Ajay Wiltshire

Managing Director, Saffery Trust, UAE

Private client advisor and practicing 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 in finding the most appropriate regional and international partners to achieve their desired goals.

Ajay is a Committee Member of the International Bar Association Private Wealth & Taxes Committee and regularly speaks at and hosts international conferences. Ajay is an enthusiastic supporter of the Arab Lawyer’s Forum and enjoys working with professionals of every discipline to deliver enduring and appropriate solutions.

Rany Sader

Chief Legal Innovation Officer (SADER1863)

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.

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.

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.

Essam Al Tamimi

Chairman, Al Tamimi & Company

In 1989, Essam Al Tamimi established what is now the largest law firm in the Middle East, Al Tamimi &Company and currently holds the position of Chairman at the firm. Essam has over thirty four (34) years ofexperience in litigation and arbitration in the UAE and the GCC countries covering almost all fields of law,both private and public law, including matters relating to corporate and commercial law, banking andfinancial law, real estate and property law, across several industries and sectors.

He has been involved in drafting laws and regulations and has assisted federal and local governments indrafting laws and regulations relating to a range of sectors. These have included the TelecommunicationsRegulatory Authority, Dubai Internet and Media City free zones, the Abu Dhabi government in privatizationof water and electricity and played a major role in drafting the privatization and ADWEA laws andregulations, assisted the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry in drafting the Federal Industrial law andimplementing regulations, contributed to the drafting of the relevant laws for establishing several FreeZones in the UAE, assisted Dubai International Financial Centre Authority in drafting number of laws andregulations relating to the DIFC Authority, the DIFC Court and the DIFC Arbitration Centre and have beenactively involved in commenting and reviewing most of the federal laws including the Arbitration law,Commercial Companies law and the Consumer Protection law. He has extensive experience in regulatorymatters and has assisted local and federal governments on regulatory issues.

Essam’s principal place of practice is Dubai, United Arab Emirates but he also has extensive experience inadvising and assisting clients throughout the Arab region where he has worked and advised and attendedto projects in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt and Iraq.

In addition to his role as counsel in numerous arbitration matters, Essam has also acted as an expertwitness in a wide array of litigious matters. Essam has also been appointed as an arbitrator and chair ofarbitral tribunals in arbitration proceedings under ADCCAC, CRCICA, DIAC, LCIA, ICC and PCARules.

Essam was on the ICC Court and formerly acted as Vice-Chair of the ICC Commission on Arbitration andADR, Paris and is the former Chair of the ICC UAE Commission on Arbitration and ADR. He is now amember of the Steering Committee of the ICC UAE Commission on Arbitration and ADR, served asChairman and is Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He is the Founder and Patron of the UAEBranch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, member of the International Bar Association, served asmember of the LCIA Court, served as President of the LCIA Arab Users Council. He has served a number ofyears as member of the board of The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). He is activelyinvolved in development of arbitration laws in the region and for the training and development ofarbitration in the UAE and the region. His practice focuses primarily on local and international clients inshipping, banking, intellectual property, commercial agency, joint venture, construction and commerciallitigation. Essam has published a number of articles and books on litigation and arbitration in the UAE andsetting up business in the region. He has received Gulf Legal Lifetime Achievement Award for outstandingcontribution to the Gulf Legal Market. He is on the editorial advisory board of the ICLR and GAR, former Co-Chair of the IBA Rule of Law Forum, member of the Review Committee of Energy Arbitrators List, memberof the Advisory Board of IBA’s Eyewitness to Atrocities, member of the Advisory Board of the BCDRInternational Arbitration Review, member of the FIAA Board of Trustees, member of the American LawInstitute(ALI), member of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), member of the Boardof Trustees of Ajman University, received Lifetime Achievement Award from International Financial LawReview (IFLR), is a member of the Arab Arbitration Group of the ICC, member of the SIAC Users Counciland is a fellow and faculty member of the International Dispute Resolution Academy (IDRA). Essam is anappointed member of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce Advisory Board, which has been established toconsolidate, represent and protect the interests of Dubai-based companies.

Ibtissem Lassoued

Partner | Head of Advisory | Co-Head | 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.

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.