Eversheds Sutherland accelerates growth in the Middle East with a strategic double hire from King & Spalding

Both partners join from King & Spalding and will be based in Dubai.

Mike Rainey 

Mike, a highly regarded banking and restructuring partner, brings more than two decades of experience in the Middle East, where he has built an outstanding reputation for advising on both conventional and Shari’ah compliant financings.

Mike’s practice spans real estate finance, corporate lending, and special situations, acting for lenders, borrowers, and sponsors. Mike led the first Perpetual Sukuk restructuring under Saudi Arabia’s bankruptcy law and continues to advise on high-value, cross-border transactions involving Middle East capital.

Ranked by Legal 500 EMEA and IFLR1000, he regularly speaks and writes on emerging trends in finance and restructuring.

Asal Saghari

Asal Saghari brings over 15 years of experience leading on a broad range of complex conventional and Shari’ah-compliant financing transactions across Europe and the Middle East.  

Her practice has a strong emphasis on private credit, where she leads on both domestic and cross-border private credit financing transactions for regional and international lenders and investors.

Having previously practiced in London and Frankfurt, Asal has extensive experience on inbound and outbound transactions into and from the Middle East and regularly acts on a broad range of real estate finance transactions. 

She is ranked by Legal 500 EMEA as a "key lawyer" in Islamic finance and is a recognised thought leader on legal innovation and diversity in the profession.

Leadership quotes 

Keith Froud, International Chief Executive, Eversheds Sutherland, commented: 

“Our continued investment in exceptional talent of the likes of Mike and Asal is a core part of driving our global strategy.  We continue to attract partners of the highest calibre, and this record year for lateral hires across our International business demonstrates both momentum and confidence. Looking ahead, we remain focused on building further strength in depth to help drive our strategy forward.”

Tawfiq Tabbaa, Managing Partner, Middle East, Eversheds Sutherland, commented:

“The appointments of Mike and Asal exemplify our continued commitment to the strategic expansion of core capabilities in the Middle East. Their established presence in the region, coupled with deep technical proficiency and trusted relationships across key financial institutions, directly supports our commercial trajectory. These appointments not only reinforce the credibility of our corporate finance offering, they position us to capture new market opportunities, whilst continuing to deliver high-value client solutions, but with additional agility and depth.”

Zeid Hanania, Partner and Head of Corporate Finance, Middle East, Eversheds Sutherland, commented:

"We’re delighted to welcome Mike and Asal to the team. Their arrival reiterates our strategic focus on deepening and enhancing our corporate finance offering in the region, while their comprehensive experience and deep market insight will be invaluable as we continue to support our clients in achieving their commercial objectives within this increasingly complex and highly specialised space."

New partner quotes 

Mike Rainey, Partner, Eversheds Sutherland, commented:

“Joining Eversheds Sutherland is an exciting step. The firm’s established Middle East platform provides a strong foundation to grow its banking, finance, and restructuring practice. I’m looking forward to working with my new colleagues to build on the practice I’ve developed and to explore new opportunities—particularly in real estate finance, corporate finance and complex restructurings.”

Asal Saghari, Partner, Eversheds Sutherland, commented:

"I am genuinely excited to be joining Eversheds Sutherland at a time of real growth and opportunity across the Middle East. The firm’s platform enables me to support my existing clients more effectively and to build new relationships as we strengthen our presence in the region. I am deeply committed to this market and pleased to be joining a firm that shares that same genuine commitment.  I look forward to playing an active role in shaping the next phase of the firm’s and our finance practice’s growth in the region.”

These hires come as part of Eversheds Sutherland’s global strategy to significantly strengthen and expand its Corporate Finance capability. Other recent hires this year into the firm’s Corporate Finance practice include partners, Laura Marcelli, Sara Gerling, Martin Corrigan, Kashif Siddiqui, Torsten Volkholz, Pieter Paul Terpstra, Marc van Beuge,  Alex McCarney, Kristof Slootmans and Matthias Kiesewetter.