John Turner

 
M: +971 50 8236741
E-mail john.turner@lutfilaw.ae

John Turner has extensive experience in most aspects of contentious and non contentious legal practice with particular emphasis on construction and property contracts and arbitrations and general corporate and commercial work. John was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in New Zealand in 1978 and has subsequently been admitted to legal practice in the state of Victoria in Australia, Papua New Guinea and Fiji and as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 1986. He holds the Higher Courts Rights of Audience qualification of the Law Society of England and Wales and is a legal practitioner of the DIFC Courts in Dubai.

John holds Masters degrees in law from the University of Auckland and Dalhousie University in Canada and has a PhD degree in law from the University of London, where he was awarded an ORS Postgraduate Research scholarship. He has previously taught university law courses in commercial, company and banking law and in law and economic regulation.

During his legal career John has practised as an in house legal counsel for a major publicly listed company and as Principal Legal Officer (Commercial and Major Projects) for the Attorney General’s office in Papua New Guinea, where he was responsible for the legal work of the State in those areas. He was also a partner and head of department in a large corporate law firm in Auckland, New Zealand for a number of years. He has been practising in the UAE since January 2007.

 
Some of his legal work includes the following:     
 
  • Negotiation and documentation of several large hotel and resort development projects in the UAE;
  • Counsel in various arbitrations and dispute resolution processes in the construction, property and marine area;
  • Advised various significant property owners, developers, lessors and lessees in relation to property development projects;
  • Advised sharebrokers and merchant bankers on ADSM listing requirements;
  • Experienced in negotiation and documentation of joint venture and co-operative undertakings between UAE firms and overseas entities

Practice areas:

  • Construction and property, including hotel and resort development projects and commercial sales and leasing;
  • Acting as counsel in construction, commercial and real estate mediations and arbitrations;
  • Corporate law procedures including company incorporation, branch formations, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions and general company law advice;
  • Commercial contracts including agency and distributorship agreements, computer software licensing agreements, international sales and procurement contracts, negotiation of commercial agreements;
  • Advice in relation to local listing requirements;
  • Insurance, both contentious and non contentious;
  • Conflict of laws issues involving UAE and foreign law.