Prime Highlights
- Nouveau Legal expanded its international presence after securing new overseas business through a Dubai networking initiative.
- The law firm is building its global client base as demand for cross-border legal services continues to grow.
Key Facts
- The firm has recently secured new legal instructions from clients in Malta and Texas.
- The Tees Valley Export Fund provides grants of £3,000–£10,000 to support international business expansion.
Background
A Middlesbrough-based business law firm has secured new international clients after using a regional grant programme to attend a conference in Dubai and connect with prospective partners in the Middle East.
Nouveau Legal, based on Baker Street, offers commercial law services to businesses in the UK and overseas, covering employment and HR, intellectual property, debt recovery, business restructuring and acquisitions.
Legal director Adeel Bashir travelled to Dubai with backing from the Tees Valley Export Fund, where face-to-face meetings with potential clients translated into new work for the firm.
Bashir said meeting clients in person made a real difference, noting that businesses value the effort of someone flying out to see them rather than relying on video calls.
The firm already acts for clients in the United States, Portugal and Spain, but the Middle East represented new ground it had been looking to enter.
Since the Dubai trip, Nouveau Legal has added clients in Malta and Texas. The Malta instructions cover contract law, while the Texas client brought intellectual property work requiring support in the UK. Bashir said the firm is now focused on building out its international presence further.
The Tees Valley Export Fund provides grants of between £3,000 and £10,000 to businesses starting or growing their export activity, with a 25% match funding requirement. It supports costs related to overseas trade fairs, market research, website adaptation and trade licences.
The programme runs in partnership with the Department for Business and Trade and is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Bashir founded Nouveau Legal in 2023 to fill a gap in specialist business law support for small and medium-sized enterprises in the region. He said the Export Fund gave the firm the financial breathing room to pursue international growth without carrying the full cost alone.
