Allen & Overy has welcomed back corporate partner Tom Butcher in Abu Dhabi from Simmons & Simmons as the head of its TMT and intellectual property practices in the Middle East.

With more than a decade of TMT experience, Butcher advises private and public sector clients across the life sciences and healthcare, financial institutions, and energy and infrastructure sectors. Apart from TMT, he also focuses on strategic outsourcing, technology procurement, data protection and transactional IP matters.

“This is a significant appointment at a time when Middle East governments are investing in technology to develop sustainable knowledge-based, innovation-led economies to diversify from the traditional hydrocarbon industries,” said Allen & Overy’s Middle East corporate head, Andrew Schoorlemmer, in a statement.