Dr. Andrew Mazen Dahdal

Section Head, Economic Diversification, Qatar University

Andrew is an Assistant Professor in commercial Law at the College of Law, Qatar University. He has written and published in the fields of corporate law and financial services. He completed his PhD at the University of New South Wales and is actively engaged in developing Qatar’s financial services sector.

Karim Fawaz

Partner, CMS

Karim specialises in corporate commercial work with focus on Technology and Corporate Finance. This includes regulatory, investments and digital transformation projects for public and private sectors. Karim has worked as legal director at Clyde & Co in Dubai and Riyadh where he drove the CorpTech practice which focuses on corporate and commercial work relating to suppliers and clients in the ICT sector. Karim had formerly worked as Corporate Counsel at Cisco Systems and Cisco Capital, where he led the Enterprise and Public Sector legal team in MEA and advised on several major projects in technology and technology finance. Karim had also worked as an associate at Levant Law Practice in Riyadh where he provided various legal services for several leading insurance companies and financial services authorised persons in Saudi Arabia.

Karim is known for his commercial savvy and readiness to understand the practicalities of any business he advises on; a key factor for getting the deal done. He works closely with various stakeholders within a client’s structure to ensure that the legal structures and documents he advises on cover all interests. Moreover, Karim has worked on constructing and delivering detailed compliance and ethics trainings for companies in various sectors.

Dr Rim Hamacha FHEA

Senior Lecturer, Middlesex University Dubai

Dr Rim Hamacha holds a PhD in Comparative Competition Law, an LLM in Corporate Finance Law, a Legal Practice Certificate, and an LLB in Law. She is a Fellow of the International Chamber of Commerce (France), and a Member of the Young International Arbitration Group, the London Court of International Arbitration (UK). She was awarded the Academic Staff Achievement for PhD obtained without corrections from Brunel University (UK).

Rim’s teaching and learning interests include Legal Research Skills, ADR and Legal Ethics, WTO Law and Policy, and the International Sale of Goods. Her research interests cover Commercial Law, Competition Law, Comparative Law, Corporate Law, and Financial Regulations.

Khalifah H. Al-Yaqout

Managing Partner, Al-Yaqout and Al-Fouzan Legal Group

KHALIFAH H. AL-YAQOUT serves as a Managing Partner at Al-Yaqout and Al-Fouzan Legal Group and has held this position since 2015. As a lawyer and arbitrator, he has led multiple delegations in various international forums. In 2019, he headed the Kuwaiti delegation to the United Nations Council and the US Department of Commerce. He is also actively involved with the Commercial Law Development Program of the United States Department.

In addition to his current work with Al-Yaqout and Al-Fouzan Legal Group, Khalifah serves as a legal consultant for the Minister of Electricity and Water and Renewable Energy and the Minister of Social Affairs and Community Development. His approach to Corporate and M&A practice is to use practical and commercially focused tactics to successfully close the deal whilst protecting his clients’ interests and minimising their risks.

Samer Abou Said

Counsel, The Firm

Samer Abou Said is a Counsel at The Firm. He is a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales, a member of Beirut Bar Association and is licensed to appear before DIFC Courts. Samer gained international and in-house experience during his work with an international tribunal in The Hague – Netherlands, and the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva. Samer provides transactional and corporate advice to clients in the construction, management, retail, cosmetics, real estate and media industry. He benefits of being fully bilingual in English and Arabic which allows him to handle cases before the UAE Arabic Courts. Samer has represented clients in disputes before the DIFC Courts, and arbitrations centers of the ICC, DIFC-LCIA, DIAC and ADCCAC. 

Samer is fluent in Arabic and English and proficient in French. He graduated from Lebanese University in 2003, obtained Master’s degree in International Law from Lebanese University and LLM in Oil and Gas Law from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen – the UK.

Khalil Mechantaf

Senior Associate, Kennedys

Khalil Mechantaf is a Senior Associate in our Dubai office. He is dual-qualified in Lebanon (Beirut Bar Association) in 2009 and as a Solicitor in England and Wales in 2017. Khalil has a PhD in Law and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Khalil has over ten years of experience in dispute resolution and international arbitration. His practice focuses on contentious and non-contentious construction and energy projects. He regularly acts as counsel in arbitrations under the ICC, DIAC, DIFC-LCIA and SIAC regimes. He has acted for both developers and contractors, specifically in the infrastructure, power, water and pipelines related disputes in the Middle East and Africa. He also advises clients during the life span of a project on quantum and delay claims.

Khalil is a member of the Society of Construction Law (UK) and the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators.

Qualifications

• Qualified in Lebanon in 2009
• Qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2017

Celine Abi Habib Kanakri

Partner, Kennedys

Celine is a partner in our Dubai office who specialises in UAE and international arbitration. She qualified in Lebanon in 2005 and is also a registered legal consultant in Dubai.

With over 10 years’ experience practicing in the Middle East, Celine’s expertise in domestic and international arbitration spans a range of industry sectors. Her focus is on UAE and international arbitration across a range of industry sectors, including real estate, commercial and construction disputes. She also has considerable experience of corporate, civil and commercial law within the UAE and has been involved in drafting several UAE decrees, laws and regulations.

Predominantly acting for multi-national corporates, construction companies and high net worth individuals, Celine has also been involved with drafting training materials for the Dubai Legal Affairs Department.

She is also fluent in Arabic, English and French, and is a member of the UAE International Chamber of Commerce and Arbitral Women. Celine also sits as arbitrator with leading institutions such as the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Dubai International Financial Centre and London Court of International Arbitration (DIFC-LCIA), and Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) – from whom she was awarded best sole arbitrator under the age of 40 in 2018.

Qualifications

• Qualified in Lebanon in 2005

Patrick Gearon FCIArb

Partner, Charles Russell Speechlys

Patrick is Head of Charles Russell Speechlys LLP’s Middle East practice (conducted from offices in Bahrain, Dubai and Qatar).

He specialises in all areas of dispute resolution with particular emphasis on banking, intellectual property, insolvency, professional negligence and company disputes.

Patrick has conducted litigation and arbitration in Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Italy, France, Ukraine, the USA and in all the GCC states as well as in all the courts within the English jurisdiction.

Patrick leads the award-winning Middle East Disputes team which recently won the ‘Bahrain Dispute Resolution Law Firm of The Year’ award at the Chambers Middle East Awards 2019. He also leads the firm’s International Arbitration Group which won the ‘International Arbitration Team of the Year’ award at the Legal Business Awards 2018.

Additionally, Patrick leads the firm’s successful Bahrain office which won the ‘Bahrain Law Firm of The Year’ award at The Oath Legal Awards in both 2018 and 2019.

Patrick is one of the lead partners acting in the administration of Awal Bank B.S.C. which involves litigation and arbitration in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the USA and the Cayman Islands.

In addition to the awards referred to above, in recent years, the team were shortlisted for numerous awards, including “Middle East Litigation & Dispute Resolution Team of the Year” at The Oath Middle East Legal Awards; “Middle East Dispute Resolution Team of the Year” at the Legal Week Corporate Counsel Awards’; and ‘Litigation Team of the Year’ at the Legal Week Awards.

Patrick is admitted to practice in England and Wales and was awarded a CIArb Diploma in International Arbitration in July of 2018.

He became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in September of 2018.