Créer un cabinet d'avocats

Opening a firm is three projects at once: getting licensed, building a business that pays, and finding clients before the savings run out. Most guides cover the US. This one starts there and then follows the rules in Dubai, the DIFC and Saudi Arabia, where the licence, the premises and the partners decide what is possible.

first-year cost Clio estimates for a lean, home-based US solo practice¹

~$3,000

practising legal consultants registered in Dubai, Q1 2026²

3,433

international law firms licensed by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Justice by October 2023³

15

of firms used flat fees, alone or with hourly rates, in 2024⁴

59%

• Pick a client and a price first. A narrow practice with a clear fee is easier to market, staff and run. Most clients prefer flat fees (Chapter 1).⁵
• In the UAE, advocate and legal consultant are different licences. Only advocates appear in onshore courts, and the firm form follows the licence (Chapter 2).⁶
• The home-office launch does not travel. Dubai licenses firms to premises in the Emirate that two firms may not share, so the lean US model needs rethinking (Chapter 3).⁷
• Saudi Arabia is open, on conditions. Foreign firms can be licensed, with experienced resident partners, Saudi lawyers on staff and limits on work sent abroad (Chapter 2).^8,9
• Run on one system from day one. Intake, matters, billing and AI on one platform, with a written AI policy, is the cheapest way to look and work like a larger firm (Chapter 4).⁴

Start from the client you can reach and serve well: the businesses you advised in your last role, a community you belong to, a sector you know. Urgent consumer work such as criminal defence tends to be won on local search and fast response; estate planning and corporate work tend to grow through referral networks.¹

Clio's 2024 report found that 71% of clients prefer a flat fee for their whole case. Firms using flat fees were five times more likely to bill almost immediately, twice as likely to be paid almost immediately, and closed cases nearly three times faster. By 2024, 59% of firms used flat fees alone or alongside hourly rates.^5,4

Whatever the model, put it in writing at engagement. Saudi Arabia's professional conduct code requires a written engagement covering the fees or how they are calculated.¹⁰

• Client and practice: who you serve and for what.
• Offer and price: the three matters you will sell first and what each costs.
• Licence and structure: the regulator, the firm form and the partners.
• Costs and runway: one-off and monthly costs, and months of cash in reserve.
• First clients: the twenty people you will tell in week one, and the content you will publish in month one.

In the US the steps are good standing with the state bar, a business entity, a firm name that complies with the rules, registration, an operating account and a client trust account, and malpractice cover. Most solo lawyers choose an LLC or PLLC for liability protection and pass-through taxation; some states, California among them, require a professional corporation. A sole proprietorship is simplest but leaves personal assets exposed.¹

Firm names are governed by the rule against false or misleading communications: since 2018 the ABA Model Rules carry the old firm-name rule as comments to Rule 7.1. Ownership is changing in some states. In August 2020 Arizona's Supreme Court removed its bar on non-lawyers holding an economic interest in a law firm and created alternative business structures, licensed through an application process with an internal compliance lawyer.^11,12

Federal Law No. 34 of 2022, in force since 2 January 2023, regulates advocacy and legal consultancy. Advocates hold rights of audience in UAE courts; legal consultants work in firms but may not appear in court. Advocate registration includes written exams, an interview and a professional liability insurance policy. Non-UAE nationals can be registered as advocates, and foreign lawyers visiting to advise need a permit.⁶

The executive regulations approved in March 2025 let Emirati lawyers and legal consultants form professional companies, alone or with an international firm that has operated for at least 15 years and has branches in at least three other countries. Partnerships, LLCs and one-person LLCs are allowed; every partner must be licensed, and the firm must carry professional liability insurance.¹³

The market is international and growing. By the end of March 2026, Dubai's Legal Affairs Department counted 139 licensed legal consultancy firms, 86 of them international, and 3,433 practising legal consultants from 91 nationalities.²

The DIFC and ADGM run common-law courts with their own rules. To act in proceedings before the DIFC Courts, practitioners must be entered on the Courts' Register of Legal Practitioners, which has two parts and is governed by DIFC Courts Order No. 1 of 2025, and must follow the Courts' code of conduct as a condition of registration.^14,15

Saudi Arabia opened to licensed foreign law firms through amendments to its Code of Law Practice. The Ministry of Justice's implementing regulation asks the partner representing the firm in the Kingdom to have at least ten years of relevant experience, the firm's home office to have at least three practising lawyers, and caps consultancy work referred abroad at 30% of the annual total. Renewal applications are due at least 90 days before expiry.⁸

The Law Society of England and Wales summarises further conditions: partners resident in the Kingdom, at least half of the lawyers Saudi nationals, with an increase to 70% proposed, and Saudi-law work kept in the Kingdom. By 30 October 2023 the Ministry had licensed 15 international firms, with 15 more applications under review, all filed through the Najiz platform.^9,3

Clio puts the first-year cost of a lean, home-based US solo practice on cloud tools at around $3,000, and $5,000 to $15,000 for firms that lease space or spend more on marketing. It recommends keeping three to six months of expenses in reserve, because early income is uneven. These are US figures; Gulf costs are driven by licence fees, premises and visas.¹

In the US, Clio advises that a physical office is not needed to start and that a long lease before revenue supports it is a mistake. Dubai's bylaws point the other way for licensed firms: premises in the Emirate, suitable for the services, not shared with another firm, and a lease or title deed to renew. Google also refuses Business Profiles for virtual offices that are not staffed. Plan for a small, real office and spend the difference on systems.^1,7,16

UAE corporate tax applies to firms, with Small Business Relief available to businesses with revenue of AED 3 million or less for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026, under Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023. A new decision will be needed for later periods, so check before you rely on it.¹⁷

Firms that grow use technology differently. In Clio's 2025 report, firms whose revenue grew 20% or more used time-saving automation twice as much as stable firms and nearly three times as much as shrinking firms.⁴

71% of legal professionals at solo firms reported using AI in Clio's 2025 report, yet 53% of all respondents said their firm had no AI policy or that they did not know of one. 78% of clients wanted lawyers to disclose AI use.⁴

• Competence: understand what the tool does and where it fails.¹⁸
• Confidentiality: client information goes only into tools approved for confidential work.¹⁸
• Communication: tell clients how AI is used on their matter.¹⁸
• Fees: bill for the work and the review, not for learning the tool.¹⁸
• Data protection: onshore UAE, process client data under Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021; the DIFC and ADGM have their own regimes.¹⁹

Most people look a lawyer up before they call, even when a friend recommended them. Before launch, have a clear website, a complete Google Business Profile, matching directory listings and a way to collect reviews.^1,20

• Week one: tell former colleagues, clients you may lawfully contact, and referral partners what you now do and for whom.
• Month one: publish one cited guide per practice area, in each language you serve.
• Every day: reply to every enquiry the same business day. Over 80% of consumers move on after 48 hours of silence.²⁰