Suzanne has over 15 years' experience gained initially in the UK in some of the leading real estate law firms (Nabarro, now CMS) before moving to the Middle East in 2009. She worked at one of the world’s leading brand franchise operators (Alshaya Group) in Kuwait for 3 years and subsequently spent over 2 years with DUTCO Group in the UAE.
Prior to joining The Bench Suzanne was Senior Counsel, Development, EMEA at Hilton based in Dubai for over 7 years where she was responsible for supporting Hilton's hotel development pipeline for both managed and franchised deals across EMEA, focusing on Middle East and North Africa.
Suzanne’s main areas of specialism include real estate, hospitality, corporate, commercial, franchising and data protection.
Suzanne commented “The Bench has done a fantastic job creating an innovative platform that challenges the way legal services are delivered. With its entrepreneurial spirit, it has found a way to better connect with its clients and its commitment to offering a more efficient and bespoke alternative to legal support makes it a great fit. I am very much looking forward to being a part of the team.”
Joby Beretta, Founder of The Bench commented “We are delighted that Suzanne has chosen to join our leading Hotels & Leisure team. She brings a wealth of experience across our key practice areas such as hotels & leisure, franchise and data protection and her extensive regional in-house experience will be extremely beneficial to our clients.”
The Bench boasts the largest team of senior hospitality lawyers with UAE in-house experience including Joby Beretta (ex Jumeirah), Hameed Almihdar (ex Nakheel), Yulande Neethling (ex ICD), Elise Gillians (ex Meraas) and Suzanne Barrett (ex Hilton). The Bench lawyers are consistently recognised as amongst the leading real estate and hospitality lawyers in the United Arab Emirates and the team is ranked yet again in the Legal 500 Real Estate UAE 2021, which reported “when dealing with The Bench, I always feel that they are tailoring their services to my exact needs and solving my legal problems with a bespoke approach”.