EST. 1988 · DIFC REGISTERED
Counsel for decisions that cannot afford a second draft
Corporate, disputes and private wealth. Twenty six lawyers, four languages, one standard of care, held since 1988.
EXPERTISE
Practice areas
Acquisitions, joint ventures, restructurings and shareholder arrangements across the GCC, from term sheet to closing. We are known for deals where the governance question matters as much as the price, and for documentation that survives its first dispute.
REPRESENTATIVE WORK
- Sale of a family-owned logistics group to a sovereign-backed buyer, AED 1.4bn
- Cross-border JV between a UAE developer and a Singapore fund
- Pre-IPO restructuring of a three-generation trading house
Arbitration and litigation before the DIFC Courts, ADGM Courts, onshore UAE courts, DIAC and the ICC. We prepare every matter as if it will be tried, which is precisely why so many of them settle on our clients' terms.
REPRESENTATIVE WORK
- Defence of a listed contractor in a USD 220m ICC arbitration
- DIFC Courts freezing order enforced across three jurisdictions
- Shareholder deadlock resolved without a single court hearing
Family offices, DIFC foundations, wills and succession structures for founders who think in generations, not quarters. Discretion is not a service line here. It is the condition of the work.
REPRESENTATIVE WORK
- Succession framework for a first-generation founder, four heirs, three jurisdictions
- DIFC foundation holding a regional hospitality portfolio
- Family constitution adopted unanimously after eleven drafts
Syndicated lending, Islamic finance, restructurings and regulatory counsel for borrowers and lenders operating between DIFC, ADGM and onshore regimes. We translate regulation into decisions, not memos.
REPRESENTATIVE WORK
- AED 900m syndicated facility for a regional healthcare group
- Sukuk restructuring completed ahead of maturity
- DFSA licensing counsel for a European asset manager
Development, financing, leasing and construction counsel for landmark projects across the Emirates. Thirty six years of Dubai real estate cycles have taught us exactly which clauses are tested when the market turns.
REPRESENTATIVE WORK
- Master development agreement for a mixed-use district, 2.1m sq ft
- Hotel management agreement renegotiated mid-operation
- Contractor claims portfolio resolved at 31% of claimed value
APPROACH
Four principles, unchanged since 1988
Advice you need, not advice you want
We will tell you when the deal is wrong, when the claim is weak, and when silence is the best strategy. Comfort is not counsel.
A partner reads every draft
Nothing leaves this firm under a trainee's judgment alone. The name on the door is the standard on the page.
Prepared to try, positioned to settle
Opponents settle with firms they believe will go the distance. Our trial record is our best negotiation tool.
Discretion as a discipline
You will not read about our clients in the press, and neither will their competitors. That is by design, not by luck.
TRACK RECORD
Measured in decades, not deals
“They gave us the advice we needed to hear, not the advice we wanted. It saved the deal, and probably the company.”
GROUP CEO · FAMILY CONGLOMERATE, DUBAI
PEOPLE
The partners
Rashid Al Hamdan
MANAGING PARTNER · CORPORATE
Founded the firm in 1988. Thirty six years advising the Gulf's founding families on the deals they keep, and the ones they walk away from.
English · Arabic
Layla Al Hamdan
PARTNER · DISPUTES
Lead advocate before the DIFC Courts and DIAC. Known for cross-examinations that end settlements discussions, in our clients' favour.
English · Arabic · French
Omar Qassim
PARTNER · PRIVATE WEALTH
Structures foundations and successions for founder-led groups across the GCC. Eleven family constitutions, zero contested successions.
English · Arabic
Elena Morozova
PARTNER · BANKING & FINANCE
Twenty years across London and Dubai lending markets. Advises lenders and borrowers who expect to meet again on the next deal.
English · Russian · French
INSIGHTS
Recent thinking
The 2026 DIFC Courts amendments, and what they change for enforcement
The quiet expansion of the Courts' jurisdiction matters more than the headline reforms. Three practical consequences for creditors.
READ THE NOTESuccession without succession disputes: lessons from eleven family constitutions
The document is the easy part. The sequence of conversations that precedes it is where successions are actually won.
READ THE NOTEArbitration clauses that actually hold: a drafting checklist for GCC joint ventures
Most pathological clauses fail on the same four points. A checklist we have used on every joint venture since 2019.
READ THE NOTECONSULTATION
Begin the conversation
Tell us, in confidence, what you are deciding. A partner, never an associate, will respond within one business day with an honest view on whether we are the right firm for it.
Received, in confidence.
A partner will review your matter and respond within one business day. If it is urgent, call +971 4 315 8800 and ask for the duty partner.