Louise Reid

Associate

Practice areas

• Employment law

Practice notes

Louise is an Associate in our commercial practice group, specialising in employment and immigration and based between our Dubai and Abu Dhabi office. Louise has been working as a lawyer in the Middle East since qualification and has gained a wealth of experience working within international law firms.

Louise has a broad range of experience in on all aspects of employment law in the UAE and across the Middle East, including cross border conflicts of law, immigration and visa requirements associated with recruiting into the Middle East together with day-to-day operational advice including ongoing performance management and the disciplinary process, appointments and exits, redundancies and dispute resolution. Louise also regularly assists with the employment aspects of group re-organisations, restructuring and M&As.

Louise has acted for both regional and multinational clients based throughout the Middle East and globally in a range of sectors including hospitality, retail, health, energy & natural resources, technology and banking.

A selection of Louise’s experience includes:

• Undertaking review and drafting suite of employment documents and policies for an global biotech company based in the ADGM, to ensure compliance and best practice, including documents such as employment contracts, employee handbooks and hybrid/remote working policy
• Acting on behalf of a company in the energy and technology sector on a senior employee litigation in the ADGM Court of First Instance (Employment Division) and Court of Appeal
• Conducting and organising a sensitive employee investigation on behalf of a multinational manufacturing company, involving issues such as document forgery, fraud and verbal abuse towards other employees
• Conducting a global contract review and drafting project for a multinational technology company to harmonise all employment contracts and policies internationally
• Advising on all employment related matters relating to establishing an entity in the ADGM for an international defence and security technology company. Prepared employment documentation and assisted with the onboarding of employees including advising on and carrying out initial visa applications and in-country employee visa transfers
• Leading training and seminars in relation to the new UAE Labour Law and a number of other employment focused topics to a multinational pharmaceutical corporation. This led to the review and update of the employee terms and conditions and policies for all UAE employees
• Advising and managing the spinning-off of part of the MEA business for a client in the energy and technology sector. Work involved managing advice and documents from counsel across the MENA region and preparing step plans and transfer documentation for employees within the MENA region