons.

He becomes the fifth Partner to join HFW in the Middle East over the past 24 months, following the arrival of Abdulrahman Al-Ohaly in Riyadh, Dubai construction Partner Slava Kiryushin, and top-ranked Dubai shipping and offshore team Rob Lawrence and Ian Chung.

This comes just weeks after HFW launched a new entity in Saudi Arabia as one of a select group of international law firms to have received a license from the Saudi Ministry of Justice to practice in the Kingdom.

HFW has been in the Middle East since 2006 and now has 20 partners and 60 lawyers in total across its offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Kuwait City, and Riyadh, making it one of the largest and longest-standing practices of any international law firm in the region. HFW’s Middle East revenue has increased by more than 60 percent over the past two financial years.

Rula Dajani, Kuwait Office Head, HFW:

“It is extremely rare to find lawyers in Kuwait with Kashif’s combination of deep local market knowledge and an international law firm background. Kashif also has experience in many of HFW’s core sectors – including aviation, construction, energy, and shipping – and his broad skillset will benefit our clients in Kuwait and the wider region. We are very pleased to welcome him to HFW. We will now look to continue our growth in Kuwait as part of our plans for significant further expansion in the Middle East and globally.”

Kashif has more than 16 years’ experience in the Middle East – including over 13 years in Kuwait – advising clients on cross-border transactions, M&A, corporate restructuring, insolvency, employment, consumer law, and competition law.

He is English-qualified and is also admitted to practice as an advocate in India, registered with the Delhi Bar Council.

Kashif Syed, Partner, HFW:

“HFW has the unique distinction of being the only international law firm in Kuwait, and its international clout and sector expertise represent an unrivalled offering for clients in the region.”

Kashif’s arrival continues a period of sustained expansion for HFW globally that has made it one of the fastest-growing law firms in the market. HFW has added more than 50 new Partners since the beginning of FY23, including team and Partner hires in Hong Kong, London, Melbourne, Paris, Perth, Piraeus, Riyadh, Singapore, and Sydney. The firm also recently launched an office in Shenzhen to support its clients in China’s Greater Bay Area.