John Podgore, Partner, Head of Transactional Practice, ADG Legal

John Eric Podgore is Head of Transactional and Practice, based in Dubai. He has more than twenty years of experience in both in-house and private practice roles, with over a decade practicing in the GCC.

John advises on a wide range of corporate and commercial matters, with a particular focus on the energy and infrastructure sectors in the Middle East, Africa, and the CIS. He has advised on many diverse upstream oil and gas issues in frontier markets, including negotiating the first production sharing agreement in the Republic of Malawi and resolving Development and Production Service Contract issues at Iraq's Ministry of Oil headquarters in Baghdad. He also advises on major infrastructure projects from downstream oil and gas -- to renewable power-generation -- to transportation infrastructure.

John is also experienced in navigating issues of political risk associated with projects in frontier and emerging markets, including leveraging the capabilities of international financial institutions and export credit agencies. He filed the first-ever successful ‘lender’ claim under a major lender’s political risk insurance policy with the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation, in relation to a frontier market power plant.

John also advises on complex cross-border transactions beyond the energy sector, and he frequently bridges linguistic and cultural barriers to negotiate effective joint ventures and enduring commercial arrangements. Prior to joining ADG Legal, John has practiced as general counsel of an energy / venture capital company in Dubai and as equity partner in a leading US law firm. In addition to native fluency in English, John is fluent in Arabic, French and Russian.