Mr Bowden is a transactional and corporate/commercial lawyer with in-depth experience in the UAE. Prior to joining Afridi & Angell, he gained in-depth technology outsourcing experience while working as in-house counsel with one of Canada's leading technology companies. He is well regarded by clients for his pragmatic approach and commercial awareness, and exceptional service oriented attitude. Mr Bowden represents clients of all sizes and across many industries including prominent UAE business groups, UAE and foreign government bodies, public and private UAE and foreign multi-nationals, and local companies of all sizes and across many industries. He is the trusted advisor to many prominent members of the UAE business landscape.

Mr Bowden's broad areas of expertise are:
- acquisition and divestment of companies;
- franchise, agency and distribution arrangements in the UAE;
- UAE business structures;
- UAE employment matters, contentious and non-contentious;
- anti-bribery and corruption, anti-money laundering, competition law and other UAE compliance matters; and
- data security and protection, outsourcing and cloud computing, privacy and risk management.

Bar Admissions
Ontario Bar Association
Canadian Bar Association
Law Society of Upper Canada

Education
LL.B., Queen's University, Canada, 2004
Bachelor of Business Administration, Siam University, Thailand, 2001

• Onshore UAE Trusts Law – Refresher and Overview

  By James Bowden |March 2021

• Proposed New DIFC Data Protection Law

  By James Bowden |July 2019

• New UAE Regulatory Policy for the Internet of Things

  By James Bowden |July 2019

Additional Articles• The new UAE Commercial Companies Law: Highlights, India Business Law Journal (Middle East-India trade & Investment), May 2015
• Co-author of UAE Competition Law: All bark and no bite?, India Business Law Journal (Middle East-India trade & Investment), April 2015
• Dubai Statistics Center – you may be next!, Afridi & Angell inBrief, 1 April 2015
• Free Zones in the UAE, Afridi & Angell inBrief, 15 January 2015
• Minority Shareholder Protections in the UAE, India Business Law Journal (Middle East-India trade & Investment), December 2014/January 2015
• The Restructuring Review 2014, Law Reviews, (co-author of the UAE chapter)
• Cyber Security in the UAE, 2014 (a virtual roundtable), Corporate Live Wire
• Middle East Recovery Changes Legal Landscape, The American Lawyer, October 2013 Data Protection and Privacy Laws – UAE Annual Review, Financier Worldwide, September 2013
• Bankruptcy and Insolvency in the UAE: Legal Framework, Corporate LiveWire, March/April 2013