Christopher Aylward has joined international law firm Baker Botts as partner in its Middle East practice in Dubai.

In his new role, Aylward will focus on project finance, syndicated facilities and trade finance. Before joining Baker Botts, Aylward worked at SNR Denton as a partner managing its Bahrain office.

“Chris’s experience in project finance, particularly with respect to Islamic financing, and his knowledge of the region across many business sectors will enhance our project finance practice in the Middle East,” says Baker Botts managing partner Walt Smith.

Baker Botts now has 27 lawyers across three offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Riyadh.