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MORE than 100 members of the Bahrain British Business Forum attended the group's first breakfast meeting to hear top UK lawyers speak on building connections with the kingdom.
The delegation from the Bar Council of England and Wales was led by chairman Desmond Browne QC and Michael Brindle QC and the main message for Bahrain businesses is that using the advisory or advocacy services of British barristers is both logistically possible via email or phone or even personally and offers a wealth of specialist expertise through the Bar Council network.
Speakers said that as the fallout from the credit crunch is felt throughout the region, particularly in the construction sector in the UAE, there is an expectation that there may be disputes, loan defaults and contracts that may be broken and that cost effective resolution of these issues will be needed.
The message from Desmond Browne was: "A barrister's core skill of advocacy crosses borders very easily and international arbitration works as well here in the Middle East as it does in the UK."
He added that many contracts throughout the region contain aspects of British law and explained that arbitration is a matter of international rather than local law and advocacy is a transferable skill with members of the Bar Council already working in areas as far flung as India, Saudi Arabia and the Bahamas.
The delegation is a part of a mission which included Abu Dhabi and Dubai and some members travelled on to Qatar for an international legal conference. The trip builds on a successful initial visit which took place in 2008.
