Lawyers in United Arab Emirates

John Lewis

Partner - Head of Commercial Litigation, Middle East

Stephenson Harwood Middle East LLP

John Podgore

Partner - Head of Transactional Practice

ADG Legal

Jon Nash

Jon is Dentons Middle East Managing Partner and the Head of the Middle East Energy, Transport and Infrastructure team. He has over 30 years of experience advising sponsors and lenders on the development of energy, natural resources and other infrastructure projects in the MENA region. He has extensive experience with I(W)PP developments and has advised on a number of award-winning deals in the Middle East. Jon also advises on all manner of project documentation, including drafting and negotiation of the product supply, offtake and tolling agreements (including power purchase agreements and water treatment agreements). He has advised on many "first of a kind" transactions, many of which have been awarded "Deal of the Year" status by leading industry and professional journals.

Dentons

Jonathan Downey

DLA Piper

Jonathan P. Noble

Partner

AMERELLER

Jonathan Sutcliffe

Jonathan Sutcliffe is a partner in the firm's Dubai office where he is a member of the international arbitration practice group. Jonathan has significant experience in international arbitration and dispute resolution and has acted for numerous clients on a diverse range of international commercial arbitration, ADR, and litigation matters in the energy, construction, hospitality, real estate, defence, insurance, international joint venture, and film sectors, and on investor-state disputes. Jonathan is a member of the firm’s hydrogen group. Jonathan also sits regularly as an arbitrator, including under the rules of arbitration of the ICC, DIFC-LCIA, DIAC, and ADCCAC, and in ad hoc arbitrations. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Jonathan is qualified in England and Wales, and New York and is registered as an advocate in the DIFC Courts.

K&L Gates

Josh Kemp

Partner

ADG Legal

Joss Dare

Partner / Global Co-Head, Pojects

Ashurst LLP

Julian Grant

Of Counsel, Dubai

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP

Julie Beeton

Julie is a Senior Counsel in the Commercial practice. She has more than 20 years legal practice experience, 14 years of which have been within the UAE market. She has expertise in corporate/commercial law, data protection, education, hospitality, cross-border transactions, corporate governance and compliance. Outside of the UAE, she has practised in Canada and in the United Kingdom, and has worked in private practice as well as in-house where she held Senior Legal Counsel and General Counsel positions. Prior to teaming with Hadef & Partners, Julie was the head of the legal team for the Registration Authority at the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) where she led the team responsible for drafting and developing all commercial legislation in the financial centre. Julie was previously General Counsel at an international university in Dubai and acted as the sole in-house counsel for the owner/operator of 31 international schools in the United Arab Emirates. During her time in the education field, Julie provided strategic, business-focused advice to Boards and management teams on all general corporate/commercial matters including drafting and reviewing all commercial agreements, providing legal advice on data protection, leasing, franchising, school management agreements, corporate governance and compliance. Julie has also been in-house counsel for a major international hospitality group where she worked closely with the development team negotiating hotel management agreements across the Middle East and Africa. She was senior associate with Allen & Overy in London and Dubai.

Hadef & Partners

Justin Whelan

Partner

HFW

Jérémy Filbiche

Linklaters

Kanishka Singh

Kanishka is a partner in the Projects practice at Dentons UK, Ireland and Middle East, based in the Firm's Abu Dhabi office. With extensive experience at leading international law firms in both the UK and UAE, Kanishka specializes in a diverse range of energy and infrastructure projects. His expertise spans renewables (solar/wind), desalination, conventional energy, waste management, waste-to-energy, district cooling, rolling stock and civil engineering projects. In addition to his legal practice, Kanishka brings a unique perspective on the commercial and strategic aspects of PPP/PFI transactions, having served as Head of Legal at Veolia Middle East – the world's largest company in water, sustainability and waste management. Kanishka's areas of key focus are: Energy Transition/Utilities – Hydrogen, Steel, Ammonia, Water, Power (conventional and renewable), District Cooling, Waste-to-Energy and Waste Treatment. Construction – all aspects related to energy, utilities, mixed-use development and civil construction projects under EPC, Construct Only, Design and Construct (with a special focus on the FIDIC suite of contracts).

Dentons

Kara Henderson-Price

DLA Piper

Karim Mahmoud

Karim is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution team in Dubai. A US qualified attorney, Karim is a Part II qualified Practitioner with the DIFC Courts and appears regularly before arbitration tribunals. His experience and skill in this area makes him an invaluable member of both the Dispute Resolution team and for our international client base. His dynamic experience encompasses working for both multinational and local entities regarding all manner of disputes in the local UAE Courts, arbitration proceedings, and the DIFC Courts. His practice includes a broad range of commercial matters with particular expertise in shareholder, commercial agency, banking, and real estate disputes. This versatility is a significant asset with disputes in the region given the parallel jurisdictions in the UAE and the multi-pronged nature of disputes. Karim is also a leading Partner in the department’s White-Collar Practice, where he regularly advises and represents individuals, court appointed trustees and governments on Interpol, extradition, fraud, asset tracing, and enforcement matters. His team has acted on several high-profile matters involving billions of dollars in recovered funds. He has also been appointed as a Special Master for the US District Court for the Northern District Court of Illinois. Karim is a member of the American Bar Association, AIJA, and is admitted to the New Jersey and New York State Bars.

Hadef & Partners

Karim Mariey

Partner

White & Case LLP

Kate Corcoran

Legal 500 EMEA 2026 Kate Corcoran

CMS

Katharina Schaub

Dr. Katharina Schaub is a counsel in the Banking & Finance practice based in Dentons' Dubai office, specializing in restructuring and insolvency. She brings more than nine years of experience advising on complex restructuring, insolvency and financial distress matters, gained through senior in-house leadership and prior practice at leading international law firms in Europe and the UK. Prior to joining Dentons, Katharina held a senior in-house legal leadership role with a major international healthcare group in the Middle East, where she advised executive management on complex restructuring-related, governance and risk matters. In this capacity, she regularly coordinated multi-jurisdictional legal strategy and managed external counsel, multiple stakeholders and disputes on high-profile matters arising from large-scale financial distress. Katharina is an experienced, German-qualified restructuring and insolvency lawyer, with significant previous experience in Germany, Australia, the UK and UAE.

Dentons

Kellie Diggin

Kellie Diggin is an associate in Dentons’ Corporate Lending and Real Estate Finance practice in Dubai, with experience advising on debt capital markets transactions, including EMTN, Sukuk and Commercial Paper programmes. She has advised both joint lead managers side and issuer side on debt programme updates and drawdowns, assisted clients with Euro Commercial Paper programme approvals (ensuring STEP Secretariat compliance), and coordinated with regulatory authorities like the FCA for approvals on programme updates, standalone prospectuses, and listing hearings. Her experience includes advising leading international banks on updates and supplements to structured EMTN and Sukuk programmes, drafting terms and conditions, and overseeing regulatory and listing processes.

Dentons

Kelly Dunn

Chartered Legal Executive and Licenced Conveyancer

Charles Russell Speechlys LLP

Kenny Paton

Kenny Paton is Head of Oil & Gas for the Middle East and Counsel in the Energy, Transport and Infrastructure practice in Dentons' Abu Dhabi office. He is a senior oil and gas lawyer with over 25 years' experience across the oil and gas value chain globally, particularly in the North Sea, Africa and the Middle East having worked both as in-house counsel as well as in private practice for international law firms in London, Aberdeen and Cape Town. Kenny acts for both the private sector, governments and NOCs in upstream, midstream and downstream projects with a particular focus on gas developments and associated domestic utilization and LNG and petroleum import/export projects.

Dentons

Keri Watkins

Keri Watkins is a partner based in Baker McKenzie’s Dubai office, who has been advising local and multinational businesses, sovereign wealth funds, family offices and public institutions in the Middle East since 2007. Keri also co-heads the Real Estate & Hospitality practice in the MENA region. Keri has extensive real estate, development and hotel related experience and advises on all aspects of the commercial real estate transaction from the initial due diligence and structuring of the deal to post completion aspects. During her time in the Middle East, Keri has spent time on secondment with Dubai Properties Group and Gulf Capital. Keri has been ranked by prestigious legal directories for her work in Real Estate and Hospitality from 2022-2024.

Baker McKenzie LLP

Khaled Al Hayyas

Khaled is a Partner in our Dispute Resolution team. He is licensed to appear before local and federal courts. He advises clients on a range of corporate, commercial, criminal, regulatory and employment law matters. Prior to joining Hadef & Partners, Khaled worked at two reputable law firms in Abu Dhabi as a litigator. He has extensive experience in attending court hearings, expert hearings and handling all court procedures. Khaled holds a Bachelor of Law from Dubai Police Academy and holds a lawyer license from the Institute of Training and Judicial Studies. He is fluent in Arabic and English.

Hadef & Partners

Khalid Al Hamrani

Partner, Head of Criminal Litigation and White-Collar Crime

Al Tamimi & Company