AP CONSULTING - Key Persons
Mr. Haddad attained his first law degree from Saint Joseph University in Lebanon in 1963 and another law degree from l'Academie de Lyon/France in 1969. Member of the Beirut Bar Association since 1969. Mr. Haddad received his legal training at the Law Offices of Dr Alfred Tabet and practiced the Legal profession in the in the same firm until 1999. He became a partner with Messrs Jacques Checrallah and Hafez Zakhour in 1999. His practice and services to clients include shipping, banking, corporate matters, loans and credit agreement, establishment of companies, branches and offices for foreign companies, civil and criminal lawsuits, industrial concerns, personnel and industrial relations, legal translations, legal studies and opinions. Mr. Haddad is fluent in French and Arabic.
Ms. Al-Naqeeb was born in Kuwait in 1964 and received her Bachelor of Law degree from the Faculty of Law and Shariaa at Kuwait University in 1987. Following graduation, she worked as an Associate at the law firm of Nabil Ahmad Al-Naqeeb. After the liberation of Kuwait, Ms. Al-Naqeeb served as legal consultant and as head of the Kuwait legal group responsible for reviewing and submitting the Kuwaiti Compensation Claims against Iraq to the United Nations Compensation Commission. Ms. Al-Naqeeb also served on the United Nations Compensation Commission on behalf of the Kuwait government. Ms. Al-Naqeeb has over ten years experience in all aspects of Kuwaiti law, including extensive experience in mega infrastructure projects, project finance, and all aspects of the oil and gas industry. Ms. Al-Naqeeb's practice areas include general corporate matters, IT, banking, insurance, and securities laws in addition to oversight of the firm's international practice in Kuwait. She is fluent in Arabic, English, and French.
Mr. Zakhour is a partner at the firm's affiliate office in Lebanon. He obtained both a Lebanese law degree and a French law degree in 1969 from Saint Joseph University in Lebanon. In 1973, he received his Diploma from the Judge's School. From 1973 until 1992, Mr. Zakhour was engaged in the legal profession in the public sector, serving as a Judge in various courts. In 1992, he retired as a Judge and became a lawyer-member of the Beirut Bar Association. In 1996, Mr. Zakhour became an Arbitrator in the Lebanese Center of Arbitration. Mr. Zakhour is fluent in Arabic, French and English.
Mr. Adel is the managing partner at the firm's affiliate office in Egypt. This office was established in 1939 by the late Dr. Saba Habashi as a pioneer law office in the field of 'International Business Law'. In 1961 the office came under the Management of Mr. Adel Kamel where it continued to grow in expertise and reputation in dealing with issues regarding 'International Business Law'. In 2000, the management of the office was passed to Mr. Karim Adel Kamel who, to date, is continuing the growth and expansion of the office and increasing the areas of law in which it deals. For the last few years the office has been rated by the 'European Legal 500' as one of the 10 largest legal offices in Egypt, praising both the offices reputation and client base.
Mr Adel has law degrees from Egypt, France and the United States. He received his LL.B. from Ein Shams University in 1990 and a Master's Degree in law from the Institut de Droit des Affaires Internationales in France. Additionally, Mr. Adel received an LL.M. from the Washington College of Law at the American University in Washington, D.C. Mr. Adel l has had practical experience in all three regions. From 1990- 1992, he was an associate at the Adel Kamel Law Office in Cairo, where he did both transactional work and litigation. From there, he went to the law firm of Gide, Loyrette et Nouel in Paris, where he gained further experience in the practice of civil law. In 1995, Mr. Adel relocated to New York, where he worked with a New York firm . Mr. Adel is a member of the Egyptian Bar Association and is fluent in Arabic, English and French.
Ms. Ali has practiced law in the Middle East for over 29 years. She is a world renowned expert on Middle Eastern Laws. She has been instrumental in negotiating a wide spectrum of international business and commercial transactions in all countries in the region. In addition to having an extensive experience in the legal systems and laws of the Arab countries she has an in-depth knowledge of the politics and policies of the region. Ms. Ali has also served on a regular basis as an expert before the courts of the US, UK and other countries on the laws of Arab countries.
Before forming what has become the law firm of Ali & Partners in 1991, she practiced with the law firm of Al-Saleh, Graham & James in Kuwait for five years, where she represented a diverse clientele of local and multi-national corporations. Ali & Partners expanded its practice areas and is now known as AP Consulting. During this period, she also served as a Member and Vice President of Legal Affairs for the American Business Council in Kuwait. Between 1991-1994, in addition to being a Partner in her own firm, Ms. Ali acted as a Special Counsel Partner in Donovan, Leisure, Huge & Schiller, and then in Shea & Gould. During that time Ms. Ali maintained a residence in the Washington DC area, although she spent most of her time in the region working with companies engaged in restoring the oil fields and in other sectors of Kuwait in the aftermath of the Iraqi Invasion. In that capacity, she integrated her knowledge of the Middle East and its business laws with her knowledge of US laws and culture. In 1994, she re-devoted her time exclusively to AP Consulting, a Middle Eastern law firm with offices and affiliate offices across the Middle East including Kuwait and an office in Washington, D.C., that exclusively practices Middle Eastern law.
More recently Ms. Ali worked on a substantial arbitration as the expert witness on Kuwaiti law in an ICC arbitration that secured a US $2.1 Billion for client The Dow Chemical Company. The case was brought by The Dow Chemical Company Inc. against Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Company (KPC) , stemming from PIC's withdrawal from a planned joint venture with Dow. Although the joint venture agreement included an English law choice of law clause, the case revolved around Kuwaiti law position as to the role of the Kuwaiti government in the oil sector and in the Kuwaiti oil companies. The testimony covered almost every aspect of Kuwaiti law including the constitution, administrative law, company laws, commercial law, and oil sector regulations.
Following the Arab Spring Ms. Ali was invited to serve as a member of the World Bank MENA advisory board. Ms. Ali is also a frequent speaker at the Trace GAIN conferences on FCPA and anti-corruption compliance.
Ms. Ali has also served on a regular basis as an expert before the courts of the US, UK and other countries on the laws of Arab countries including Kuwaiti, Iraqi and the laws of the UAE. She has also served as an expert witness in ICC arbitration on Kuwaiti and Yemeni laws.
Ms. Ali has given numerous lectures and presentations on various aspects of the laws in several Middle Eastern countries. She has also authored numerous articles and chapters in various international treatises on various issues of Middle Eastern laws.
Additionally, Ms. Ali has been honored as a Member of Who's Who of International Professionals (1996) and Cambridge Who's Who (1996-1997) and the National Who's Who of Executives and Professional (2000).
Ms. Ali manages the AP Consulting's international practice which is primarily focused on the Gulf region and Northern Africa. She is a member of the DC and New York Bar associations, Abu Dhabi Commercial Conciliation and Arbitration Center and, the Cairo Center For International Commercial Arbitration.
Experience as Counsel
Ms. Ali's practice focuses solely on the laws of Arab countries and in particular the laws of Kuwait. Particular experience relating to Kuwait includes the representation of:
Export Import Bank of the United States in its due diligence for potential financing of the Equate project between Petrochemical Industries Company and Union Carbide Corporation (now a subsidiary of The Chemical Company ("Dow")).
Japan Bank for International Cooperation and Japan National Oil Corporation in the facilities they provided to the Arabian Oil Company to finance loans to Kuwait Gulf Oil Company as part of the surrender of the Arabian Oil Company's concession rights, one of KPC's subsidiaries. This transaction involved KPC and SPC and the Kuwait Ministry of Oil.
Several US oil companies in understanding the Kuwaiti oil sector and the ramifications of Kuwaiti constitutional law on their transactions. Ms Ali counseled EXXON Mobil in their bid for production sharing agreement in the northern fields. Counseled numerous suppliers and contractors in their bids to KPC and KPC subsidiaries such as ABB Vetro and Elsag Bailey; Battelle Memorial Institute; BGP; Black & Veatch and Textron's Union Pump.
Regularly serve as local counsel for US and European financial institutions in financing various transactions and represent US companies in all aspects of their business activities in the region.
Ms Ali counseled numerous companies on the Libyan legal system and authored several articles on various aspects of the laws of Libya and one of the first Articles in English to explain the Libyan legal system and oil sector after the lifting of sanctions in 2004.
Experience as an Expert
Ms. Ali served as an expert in a $650 Sukuk issuance case and was instrumental in winning this case which is the first in English legal history to establish a duty of care owed by a bank to a secondary financial market. FCOF II UB Securities LLC vs. BNP Paribas in the High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, Commercial Court Financial List 2017.
Ms. Ali has appeared as expert on Kuwaiti law in several arbitration proceedings. Cases in the public domain include Caribbean Agricultural Projects, Inc. v. Bufete Industrial S.A.1999; Sheikh Fahed Al Ahmed, Oriental Exchange Company v. UAE Bank 1987.
She also appears as Kuwaiti law expert in court proceedings. Recent involvements include expert legal opinions given:
Mr. Al-Daher has been practicing law in Qatar for twenty years. He obtained his LL.B. from Damascus University in Syria in 1967. He was officially licensed to practice in Qatar in 1981 as one of the first and few non-Qataris permitted to practice law in Qatar. Additionally, he was admitted to the Jordanian Bar in 1970.
Mr. Al-Daher's work in Qatar has involved numerous financing transactions representing various banks, such as Arab Bank, Al-Ahli Bank and Grenley Bank. In addition to advising clients on local and regional projects involving complex financing issues, Mr. Al-Daher's practice also focuses on representing high net worth individuals in ship financing and large residential complex projects.
Wissam Abdullateef Saeed Al Qurashi et al.v. Adel Nakla and L3 Services (2008) US District Court for the district of Maryland Greenbelt division