Dhana Pillai

Head of Property, Tax and Project Finance, Al Hashmi Law

Amr Hossam Eldin

Senior Associate, Al Sulaiti Law Firm

Amr Hossam Eldin joined Al Sulaiti Law Firm in 2014. Amr Hossam is a highly accomplished attorney complemented with 10years of commercial law experience specifically in the area of commercial; corporate, contracts, alternative dispute settlement and relevant industry experience.

Qualifications:

• LL.M. in International and Comparative Law, American University in Cairo, Egypt.
• International Legal English Certificate (ILEC).
• American Bar Association CLE.
• LL.B., Assuit University, Egypt.

Relevant Experience:

• Furnish a high level of legal advice, arising in corporate; commercial transactions, trade practices matters, and industry regulation to national and international clients.
• Cover a wide variety of complex and high value institutional and ad hoc arbitral proceedings in national and international commercial arbitration in the area of investment, construction, technology, and sales of goods.
• Provide full range of litigation consultancy in all types of civil and commercial disputes, corporate, employment as well as formulate all types of judicial proceeding, including but not limited to pleadings, briefs, motions, appeals, memos.
• Identify and minimize legal risks including developing appropriate compliance procedures, and finding pragmatic solutions to litigious and commercial problems.

Kiran Scarr

Kiran Scarr, Transformational Leadership Coach

Kiran Scarr’s career has seen her transform from a multi-award-winning international lawyer and c-suite leader to transformational leadership coach. Previously, as chief operating officer of Support Legal Limited, an international virtual law firm, Kiran led the firm’s evolution from start-up legal service provider to Law Firm of the Future pioneering radical change in the legal sector.

This work was recognised by industry press in 2021 in the categories of legal technology innovation and championing diversity. As general counsel of Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority, Kiran transformed the legal and regulatory functions of DMCC, the six-time Global Free Zone of the Year, for which she was twice named General Counsel of the Year in the Middle East and awarded in the categories of compliance innovation and contribution to the in-house legal community.

Since 2019, Kiran has dedicated her time as an executive coach to helping senior law firm and legal department leaders lead through transformational change in the legal sector.

Suzanne Gandy

Co-Founder & Principal, changeosity

Suzanne’s mantra is lead from the front, and she believes that the best answers are always in the room.

Suzanne Gandy is a leadership and organisational culture guru who has led major organisational change in healthcare and government across the Middle East. A former British Army Officer, she completed two operational tours before pursuing an esteemed career in Human Resources. Suzanne is an award winning womens’ leader and top graduate of Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Her expertise in psychology, strategic human resources, and personnel development is simply top class. She holds Master of Strategic Human Resource Management, Bachelor of Psychology and is a Member of Chartered Institute of Personnel Development. Suzanne believes in the power of authentic leadership resulting in teams of people who are much stronger than they think they are. She has maintained her mantra of “lead from the front.”

Justin Carroll

Senior Associate at Al Tamimi & Co

Justin Carroll is a Senior Associate in the Transport and Insurance practice in Dubai. Justin is also a member of the Healthcare group.

Justin has practiced insurance law for over 10 years.  Justin’s practice includes acting for and advising GCC and multinational companies based in the UAE on insurance coverage, regulatory compliance and policy interpretation with a particular focus on the aviation and transportation industry.  Justin also regularly acts for UAE and multinational insurers operating in the UAE in subrogated recovery actions.

Naief Yahia

Partner at Al Tamimi & Co

Naief Yahia joined Al Tamimi & Company in 2009.  He is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution Department. Naief has been working in Dubai since 2006 with two of the local firms before he joined Al Tamimi & Company. He gained experience in various areas of practice (including: construction and commercial, banking, property and corporate related matters). He received his Bachelor of Law degree from Cairo University, English Section. Naief uses his wide knowledge of local laws, commercial and legal acumen and practical experience to the best of his abilities in conducting all commercial and civil litigation cases with the commercial reality and the clients’ interest in mind.

Naief is heading up the construction litigation team in our Dubai office. In his role, he acted and advised major construction players in the region in relation to highly complex construction disputes before local courts and arbitral tribunals. He regularly provide expert’s evidence on construction local law issues in international arbitration concerning cross-border and landmark construction disputes.

In addition, Naief is also leading our banking litigation practice in our Dubai office and regularly advises many local and international banks on all types of banking disputes in the region. In this role, he acted as the lead lawyer in securing the first successful judgments issued by the Dubai Courts in relation to foreclosure cases under both conventional and Islamic finance arrangements.

Dino Wilkinson

Partner, Clyde & Co Abu Dhabi LLP

Dino is recognised as one of the leading technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) lawyers in the Middle East. He has more than ten years’ experience of advising clients throughout the region on a range of transactional and advisory TMT matters, including data protection and privacy, cyber and data risks, IT contracting, emerging technology regulation and related issues. Dino has also worked with regional governments and regulators on a number of significant legislative developments in this area, including the drafting of electronic commerce laws, data sharing policies and privacy legislation. Dino is ranked in Band 1 by Chambers Global 2020 for TMT, with one source praising him as “the leading expert on [privacy and data protection] subjects in Dubai.”

Ali Al Hashimi

Managing Partner of Global Advocates, Dubai

Mr. Ali Al Hashimi is a UAE National and is licensed to appear before all UAE Courts as well as the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) Courts. Mr. Al Hashimi received his Bachelor of Law degree from the Dubai Police College while concurrently working for the Dubai Police. He obtained his Master of LLM Degree from Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. specializing in International Banking and Securities Law.

Mr. Al Hashimi possesses a deep understanding of the financial markets and sectors in the Gulf region and also understands how the interplay of global financial markets can affect business transactions in the UAE. His experience includes over 21 years of high stake commercial litigation and legal consultation acting on behalf of high profile local and international clients.

Mr. Al Hashimi is also a member of the DIFCA Legislation Committee (LegCo). Sits as an Arbitrator in different Arbitration proceedings whether Ad Hoc or Institutions. Also is often asked to act as a legal expert in Arbitrations and before the Courts. Was an ex-member of the Arbitration Tribunal of the Appeal and Cassation stages of the UAE Football Association. Mr. Al Hashimi is fluent in Arabic, English and Hindi.

Mr. Al Hashimi’ s areas of specialization includes: Civil & Commercial Litigations, Banking and Securities, Commercial/Corporate Transactions, Real Estate Disputes & Transactions, and Arbitration.

Sarah Kadhum

Associate, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates LLP

Sarah is an Associate with the Corporate and M&A Practice in our DIFC office in Dubai. She joined BSA in 2013, her principal areas of experience are in commercial contracts and corporate transactional work, including commercial agencies, distribution arrangements, franchising, cross-border and domestic mergers and acquisitions, corporate set-ups and restructuring, joint ventures, strategic investments and regulatory compliance.

She advises clients in a range of industries, including education, energy, healthcare, hospitality, IT, media, retail and technology.

Sarah holds an LLB (Hons) from the London School of Economics and Political Science in the UK, and is admitted to the New York State Bar.

Rima Mrad

Partner, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates LLP

Rima is a Partner with the Corporate and M&A Practice in our DIFC offices in Dubai. She is an experienced corporate and insurance lawyer who has practiced in the UAE for over fourteen years.

She specialises in advising insurance companies, corporate organisations, financial institutions, energy companies and private equity funds on a wide range of legal issues. These include M&A transactions, due diligence, commercial agreements, commercial related disputes, IT related transactions and various regulatory matters.

She has also advised and assisted international clients in developing their business throughout the GCC, particularly in relation to regulatory and compliance matters. She also provides employment advice to companies in relation to policies, structuring and breach of contract.

Rima was recently recognized by Financial News as the 50 Most Influential Women in the Middle East Finance – 2019

Rima holds a Masters Degree in Public Law and Sustainable Development Law from Universite Paris Descartes.