Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Zadjali

Chairman of Omani Lawyers Association (OLA)

DR. MOHAMMED IBRAHIM AL-ZADJALI is an Omani national chairman of Mohammed Ibrahim Law Firm. He has a master’s degree in law and a PhD in criminal law. He speaks Arabic and English. He is conversant in Corporate, Civil, Labour, Intellectual Property, Real Estate and Criminal Laws of Oman. His practice focuses on Criminal, Civil, Family and Sharia matters. In 2014, he was elected President of the Omani Lawyers Association (OLA). He was elected as a Council Member of Majlis Al Shura in 2015.

Mohammed Paracha

Head of Middle East, Norton Rose Fulbright (Middle East) LLP

Mohammed Paracha is a banking and finance lawyer based in Dubai. He is Head of Middle East, as well as head of our Islamic finance practice for the Middle East and Africa.

Mohammed has been active in the Middle East for nearly 20 years, having worked in our London and Bahrain offices before moving to Dubai in 2011. He became Head of our Middle East practice in January 2021.

His practice focuses on all types of Islamic Finance covering a wide range of asset types, investment classes and industrial sectors. With a background in asset and project finance, Mohammed advises on Sharia compliant asset finance, trade finance, real estate finance and project financings. He also advises on the structuring of Islamically acceptable investment funds and has advised on the establishment of new Islamic financial institutions in various countries. Mohammed has strong relationships with many of the internationally renowned Sharia scholars and is a regular speaker at conferences and seminars on Islamic finance topics.

Mohammed’s clients include multi-lateral development banks (Islamic Development Bank, International Finance Corporation, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) and ICIEC), commercial banks (BNP Paribas, HSBC, SCB, Bank ABC and SMBC) and regional banks (Dubai Islamic Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD and Mashreqbank).

Mohammed is the project lead on the on-going Islamic Codification Project for Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC). A further highlight of Mohammed’s career includes being appointed to the Bank of England’s Committee on Islamic Finance which then paved the way for London to become a key global hub in the industry.

Mohammed is recommended as a leader in his field by Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500, Acritas and IFLR.

Rana Moustafa

Associate, D&C Legal Services

Ms. Rana is a lawyer with D&C Legal Services, member of the Egyptian Bar association, holding extensive knowledge in European, French and International Business Law. She holds two LLM degrees in International Private Law and Public Business Law and arbitration from University of Paris Pantheon I-Sorbonne, Paris, France and double License degree from Cairo University, Egypt and France.

Ms. Rana developed an experience by involving in the assistance on many commercial regional, local and international corporate legal matters and advises for high profile firms in Gulf.

She has developed a focus on intellectual property matters related to trademarks, copyrights, and domain names, while conducting several legal research and drafting papers in IP matters, drafting and reviewing IP agreements for high profile clients in Gulf and colossal projects as well as corporate, employment, construction, and services agreements. Miss. Moustafa has experience with IP transactions and in giving advice on cross-border jurisdictions matters. she has also assisted clients with IP diligence within corporate transactions and trademark registration in Egypt.
She also gained IP experience across the Mena region while working with D&C Legal Services team in their offices in Lebanon, Qatar, UAE, Jordan, Morocco, and Algeria.

As part of D&C Legal Services team, she has advised clients on the best means of protection for their IP rights, especially with regards to trademarks and copyrights. She assisted clients with their trademark and copyright registrations, renewals, and necessary trademark search in the MENA and especially in Egypt.

She is fluent and able to work in English, French, Spanish and Arabic.

Mohamed Al Aradi

Associate at Aurifer Middle East Tax Consultancy

Mohamed is a tax advisor specializing in tax disputes, international and direct tax at Aurifer Middle East Tax Consultancy DMCC.

Mohamed is skilled in a comprehensive series of tax laws and principles including Corporate Tax, Withholding tax, Double Taxation Agreements and Transfer Pricing. He has acquired a strong legal and tax background from the United Kingdom, especially with regards to International Tax.

He is heavily engaged in GCC tax litigation cases where he prepares high-value objections, settlement requests and appeals. He also focuses on providing advice to multinational enterprises and GCC-companies on their transaction flow, corporate structuring and tax authority assessments.

Mohamed also participates in liaising with GCC tax authorities regarding client tax issues in GCC and drafting tax ruling/clarification requests.

Main sectors advised include but are not limited to, Financial services, Pharmaceutical, Defense, Construction, Transportation, Logistics, E-commerce and Government bodies.

Mohamed holds a Masters of Tax Law from Queen Mary University London, and a Bachelors of law from the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom. Mohamed is fully bilingual in English and Arabic and is on track to be a qualified lawyer.

Barbara Koenen-Geerdink

Business Development & Marketing Director, Al Tamimi & Company | Founder, Beyond Billable Hours

Barbara is Business Development & Marketing Director at Al Tamimi & Company, the leading law firm in the MENA region. She is based in Dubai and has over a decade of experience in the professional services sector and is the author of the business book Beyond Billable Hours which was published in April 2020. She was previously Global Head of Business Development and Marketing at AIM-listed company The Ince Group plc, a legal and professional services provider with offices across Europe, the Middle East and Africa and she has also worked for magic circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Dubai, and for Deterink Attorneys and Notaries (now Taylor Wessing) in the Netherlands. Prior to moving to Dubai she worked in Doha, Qatar; and before starting her career, she interned in New York. Barbara was awarded an MSc in Business in Barcelona.

Barbara is also the founder of the leading e-learning platform for professional services www.beyondbillablehours.com and is very passionate about helping fee earners in professional services firms to thrive as she knows how hard it is to focus on things beyond billable hours. She is regularly invited to speak at various BD and marketing events mainly for law firms such as the International Bar Association, The Law firm Marketing Summit and the Marketing Leadership Summit.

Aurore Deeb

Senior Associate; D&C Legal Services

Mrs. Aurore Deeb is an Attorney at Law from Qatar and she is Senior Associate at D&C Legal Services. She has a vast experience in advising clients across all aspects of commercial, companies and Intellectual Property law, and she has defended clients involved in the franchise, hotels hospitality, automotive components, foreign exchange, Retails and mega construction project. She has also advised clients involved in the energy and ecommerce sector as well as the banking, corporate banking, and pharmacy law.
Specialized in intellectual property rights, she heads up the intellectual property team at D&C Legal Services, focusing on trademark and copyright law.

Aurore has vast experience in intellectual property rights, regarding which she advises regularly on brand protection, trademark applications, prosecutions and registrations, name clearances, and IP acquisitions.
She has proven her ability to manage a vast portfolio of intellectual property rights, especially trademarks, in Lebanon and in most of our offices in Morocco, Algeria, UAE, and Jordan. Aurore manages the filing, trademark maintenance, and advising of legal proceedings in the event of infringement or unfair competition.

She has also assisted start-up companies with developing a mobile application and helped them protect their ideas, trademarks, and copyrights. She has assisted clients on IP diligence within corporate transactions and has been integrally involved in drafting and reviewing franchises, intellectual property license agreements, trademarks, and copyright assignment agreements.

Simon Chan

Counsel, K&L Gates

Simon Chan is a counsel in the Doha office of the international law firm K&L Gates and has been based in Doha since 2010. Before joining K&L Gates, he worked for Allen & Overy. Before moving to Doha, he spent 10 years practicing in London, from 1999-2009.

Ranked as a leading lawyer by Chambers Global 2021 for Corporate/Commercial: Banking & Finance in Qatar. Simon is well versed in a wide range of finance matters, acting for both borrowers and lenders. He is also noted for his skills in fintech and banking regulatory matters. Simon is also rated by The Legal 500: Qatar.

Simon has extensive experience advising financial institutions, corporate sponsors, and borrowers on general financing, including project finance, leveraged finance, asset finance and Islamic finance and also on restructurings.

Diana Abu Al Adel

Associate, Al Tamimi & Company

Diana Abu Al Adel is an Associate in the Intellectual Property practice in Qatar. Diana has regional legal experience, which she has gained from working in Jordan, Bahrain and now Qatar.

Diana is a qualified lawyer in Jordan. She has previously acted as a Legal Counsel in Talal Abu Ghazaleh legal for several years, advising on various IP related matters including drafting and redrafting legal bilingual documents, meeting with clients and providing consultations on IP litigations.

Diana is specialized mainly in Intellectual Property, in addition to extensive experience in drafting and redrafting bilingual documents including commercial agreements.

Recent experience

• Advising on various IP matters including Trademarks, Copyright, Industrial Designs, and Trade Secrets.
• Advising on various Trademark matters including trademark protection and enforcement in Bahrain, Qatar and the Arab region in general for International and local clients.
• Providing regional comparative advices and assisting clients in managing IP disputes in various jurisdictions.
• Advising on Trademark priority claims based on the Paris Convention and prior use in light of the local laws and judicial precedents in Bahrain and Qatar.