Elisabeth Zakharia Sioufi

Director of the Institute for Human Rights of the Beirut Bar Association and the President of the Women’s Committee at the International Association of Lawyers (Union Internationale des Avocats, UIA)

Elisabeth Zakharia Sioufi is a lawyer, member of the Beirut Bar Association since 1980, with expertise in Corporate Law, Human Rights Law, and International Criminal Law. She is a lecturer on freedom of religion and human rights at the Faculty of Religious Sciences at Saint Joseph University in Beirut. She is currently the Director of the Institute for Human Rights of the Beirut Bar Association and the President of the Women’s Committee at the International Association of Lawyers (Union Internationale des Avocats, UIA), where she was previously the President of the Human Rights Commission for 5 years. She is a consultant on Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, and International Criminal Law. She led many seminars and workshops in Lebanon and Europe and wrote articles on different human rights topics such as trafficking in persons, violence against women, children at risk, implementation of international conventions, human rights in places of detention, prevention of torture. In 2017-2018, Elisabeth was the advisor to the Ministry of Human Rights Affairs in Lebanon. In 2018, she received the Gold Medal from the Beirut Bar Association for her achievements towards the Bar, and in 2014, she was awarded by the US Department of State for combating trafficking in persons.

Zara Merali

Senior Associate, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Zara is a Senior Associate in our Dispute Resolution team and is based in the UAE. She has practised with top firms in Toronto, London and Kuwait before moving to Dubai.

Zara advises clients on global investigations, fraud, financial crime, bribery and corruption, asset-tracing, business ethics and corporate compliance. She has directed and conducted numerous cross-border investigations and has acted in major, global FCPA investigations. She specialises in strategically advising clients to help them manage legal risks, and also assists in general corporate and commercial disputes.

Zara was called to the Ontario Bar in 2007 and admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2009. She has been commended by legal directories as ‘exceptional’, and was also nominated for the DIFC Academy of Law’s Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year Award 2018.

Zainab Mansouri

Associate, Al-Yaqout & Al-Fouzan Legal Group

Zainab is a licensed lawyer and arbitrator, admitted in the Court of Appeal. She has a wealth of knowledge and expertise in Technology and Innovative as she used to be a part of carriage in-house legal department. Her expertise in this sector includes advising on the legal framework of establishing and maintaining electronic platforms, general knowledge in rules and laws regulating electronic transactions, registration of ownership rights, third parties transactions, and mobile applications M&A transactions.

Dr Ahmad Al-Shorbagy

Head of Projects, Al-Yaqout and Al-Fouzan Legal Group

DR AHMAD AL SHORBAGY heads Al-Yaqout and Al-Fouzan Legal Group’s Projects team. With over 15 years of experience, he has been involved in various significant matters related to corporate law, projects, and international dispute resolution.

Dr Alshorbagy gained extensive experience advising the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects, and over recent years, he has advised on over 15 projects across several sectors. Dr Alshorbagy also has experience in International Commercial Arbitration, where he represented clients in international arbitration under the ICC, HKIAC, UNICTRAL, and LCIA rules.

Furthermore, Dr Alshorbagy is the author of several legal books and articles published with reputable publishers and learned international law journals in Egypt, the U.S., the U.K., and Germany.

Dr. Fahad Al-Zumai

Associate Professor, Faculty of Law – Kuwait University

DR FAHAD AL-ZUMAI holds a PhD in Law from SOAS – the University of London, and an LLM in International Business Law from the University of Manchester. He is admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales and to the State Bar of California and the State Bar of Kuwait. He is a fellow at the International Bar Association.

Currently, he is an Associate Professor of Law in the Private Law Department at Kuwait University. He is also the editor-in-chief of the Law Journal published by Kuwait University.

He was the principal author of several recent legislative reforms, including insolvency and competition law.

Dr Al-Zumai’s research interest includes Companies and Capital Markets Laws, Bankruptcy, and Banking Law. In addition, Dr Al-Zumai has published in several journals on topics relating to capital market regulations in the Middle East and Europe, law and economics, and jurisprudence.

Dr. Yousef AlYaqout

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law – Kuwait University

DR YOUSEF AL YAQOUT is a certified arbitrator and legal advisor and is currently an assistant professor of pleading and arbitration law at the Faculty of Law at Kuwait University. He holds a Bachelor of Law Degree from Kuwait University. He later obtained several post-graduate degrees from several institutions, including:

• PhD In Private Law from the University of Lorraine, France
• Master’s Degree in Private Law, University Of Strasbourg, France
• Master’s Degree in The Private Law With Insight, College Of Graduate Studies, Kuwait University

Dr Yousef has participated in many local and international workshops and conferences; and has conducted many legal courses in dispute resolution, corporate law, electronic transactions, and others. He is an accredited trainer with the GCC Commercial Arbitration Centre and the Kuwait Center for Commercial Arbitration.

Dr Yousef has published several articles and scientific research in local and international legal journals. He also supervised master’s theses for postgraduate students. He holds memberships with several governmental and private committees related to academic affairs, the development of regulations and procedural laws, and investigation committees.

Dr. Fayez Abdullah Al-Kandari

Professor of Private Law at the College of Law, Kuwait University

DR. FAYEZ ABDULLAH AL-KANDARI is an associate professor of Private Law at the College of Law, Kuwait University. He is a registered lawyer before the Constitutional Court and the Court of Cassation. He is also the Chairman of the Legal Consultants Committee in the Kuwait Banks Association and is the Federation’s legal advisor.

Dr. Al-Kandari is an arbitrator accredited by many local and international arbitration centres. He is the winner of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences Award for Scientific Production in “Social and Human Sciences”. Moreover, he served his role as President of the Cultural Office at the Kuwait Embassy in Paris. He has owned many titles at Kuwait University, whether it concerns the Deanship of Student Affairs or the management of the Center for Classification and Programming of Judicial Judgments. Dr. Al-Kandari also held a position at the Ministry of Higher Education for two years.

Dr. Anwar Al Fuzaie

General Counsel

DR ANWAR AL FUZAIE is General Counsel at the Kuwait Foundation for the Advanced of Science (KFAS). He holds an LL.B. from Kuwait University, an LL.M. and PhD from Montpellier University in International Business Law from Sophia Antipolis University and an LL.M. in International Business Law from Sophia Antipolis University. Dr Anwar has published many studies in the field of Private Law. He has extensive experience in various areas of law, including:

• Arbitration
• Banking and Financial Institutions
• Real Estate
• Labour Law
• Intellectual Property

Dr. Anas Al-Tourah

General Secretary of Kuwait Chamber of Commerce & Industry

DR. ANAS AL-TOURAH is a former lawyer and former member of the Kuwaiti Lawyers Association. He currently fulfils several advisory roles, including Secretary General of the Kuwait Commercial Arbitration Centre (KCAC), a position he has held since 2014; and Legal Advisor for the Minister of Commerce and Industry, a position he has held since 2017.

Dr. Al-Tourah previously represented the KCAC in the United Nations committees, specifically the Commercial Arbitration Committees in New York and Vienna. He is also a member of the Faculty of Law, Kuwait University, and a visiting professor at the Faculty of Law at Qatar University. He has participated in and chaired several legal drafting committees as well as presented numerous courses and workshops of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and the General Organisation for Social Insurance.

Dr. Al-Tourah has published numerous research in specialised scientific journals in Kuwait, the Netherlands and Cairo on legislative drafting, child rights and employment of persons with disabilities. Dr. Al-Tourah holds a Bachelor of Law degree from Sharjah University, and master’s degree and Ph.D. in Private Law from the Constance University, Germany.