Ibtissem Lassoued

Partner | Co-Head of White Collar Crime & Investigations, Al Tamimi & Company

Ibtissem Lassoued has extensive experience advising international and regional clients on a spectrum of complex, multijurisdictional white collar crime issues, including but not limited to anti-corruption matters including the extraterritorial effect of the US FCPA and UK Bribery act, complex fraud, Capital Market investigations, extradition and INTERPOL including challenges to INTERPOL Red Notices, and reputational risks attached to such issues, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, global economic sanctions.

Ibtissem has been ranked as Band 1 in Chambers Global for Corporate Investigations for 8 consecutive years since the category’s inclusion and is commended for being ‘at the forefront of the market in this arena, ‘as passionate about her area of expertise as she is knowledgeable’ and ‘stunningly good at what she does’.

In February 2021, Ibtissem was appointed as the Chair of the Global Coalition to Fight Financial Crime Middle East and North Africa Chapter. Her work with the Global Coalition involves strategic oversight and direction of the Global Coalition’s activity in all MENA countries and active involvement in the development of an effective financial crime system across the public and private sectors. She has been included by Asian Legal Business within the MENA Super 50 since 2021, and in 2019, she was ranked amongst Financial News’ 50 Most Influential Women in Middle East Finance. Ibtissem is also currently serving as a member of the International Advisory Board of the CEELI Institute, a non-profit non-governmental organisation based in Prague, Czech Republic, dedicated to advancing the rule of law.

Matthew Heaton

Partner | Head of Office (Qatar), Al Tamimi & Company

Matthew Heaton is a Partner and Head of Office in Qatar, and Head of Qatar’s Banking & Finance practice.

Matthew has broad experience of all aspects of finance law, acting for both borrowers and lenders. Prior to joining, Matthew was a banking & finance partner based in London at a leading global law firm. He has particular expertise in acquisition and leveraged finance, corporate lending and real estate finance, as well as regulatory and capital market matters. He is expert in the laws of both Qatar and the Qatar Financial Centre, as well as remaining qualified to practice English law. Matthew advises borrowers, funders and sponsors, including banks, equity and debt funds, listed corporates, private companies and mezzanine funders. He also advises on syndicated, club and bilateral financings. He has broad experience of leveraged finance and private equity transactions, and in advising purchasers and sellers of stressed and distressed loan portfolios.

Ali Al Aidarous

Managing Partner, Al Aidarous Advocates & Legal Consultant

Ali is one of the pioneers of Dispute Resolution in the UAE, practicing international arbitration and litigation for over 35 years.

He has full rights of audience before the Dubai Courts (Civil Courts) and Common Law Courts (DIFC & ADGM) and is one of the few Emirati Nationals who can practice both civil and common law. Other than the Dubai Courts, he also regularly appears before various arbitration institutions including the ICC, DIAC, DIFC-LCIA and more. He is also admitted to the bar of the DIFC Courts as a registered Part II practitioner.

Arbitrator
Due to his extensive experience in the field of Arbitration, Ali is considered an arbitrator of choice for his excellent command over matters of civil law and strong familiarity with common law principles. He is frequently nominated and acts as Chairman of Arbitral Panels, in addition to acting as co-arbitrator, and often sits as an arbitrator in ad hoc or institutional arbitration matters (whether regional or international). He has served as the UAE representative at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris, France, where he attended sessions of the Court of the ICC tasked with making a final review of all ICC awards. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the ICC-UAE and was Chairman of the ICCUAE Commission on Arbitration & ADR. He is currently a member of the DFSA Financial Markets Tribunal and a member of the ADGM Arbitration Centre Panel of Arbitrators. His experience includes acting as both in-house corporate lawyer, and litigator and arbitrator.

Expert
As an Arbitration Expert, Ali is considered as the ‘go-to’ lawyer on all matters of UAE law. With a proven track record in providing expert opinion and having been cross examined before Arbitral panels, Ali accepts instructions on all matters of UAE law with a particular emphasis on construction, corporate, and banking. He has also provided several expert reports and given evidence concerning issues relating to UAE law before foreign courts, such as England and Wales, New York, Queensland, Oslo, and before many international arbitration forums.

Counsel
Ali is frequently instructed to act as counsel in institutional and ad-hoc arbitrations covering DIAC, ICC, ADCCAC, UNCITRAL, and others. His arbitration practice covers a diverse range of legal disputes with a predominant focus on complex construction, commercial and corporate matters.

He is highly ranked in legal directories and has received multiple awards and recognitions such as Who’s Who legal, Chambers & Partners, Chambers Global, Dubai Courts, Dubai Chamber of Commerce, and others.

Prior to establishing Al Aidarous Advocates & Legal Consultants, Ali represented and advised diverse business clients in matters concerning international sales/distribution contracts, franchising, banking, Islamic Finance, insurance and re-insurance, carriage (air and sea), construction, real estate, intellectual property, joint ventures, corporate governance, corporate establishments (both in free zones and in the UAE generally), securities and international arbitration. He has acted as both a litigator and a legal advisor, which has allowed him to develop extensive knowledge of the civil law in the UAE

Ajay Wiltshire

General Counsel, Saffery Champness

Private client advisor and practising Solicitor, Ajay Wiltshire previously held the position of General Counsel to Saffery’s Guernsey Office before establishing the Firm’s Dubai office in the Dubai International Financial Centre in 2018. With over 20 years’ experience he advises very high-profile clients, families and entrepreneurs in the utilisation of proper structuring, governance and protection,now based in Dubai where he covers the MENA region as liaison for Saffery’s international professional and fiduciary service offerings.

Ajay has advised Saffery’s clients on matters such as wealth transfer strategies, family governance, relationship dynamics and contentious matters which include reputation protection, dispute resolution, regulatory and tax compliance. An increasing part of his work is assisting Saffery’s clients and their businesses in relocation to the region and also s in finding the most appropriate regional and international partners to achieve their desired goals.

“One of the more interesting aspects of my role is advising athletes, entertainers and creative sector clients and I also engage with government and regulatory bodies in order to share Saffery’s expertise in the sport, creative and film sectors. I am a Committee Member of the International Bar Association Private Wealth & Taxes Committee and I regularly speak at and host international conferences, I am also an enthusiastic supporter of the Arab Lawyer’s Forum and I enjoy working with professionals of every discipline to deliver enduring and appropriate solutions.”

Dr. Ghada M. Darwish Karbon

Founder and Managing Partner, Dr. Ghada M. Darwish Karbon Law firm

Dr. Ghada M. Darwish Karbon, FCIARb is the Founder and Managing partner of Dr. Ghada M. Darwish Karbon’s law firm based in Qatar. Dr. Ghada is an appointed as Arbitrator from notable organizations such as the Qatar International Centre for Conciliation and Arbitration (QICCA), Qatar Sports Arbitration Foundation (QSAF), The Court of Arbitration for Sport at Lausanne Switzerland and is the first Qatari lady lawyer to hold this position. She is also an appointed Arbitrator at The National Sports Arbitration Tribunal (NSAT), In 2022, Dr. Ghada continues to strengthen her presence in the legal field having been appointed by various sports and legal organizations such as Arbitrator Saudi Sport Arbitration Centre (SSAC).

Dr. Ghada has been appointed to the Independent Hearing Panel of Badminton World Federation (BWF). Dr Ghada serves as the Chairperson of the Hearing Panel of the Qatar Anti- Doping Commission and appointed by Fédération Internationale De Natation (FINA) as one of its membersof Legal Ad Hoc Committee. Dr. Ghada is also appointed Member of the Aquatics Integrity Unit of the International Swimming Federation (FINA) during the FINA Budapest 2022 event.

Dr. Ghada is currently appointed by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) as Vice Chair for the ICC Commercial Law and Practice Commission and Commission Member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR in 2022 and 2023 respectively.

Dr. Ghada has written many legal research works and publications, including a book titled "Taking Lessons from the past" in the field of setting up major sporting events and it is a comparative study between the experiences of countries that organized the FIFA World Cup events earlier and how to benefit from these experiences in Qatar on the occasion of organizing the activities of the World Cup 2022.

Rana Shashaa

Partner | Middle East Forensic Leader, Deloitte

Rana leads Deloitte's Forensic practice in the Middle East, managing large and complex investigations for public and private sector bodies, as well as dispute services, in both English and Arabic. She advises clients throughout the litigation process, from pre-action through to preparation of expert evidence.

Rana has over 16 years of experience within Deloitte, across Audit, Valuation and Forensic services. She has managed a number of high-profile fraud and litigation matters in the Middle East and the UK, working with clients such as local governments, sovereign wealth funds, family offices and private sector clients. In addition, she has provided expert evidence numerous times in a wide variety of forums.

Rany Sader

Co-Founding Partner, SADER & Associates

Rany SADER represents the 5th generation of the oldest and most distinguished family-owned Arab Legal Information Provider (SADER Legal) established in 1863. Under his leadership since 1996, SADER Law Research Center (established in 1921) has noticed a revolution in the Arab legal research and legal informatics fields. He conceived and executed a large number of legal tech and Rule of Law projects in the region. He also created several leading legal publications and series in the Region such as SADER Annotated Codes Series (Ar/Eng).

Attorney Sader is also the co-Founding Partner of SADER & Associates (Advocates & Legal Consultants) which is considered the leading IP Law firm in Lebanon. As legal strategist, he has over 24 years of experience in advising many Fortune 500 leading international clients in different businesses, as well as SMEs and Start Ups, on Intellectual Property Rights, New technologies and creative industries laws.

He is an active member in several local, Arab and International Legal Associations where he is always invited to speak around the Globe.

Sultan Al-Abdulla

Managing Partner, Sultan Al-Abdulla & Partners

Sultan Al-Abdulla is the founder and managing partner of Sultan Al-Abdulla & Partners. Prior to joining private practice, he worked for the national oil company in Qatar (Qatar Petroleum) where he worked for more than 22 years. During this period he served in a number of positions including, the position of QP’s managing counsel. During his career with QP, he represented the government of the State of Qatar, QP and QP subsidiaries in numerous oil and gas transactions, usually as a lead negotiator.

Since starting his private practice in 1999, he advised many governmental agencies and national and multinational corporations on corporate and commercial matters. He currently focuses on representing clients before judicial and arbitral tribunals in and outside Qatar. His recent work included serving as an arbitrator.

In his private practice, Sultan has counseled, and negotiated on behalf of, local and multinational clients major business transactions and projects. As a litigator, he represents clients before all tiers of courts in Qatar up to the Court of Cassation. Sultan is ranked by Chambers and Partners in Band 1 for Dispute Resolution.

Sultan holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from Beirut Arab University - Lebanon and a Master of Laws degree (International and Comparative Law) from Southern Methodist University - USA. He is an active member of the International Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators where he served on the board of directors in 2004-2005. He also served as a board member of the Qatari Lawyers Association and the Gulf Lawyers Association. He also served as a member of the Advisory Council for the Faculty of Law at Qatar University.