Partner, Real estate
David Morrow
David acts for landlords, tenants and developers across Dubai and Abu Dhabi, from a first shop lease to a 200-villa community.
About David
David qualified in 2001 and spent six years in the real estate team of an international firm in Dubai before founding Hale & Morrow with Eleanor Hale in 2009. He has led the real estate team ever since.
He likes deals that get done: leases agreed in weeks rather than months, development plots bought with the permit and escrow risks understood up front. His team handles around 350 leases a year, most of them on fixed fees.
- Qualified as a lawyer
- 2001
- Leases a year across the team
- 350
- Years as a partner
- 17
What David advises on
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Leases for landlords and tenants
Offices, shops, warehouses and restaurants, including renewals and rent increases under the Dubai tenancy law and in the DIFC.
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Development land
Joint ventures with landowners, RERA project registration and escrow accounts.
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Buying and selling property
Ready and off-plan property in freehold areas, with clear reports on the title and the developer.
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Property finance
Acting for borrowers on secured lending for investment and development, including the mortgage registration.
Fourteen units let through David’s team in six years, and every lease came in on the fixed fee they quoted.
Recent work
Shared with clients’ permission, or with names left out.
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A 140-villa community in Dubailand
A joint venture with the landowner, RERA project registration, the escrow account and the off-plan sales contracts.
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Warehouse portfolio refinancing
Twenty-two leases reviewed and an AED 32 million facility secured in five weeks.
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Restaurant group lease renewals
Three leases renewed together, with the rent increases agreed within the rental index and no case at the Rental Disputes Centre.
Qualifications and outside work
David lectures on Dubai leases for professional training courses in the DIFC and writes our quarterly briefing on the property market.
He coaches an under-12s rugby team on Saturday mornings, which he says is the best training in negotiation he has had.
Insights from the team
All insights-
Renewing a business lease in Dubai: the window most tenants miss
In Dubai, the 90 days before your lease ends matter more than the day it ends. Here is what to do and when.
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Flexible and remote working: getting the arrangements right
There’s no statutory right to ask, but the UAE Labour Law now recognises flexible and remote work. A practical guide for managers.
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Handing over the family business without falling out
Succession is a family conversation before it is a legal one. How to start it, who to include, and what the UAE’s family business law now offers.
Speak to David
Direct line +971 4 555 0385, or send a message and David will call you back within one working day.