King & Spalding’s Dubai office has hired real estate specialist Stephen Kelly as a partner from Clyde & Co, where Kelly led the latter's Middle East real estate development team.



He has represented master developers, sub-developers, hotel operators and service providers on a variety of property issues, with an emphasis on the title structuring of complex large-scale master communities and mixed-use hotel developments.



With particular focus on advising clients with developments impacted by the region's various “strata title regimes,” – that is, regimes governing the ownership, operation and management of communities and developments that have multiple ownership and shared areas and facilities – Kelly’s portfolio includes acting on prominent developments across the region such as Burj Khalifa, Palazzo Versace, Dubai Pearl and Sun & Sky Towers.



"Stephen is a fantastic lawyer with a proven pedigree," said Jawad Ali, managing partner of King & Spalding's Middle East offices, in a statement. "Our Middle East team has a strong reputation for local and cross-border real estate matters stemming from the region, so he is a great recruit who further enhances our capabilities.”



Kelly’s appointment takes the total number of King & Spalding partners in the Gulf region to nine.