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The Advocates Law Firm

10/30/2013

The Advocates is a leading Dubai based law firm specializing in a wide spectrum of legal services within the UAE. The Advocates was established based on the philosophy of delivering at the highest level of personalized legal services at cost-effective rates. The Advocates is a licensed law firm practicing legal representation before courts in the UAE. The Advocates consist of a group of advocates and legal consultants who thrives to achieve deliverables within a set time frame through proper understanding of the client’s legal requirements, and providing optimal solutions through adopting measured methodology and profound legal knowledge.

Founded in 2005, The Advocates had witnessed continued steady growth in its portfolio of clientele and workforce through the years and have continuously maintained harmonious and fecund business relationships with organizations and individuals.

The Advocates had recorded a high level of success rate leading to the constant sustainability of the firm. In The Advocates, we place the highest level of importance to meet client’s expectations through outlining key milestones and expected success rate.

Jumeirah Corniche to be longest in Dubai

10/28/2013

Shaikh Mohammad orders increase in walking and jogging tracks to encourage practice of sports.

Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has sanctioned the Jumeirah Corniche Development Project to be constructed along the beach adjoining six residential districts, starting from the area behind the Dubai Marine Beach Resort down to the Burj Al Arab Hotel.

The Jumeirah Corniche project will be 14 kilometres in length, making it the longest corniche in the emirate.

Shaikh Mohammad directed the linking of both the walkway and the jogging track with the Dubai Canal Project, and for the Corniche project to be completed in a year’s time.

He stated: “Our objective is to achieve people’s happiness... we are keen to establish all the necessary components to make nationals, expatriates and visitors happy and enjoy quality life. Our developmental projects are integrating to attain this ultimate goal. We are committed to investing in building healthy human capital through providing an ideal enabling environment.”

Dubai property ownership pros and cons

10/23/2013

The advantages and disadvantages of the most common ownership structures in Dubai.

There are many ways to own property in Dubai. We take a look at the most common ownership structures and consider the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Remember that freehold titles can only be registered in the name of non-GCC nationals in those areas designated for that purpose. These include The Palm Jumeirah, Emirates Hills, The Meadows, The Lakes, The Springs, Dubai Marina and Jumeirah Lakes Towers. Most notably, they exclude most of Deira, Bur Dubai, Jumeirah and Umm Suqeim. For the purpose of this article, I will assume the property in question is in a freehold-designated area.

1. Individual ownership

One of the most common forms of property ownership is to have the title registered in your name.

Pros: It’s simple, quick and easy to buy and sell the property. You just have to go to the Dubai Land Department (DLD) with your passport and sign the documents or appoint a representative under a power of attorney to sign for you. When the speed of buying and selling was of the essence, individual ownership enabled flippers to move in and out of property investments with the agility of a feline ninja.

Cons: Inheritance has always been a grey area and individual ownership exposes you to the uncertainties of the Dubai Courts deciding on succession issues regarding the property. For some nationalities, there are also tax implications with rental income and capital gains both possibly falling within reach of the sharp claws of foreign tax regimes.

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10/23/2013

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Dubai’s reputation continues to climb

10/21/2013

Emirate moves up six places in ‘world’s most reputable cities’ ranking

Dubai: Dubai continues to gain stronger popularity in the international community after climbing six places to 41st on the list of most reputable cites in the world, a survey by a reputation-based advisory firm showed.

The 2013 City RepTrak, which surveyed more than 22,000 people from the G8 countries between January and February this year, showed Dubai overtaking cities like Brisbane, Seattle, New Orleans and Houston, which were ahead of the emirate in last year’s survey. Earning a score of 66.6, the city maintained its lead over Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta and Singapore.

The results of the study, which annually ranks the world’s 100 most reputable cities based on levels of trust, esteem admiration and respect, was announced last week. Sydney emerged top, followed by Toronto, Stockholm, Vienna and Venice in the top five.

Just like in last year’s survey, Dubai is the only city in the Middle East that made it into the top 50, making it the most reputable city in the region. Abu Dhabi is ranked 63rd, while Riyadh and Mecca occupied the 85th and 86th places respectively.

Dubai’s significant showing will provide a great impetus to the city’s bid to host Expo 2020. According to reputation experts, people’s perceptions of a city can impact the economy. Those that enjoy a good reputation tend to attract more tourists, investments and talent, among others.

“People have images of a city on their mind when they are deciding to go on holiday there, to live or work there, or to buy products originated there,” said Fernando Prado, responsible for the Place Reputation Unit of Reputation Institute. “Our modelling demonstrates that a city that knows how to effectively manage its reputation can attract more tourists, greater investment or a bigger influx of talent.”

Prado said the results of the study also demonstrated that neither the population size nor the gross domestic product of a city is an essential factor in the construction of a good reputation.

The other factors that can affect a city’s reputation also include the beauty of the urban environment, safety, entertainment and standard of living. The size of a city can also be influential, while social, political or cultural factors may also play a role.

“The larger a city is, the more complicated it becomes to manage,” Prado said. “This is one of the reasons that explain why, with the exception of London, the top 10 in the RepTrak study features only medium-sized cities. Our study shows us that those managing cities also need to pay attention to the finer details that ultimately define the relationship with stakeholders, rather than focus solely on the headline figures of tourist arrivals or product sales.”

In last year’s survey, Dubai and Abu Dhabi emerged as the top two cities to invest in, beating Zurich, Geneva and New York. In the latest survey, the title went to New York and Zurich. Venice became this year’s top city to visit, while Sydney was named the top city to live in.

Dubai Expo 2020 chairman welcomes World Expo delegates

10/20/2013

Convention allows the BIE representatives to experience many unique advantages

Dubai: An in-depth symposium presented to more than 250 representatives from 167 member nations of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the international organisation that oversees World Expo, will be showcased from October 22 to October 24.

The conference concentrates around the Dubai Expo 2020 theme entitled “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future: Partnerships for Global Innovation and Sustainable Development”.

Dubai SME reports 50% increase

10/15/2013

13,000 Emiratis have benefited from services of agency set up to help small and medium enterprises

Dubai: Dubai SME witnessed a 50 per cent increase in membership this year, according to CEO Abdul Baset Al Janahi.

Dubai SME was formed in 2002 as an agency in the Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) with the goal of developing local entrepreneurship as an alternative career choice amongst the local residents.

“Over the last 11 years, we have helped more than 13,000 Emirati entrepreneurs through our various services ranging from incubation, subsidised start-up (fee waivers & reductions), funding, capability development, links to government procurement and business advisories to set up their businesses and developed them to the next level.”

Dubai government is trying to promote entrepreneurship as a means to diversify the economy into newer sectors, niche services and new business models. Enterprises classified as small or medium-sized as per the official SME definition of Dubai SMEs, short for small and medium enterprises, employ around 42 per cent of Dubai’s workforce and account for about 40 per cent of Dubai’s GDP. Al Janahi said that since inception, Dubai SME has supported around 1,500 SMEs.

Dubai world’s most attractive destination

10/15/2013

DUBAI: Dubai held first place worldwide as the most attractive destination, getting 13 out of 15 points, according to a recent survey on global tourist destinations.

London also got the same ranking.

The survey, which was conducted by Britain’s Dealchecker Blog and saw the participation of 1.2 million respondents, was based on a range of basic standards for determining the points and rank of each city.

These include the city’s power to attract celebrities, the number of clients for 5-star hotels, charming landscapes and how universal the city is in terms of the cultural scene and restaurants.

Dubai got full marks in terms of its power to attract celebrities such as Salma Hayek, George Clooney and Brad Pitt. New York and London, however, got the same ranking.

“The emirate also got full marks in terms of universality. In this connection, the website pointed out that Dubai hosts prestigious shopping malls, restaurants and tennis courts.

“Dubai surpassed London and New York in terms of seekers of 5-star hotels (1 out of 5 for Dubai compared to 1 out of 20 for London and 1 out of 30 for New York).”

To sum up, New York and Cancun came third with 12 points each, followed by the Maldives in 5th place with 11 points. Sharm El-Sheikh got 7 points although it got a high ranking in terms of seekers of 5-star hotels.

Gulf Cash Is Fuelling New Dubai Property Boom

10/12/2013

About $40 billion worth of property projects were announced in the first half of 2013, and a further $11 billion in the two weeks before Cityscape.

A stampede by competing apartment buyers in Dubai this week may have obscured signs that Dubai’s latest real estate boom is more restrained than the last one, which pushed the government close to default.

Dubai’s property spree in the middle of the last decade was built precariously on bank loans, spelling disaster for indebted developers when prices eventually crashed. The crisis shook financial markets around the world.

This time, both developers and investors have less access to loans from banks, which have become more cautious.

That is likely to slow or halt some projects, forcing developers to rely more on their own earnings, analysts and executives said at this week’s Cityscape property fair, the industry’s top annual event.

Meanwhile, the emirate is benefiting from a massive influx of buyers from other fast-growing Gulf states and from politically unstable countries elsewhere in the Arab world.

Many of them pay cash up front for properties before construction is completed, easing the risk for developers.

“There is no excessive leverage,” said Ziad El-Chaar, managing director of Damac, a Dubai developer which focuses on the luxury segment and was hit hard by the 2009-2010 crash.

“The main buyer today in Dubai comes from the Middle East,” and usually pays cash up front, he said.

DED Company Formation | VIP Service

10/2/2013

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You can now make an appointment directly with The Advocates Law Firm at their office on Sheikh Zayed road, and everything will be handled swiftly and professionally. Your One Stop Shop for Company Formation, Company Sponsorship and Legal Services.

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