UNITED ARAB EMRITES Trends and Developments
Trends and Developments Contributed by: Ali Dakhlallah, Karen Seif, Matthew Page and William Prasifka Habib Al Mulla & Partners Habib Al Mulla & Partners is a leading UAE law firm, established in 1984, advising on high-stakes dis- putes, complex commercial matters and sensitive regulatory issues. Under the leadership of Dr Habib Al Mulla, the firm has played a pivotal role in modern- ising the UAE’s legal framework, including develop- ing the legal infrastructure of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The firm’s dispute resolution practice comprises over 50 lawyers across its Dubai and Abu Dhabi offices, handling litigation before all levels of the UAE onshore courts, the DIFC courts and the ADGM courts, and international arbitra-
tion under the rules of DIAC, ICC, LCIA, ICSID and UNCITRAL. The team advises financial institutions, sovereign entities, developers, multinational corpora- tions and high net worth individuals on commercial litigation, banking disputes, construction arbitration, insolvency proceedings, real estate disputes, intel- lectual property enforcement and cross-border asset recovery. Clients include local, regional and interna- tional groups such as Credit Agricole, Emirates NBD Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Nakheel, Emaar, Forti- net, Schlumberger, Tesla, SHEIN, Azadea, Antonio Puig and Gianni Versace.
Authors
Ali Dakhlallah is a partner at Habib Al Mulla and Partners and head of the banking and financial disputes team. He focuses on complex local and cross-border banking, commercial, IP and insolvency disputes, with a
Karen Seif is a partner at Habib Al Mulla and Partners leading the international arbitration team. She advises on high-stakes construction, corporate, energy and public defence disputes, representing clients in
portfolio exceeding the billion-dollar benchmark. Ali acts for prominent global and regional financial institutions in high-profile cases and advises international luxury retail brands on commercial agency, distribution and franchise disputes. Ali is recognised by Chambers Global 2026 for Restructuring/Insolvency, among other leading directories. He is registered with the DIFC courts, holds an LLM from City, University of London and is a member of the Beirut Bar Association and the International Bar Association (IBA).
arbitrations under the ICC, LCIA, AAA-ICDR, UNCITRAL and arbitrateAD rules. A member of the New York Bar, Karen is registered in the ADGM and DIFC courts and admitted to the DIAC panel of arbitrators. She holds faculty positions at Sorbonne University (Abu Dhabi) and has served as a judicial fellow in the United States federal courts (Northern District of California). She is a graduate of Sorbonne University in Paris and has a doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley.
534 CHAMBERS.COM
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