BY ABDULLA ALAWADI - Key Persons
Abdullah Al Tahhan is a Syrian National and works as a Legal Assistant at Abdulla Alawadi & Associates. With his legal background in Syria, Abdullah offers extensive knowledge and an understanding of the cultural dynamics that are invaluable in navigating the UAE's diverse legal environment.
He has completed a Master's Degree in Law from Damascus University, with a focus on International Law. Abdullah's legal acumen is further enhanced by an MBA in Human Resource Management and a Diploma in International Relations and Diplomatic Affairs.
In his crucial role, Abdullah is instrumental in case preparation, working closely with senior attorneys on legal research, document drafting, and evidence collection. He contributes significantly to formulating legal strategies, conducting risk assessments, and providing astute legal advice. His proficiency in client communication is evident as he ensures regular updates on case developments and addresses client queries with the utmost professionalism. Abdullah's legal writing skills are a standout feature of his work, as he adeptly drafts memoranda, pleadings, motions, and other key documents to effectively present cases.
With his Syrian origins, Abdullah is fluent in both Arabic and English
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate, Litigation
- Senior Legal Counsel
Ahmed Farouk is a Senior Legal Counsel in the dispute resolution, commercial disputes, owner association disputes, criminal cases, rental cases, labour and civil litigation matters in the UAE. Ahmed has been consulting clients in the UAE for more than 10 years.
Ahmed practiced Law in Egypt for five years and possess in-depth knowledge with regard to UAE laws, knowledge and cultural familiarity. He gathered this wealth of experience after having represented a broad spectrum of clients from various regions and industries, including insurance, tourism, banking, construction, criminal, and Appeal Cases before the Courts of Cassation and Discrimination.
Ahmed has consulted several leading international and multinational companies in a variety of high-value contractual disputes. Moreover, Ahmed is a highly experienced and well-respected member of the Egyptian Bar since 2007.
He holds a Bachelor's degree in Law from Zagazig University, Egypt. Also he is currently pursuing a Master's degree in International Law, Civilian Protection.
PRACTICE AREAS: Insurance, tourism, banking, construction, criminal, and Appeal Cases before the Courts of Cassation and Discrimination
Job Titles:
- Associate With Abdulla Alawadi & Associates
- Junior Associate - Courts
Ali works as a Junior Associate with Abdulla Alawadi & Associates, and he brings in close to 5+ years of industry experience to the firm. Prior to this, he was a Court Associate where he had the opportunity to work on a variety of cases whilst interacting with several industry stakeholders.
Apart from his strong set of industry connections and network, he possesses a vast knowledge of the legal proceedings based on the evolving legal systems in the UAE.
He also has in-depth knowledge with regard to the different federal and local courts, prosecutions, police departments and has gathered experience in preparing subpoenas and other legal documents, researching and managing cases.
He holds a Bachelor's degree in Law from the University of Sharjah.
Job Titles:
- Associate, Corporate
- English Solicitor
Archana is a practicing English Solicitor and holds a Master's degree in Laws. With over 16 years of experience in the field, she is a skilled lawyer specializing in real estate, commercial, information technology, employment, corporate, banking, arbitration and litigation. Her expertise makes her a valuable asset to an organization. She is recognized for her meticulous attention to detail and has a proven track record of achieving successful outcomes for her clients.
Archana has extensive experience working for a variety of organizations, including UAE law firms and corporate houses such as Tata, Aptech, and Hexaware Technologies. Throughout her tenure with these organizations, she provided comprehensive legal advice and representation, handling complex legal matters such as the development of townships, general commercial advice and opinions, drafting of legal documents, negotiations, legal due diligence, regulatory compliance, risk management, arbitration and litigation. Additionally, in the UAE, she represented many private clients for wills and estates in the DIFC and other UAE Courts. She also provided advice to start-ups on their legal concerns.
Archana has exceptional legal skills and is committed to achieving her clients' success. As a trusted lawyer, she consistently delivers results.
After completing her legal studies, Archana was admitted to the Bar Association, India and trained with Gagrat & Co., Advocates and Solicitors, an esteemed law firm in Mumbai and successfully represented clients before the Bombay High Court relating to commercial, corporate, real estate, banking, employment and banking cases.
Dunia Zeidan is a Lebanese national and manages client relations at Abdulla Alawadi and Associates. She is responsible for liaising with clients and keeping them updated on the progress of the cases and the procedures relating to their cases.
She enables smooth communication between clients and internal stakeholders. Her main responsibility includes managing the operations of the Litigation and Corporate department.
She has completed her LL.M: Business Law from Lebanese American University.
With her Lebanese origins, Dunia is fluent in English, Arabic, and French.
Ibrahim Hanifeh is a very highly qualified lawyer with a varied range of experience in commercial, litigation, real estate, banking, insurance and private client work within the UAE and Middle East.
With close to 15 years of industry experience Ibrahim is a UAE resident and is listed as legal consultant in Dubai Ruler's court.
His expertise lies in contract negotiations and review, licensing, consulting, litigation, risk management, creative problem solving, cross functional team leadership along with policy/ procedure development.
Ibrahim has comprehensive knowledge and extensive experience with complex contract drafting and negotiations, primarily in the high-tech industry including, hardware, software consulting and purchasing of various products agreements.
Lara Hamed works as a Legal Assistant at Abdulla Alawadi & Associates. Her primary duties include assisting lawyers and clients with all aspects of corporate and commercial law and employment matters. She has several years of experience in the field as a paralegal and legal secretary in the UAE.
She assists on client matters and liaises with government entities including immigration and residency departments, the Ministry of Labour, the Department of Economic Development, and the DIFC Government Services Department, etc.
To Abdulla Alawadi & Associates, Lara brings the vast industry knowledge and experience that she has accumulated from her association with previous law firms. In her previous roles, she has assisted the firms on corporate and litigation matters.
Lara holds a BA in English literature from Petra University and BA in International Law from Pebble Hills University.
Lara is proficient in both Arabic and English languages.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate - Courts
- Associate With Abdulla Alawadi & Associates
Mahmoud is an Associate with Abdulla Alawadi & Associates. He has accumulated a wealth of litigation sector experience in the UAE, with an acute interest in rental matters. Mahmoud has previously worked on cases involving civil, commercial, amicable disputes and criminal matters. He has been instrumental in achieving positive results for the clients that he has represented.
Furthermore, Mahmoud carries out legal research, consults with clients on various legal matters. He has in-depth knowledge of the UAE legal system, using this to successfully assist the team of legal consultants in the overall performance of cases. Mahmoud has had notable success settling, in the clients' favour, prior to filing a court case - saving the clients both money and time.
Having previously held a position as a Court Associate, Mahmoud has an extremely good working knowledge of the UAE court process. In addition, Mahmoud also has proficient knowledge of the execution procedures. Mahmoud assists the firm's senior legal consultants in drafting pleadings; performing initial case assessments and investigating.
Educated at the University of Al-Zgazig, Mahmoud earned a Bachelor of Law Degree.
Nageh's legal expertise spans over 27 years and during this time he has pleaded and defended on behalf of clients in a number of matters, including civil, criminal, administrative, commercial, labor, real estate, banking, and family matters.
In addition to litigation, Nageh's expertise covers drafting and reviewing different types of contracts and other legal documents, including contracts for the assignment of receivables and real estate financing. He has also drafted a wide array of contracts for major financial institutions, including mortgage agreements for HSBC Bank in Egypt.
He has been a member of the Egyptian Bar since 1995 and is a registered Patent Agent of the Egyptian Commercial Registry. In addition, he maintains memberships with several prominent legal institutions including the Arab Lawyers' Union and the Middle East Centre for International Commercial Arbitration.
He is also a member of a research group for the work "Implementation of foreign arbitration awards in accordance with the New York Convention of 1957, Public-Private Partnership, Rapid Arbitration under the World Trade Organization".
Nageh is also commended for undertaking extensive legal research and providing reliable legal advice and opinion. As part of his legal research and advisory roles, he has participated in the drafting and preparation of the Law Bill concerning Combating Defamation of Religions with its explanatory memorandum for the Under-Secretary-General of the Religious Committee of the Egyptian People's Assembly in 2007.
Nageh holds a degree in law from Cairo University and has completed intensive courses for qualified arbitration experts in national and international arbitration, as well as specialized training in forgeries, imitations, and real estate matters.
PRACTICE AREAS: Civil, criminal, administrative, commercial, labor, real estate, banking, and family matters.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- English Solicitor
Ravindra Modgekar Desai is a practicing English Solicitor with a dual qualification from India. He is amongst UAE's leading names within the legal domain with over two decades of practice across the Middle East and India. He has a distinguished track record of having represented some of the region's most complex legal transactions for several prestigious clients across diverse areas of practice. What deserves a special mention is the fact that he has cross-country and cross-border experience and provides solutions to complex legal transactions with his commercial bent of mind, that makes him an asset for most clients represented.
His domain expertise spans across corporate and commercial law, mergers, and acquisitions, IPR law, real estate, franchising, information technology, employment law, e-commerce, corporate structuring, construction projects, logistics, banking, arbitration, and litigation management across multiple jurisdictions. He has extensive experience across GCC countries, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, African continent, India and South-East Asian countries and the legal systems therein.
In his most recent assignment spanning over 17 years, he was the Legal Head for Landmark Group, the largest retail and hospitality conglomerates in the Middle East, India, North Africa, and Southeast Asia. Here, he was instrumental in establishing and heading the legal team for the Group and providing legal support to more than 25 businesses in the Group spread across more than 12 Countries.
Prior to moving to the UAE, Ravi served as the head of Mumbai office for Singhania and Partners, Advocates and Solicitors and with an erstwhile British Law firm M/s Mulla & Mulla & Craigie Blunt & Caroe, Advocates and Solicitors, both world class firms engaged in diverse areas of practice with dedicated teams for corporate, commercial, litigation, arbitration and IPR matters. Here he catered to major Indian businesses and multinational corporations including Fortune 500 companies.
He also represented many private clients for wills and estates as well as investments in start-ups, and tech ventures, including advising numerous ministries, government, and public sector undertakings.
PRACTICE AREAS: Corporate & Commercial Law, Mergers & Acquisitions, Intellectual Property, Joint Ventures, Real Estate, Trademarks and Brand Licensing, Franchising Agreements, eCommerce, Information Technology, Employment, Construction, Legal Advisory, Litigation, Restructuring Advise, Company Incorporation. Transaction Structuring, Contracts Formulation, Vetting & Review, Cross-Jurisdictional Laws