Global Advocacy and Legal Counsel

Global Advocacy and Legal Counsel is a leading Middle Eastern law firm.  Established in 2002, with offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, Muscat and Amman. Global Advocacy and Legal Counsel provides local, regional and international clients with a full business law service.

In 2002 Hassan Al Shaqsi established the firm. In 2003, Ayman Merdas & Ali Al Hashimi joined and formed a partnership known as ‘MHS’ based in Dubai. later in 2007, Nasser Al Osaiba joined the firm as a partner, after re-branding the firm's name to “Global Advocates and Legal Consultants” and headed Global's office in Abu Dhabi upon its launch in 2012, to provide additional support to our clients based in the capital and the Eastern region.  Abdullah Al Owimari & Partner Advocacy & Legal Consultancy (“Global Oman”) was established in 2017, after re-branding to Global Advocacy and Legal Counsel, with a permanent association. Partners at Global Oman are well versed with the legal system and had extensive experience of working with international law firms before starting their personal practice as partners at Global Oman. Global expanded to Jordan in 2019, with the goal to attract more business opportunities and serve its clients in other regional countries.

Internationally licensed, experienced, and educated, our diverse team combine a wealth of knowledge from around the globe, including the UAE, Oman, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, US, UK, Australia, Germany, Sudan, Pakistan, and Ireland. We are permitted to practice local law in each of the jurisdictions in which we operate, and our teams of highly skilled and experienced advocates and legal consultants have rights of audience before the local courts of each of the jurisdictions we operate in, including the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Abu Dhabi Global Market Courts (ADGM Courts) in the UAE.

Our clients depend on our comprehensive understanding of local law and in-depth knowledge of the region’s legal systems.  They are assured of consistently receiving the very highest quality service. Most importantly, they trust that we will always provide tailored advice to meet their business goals and find the most commercial legal solutions to the challenges they face.

Arbitration: Global Advocacy and Legal Counsel’s arbitration team has extensive experience in both domestic and international arbitration. We represent a broad range of clients in both ad hoc and international institutional arbitration, including major leading international arbitration institutes such as the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”), London Court of International Arbitration (“LCIA”) and Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”) as well as closer to home before the newly restructured Dubai International Arbitration Centre (the “DIAC”) and the Abu Dhabi Global Market Arbitration Centre (the “ADGM”).

With offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Jordan, and Oman, we are also regularly appointed to represent clients regionally in domestic arbitration proceedings before the DIAC and ADGM but also before the Abu Dhabi Commercial Conciliation and Arbitration Centre (“ADCCAC”), the ICC-UAE, the Sharjah International Commercial Arbitration Centre (“Tahkeem”) and the International Islamic Centre for Reconciliation and Arbitration (“IICRA”). We also cover other key jurisdictions, including Ras Al Khaimah, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Bahrain.

Our team members are multilingual and can conduct complex arbitrations in English and Arabic, are admitted to practice in a wide range of jurisdictions and sit on the arbitrator panels for a several international arbitral institutes including the ICC, DIAC, the Saudi Centre for Commercial Arbitration (the “SCCA”), Tahkeem, the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association (“JCAA”) as well as the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (“SCIA”) and Qingdao Arbitration Commission (“QDAC”) in China and the European Commission’s EU Trade Disputes panel.

We advise on all stages of arbitration proceedings and advocate on our clients’ behalf in arbitration hearings. With support from our top-ranked litigation team, we also provide assistance with ratification and enforcement of domestic and international arbitral awards and where necessary, resisting the recognition of awards. We have acted on some of the most complex, high value arbitrations in the Middle East. The expertise of our arbitration lawyers has seen our team members appointed as local legal experts on many international and domestic cases.

Our experience spans all industry sectors including:

• Construction
• Oil and gas
• Corporate and commercial
• Real estate
• Mergers and acquisitions
• International trade, shipping, and insurance.

Banking and finance

Global Advocacy and Legal Counsel’s banking and finance team has recognized expertise and unmatched knowledge of both local and cross-border/multi-jurisdictional banking and finance transactions. We help our clients navigate through the myriad of issues they may face in today’s growingly complex modern banking system.

From acquisition finance to securitization, our banking and finance team is comprised of lawyers who are experts in Islamic banking, property finance, asset finance, project finance, insolvency and restructuring, structured finance, and finance litigation. Our experience of acting not only for arranging banks and lenders but also for credit enhancers and borrowers, in relation to a wide range of industrial and financial sectors, means we are able to anticipate and address the requirements of all parties to a transaction.

Islamic finance: Islamic banking has grown into a global financial force and there is ever-increasing demand for Shari’ah compliant financial products. Our Islamic finance specialists have extensive experience advising on a full spectrum of Islamic finance products – from capital markets to retail – and have been involved in some of the most innovative Shari’ah compliant financing structures and transactions.

  Common law: Global Advocacy and Legal Counsel’s specialized common law disputes department provides clients with litigation and advisory services in relation to the conduct of business in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), including:

• Litigation before the DIFC and ADGM Courts
• Employment law advice
• Corporate and commercial advice
• Regulatory advice

Global Advocacy and Legal Counsel has a number of practitioners licensed to practice before the DIFC Courts and the team combines DIFC expertise with extensive UAE legal knowledge. Our lawyers regularly conduct DIFC Courts litigation at both Court of First Instance and Court of Appeal level, as well as advising clients on the conduct and strategy of Small Claims Tribunal cases. Our team can also take instructions for cases before the ADGM Courts.

Whilst dispute resolution is our core strength, the team is dedicated to assisting its clients in growing and maximizing business opportunities, while at the same time minimizing risk exposure, in particular focusing on the appropriate drafting of commercial contracts, both for DIFC and ADGM entities and those wishing to opt into the jurisdiction of the DIFC or ADGM Courts.

By uniquely combining extensive UAE and common law experience, we offer clients a distinct advantage in providing advice on common law matters in the context of a sound understanding of the wider UAE legal context and UAE Court procedures.

Litigation: Global Advocacy and Legal Counsel’s litigation team advise clients on all types of civil and commercial litigation. We offer tailored legal solutions to each client and advise on all stages of the litigation process, from evaluating the strength of potential claims to advocating on our clients’ behalf in court. We are permitted to practice local law in each of the jurisdictions in which we operate, and our teams of highly skilled and experienced advocates and legal consultants have rights of audience before the local courts.

Internationally licensed, experienced, and educated, our diverse team combines a wealth of international knowledge with unrivalled understanding of the law. We have acted on some of the most high-profile cases in the GCC and have recognized expertise in the following areas:

Construction: We offer our construction clients a comprehensive advice service, from drafting and reviewing standard- form and bespoke contracts with the aim of avoiding future disputes, to representing our clients’ interests in court when disputes do arise. Our superior knowledge of the construction industry combined with our ability to navigate the local judicial systems means we are ideally placed to support the needs of contractors, developers, consultants, and financiers.

 Labor: We advise clients, employers, and employees on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious labor issues, in relation to both local and multinational employment contracts. Our litigation team have significant experience in advising on boardroom disputes, severance claims, discrimination and breach of contract claims, settlement negotiations and all types of labor-related disputes.

Property: Our lawyers have in-depth knowledge of the federal and local laws, regulations and practices relating to real estate matters. We have extensive experience in real estate and property litigation and advise developers, owners, buyers, tenants, and real estate companies on a broad range of disputes from the sale and acquisition of real estate to disputes between joint venture partners.

Our team also advise on landlord and tenant disputes and are supported by our specialist rent committee advisors. We advise on lease renewals, terminations, tenancy disputes and rent reviews for commercial, retail, and residential property.

Intellectual property: Our team understand the importance of protecting our clients’ intellectual property rights. We have considerable experience in enforcement proceedings in the local Courts and have successfully prosecuted cases involving disputes relating to a wide range of IP issues from patents and trademarks to infringement and copyright issues.

Healthcare: We act for a range of healthcare clients, including physicians, pharmacies, health insurers, hospitals and other medical establishments and provide advice on risk management and dispute avoidance. When disputes do arise, we are able to represent our clients on matters from medical malpractice claims to complaints filed before the Ministry of Health.

Administrative: Our extensive litigation experience also extends to the Administrative Courts. We act for clients in relation to disputes arising from all types of administrative contracts, from agency agreements to service contracts, to which governmental bodies are a party to.

Corporate and commercial: Global Advocacy and Legal Counsel’s corporate and commercial practice provides a full range of corporate solutions to our local, regional, and international clients.

We are able to advise on all stages of a transaction, whether a small domestic transaction or a high value complex international project. Our team provides advice on mergers, acquisitions and IPOs and assists with corporate structuring, restructuring and reorganization, offering creative commercial solutions tailored to each client’s business needs. We assist our clients with the negotiation of complex commercial arrangements as well as draft, review and advise on all types of agreements. We also advise on all aspects of corporate licensing and conduct legal due diligence.

We assist companies with incorporation both inside and outside of free zones and we are a registered agent for offshore companies in the UAE’s Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA). We also provide advice on the establishment of branch and representative offices and all related agreements.

We have strong connections with and knowledge in governmental procedures, requirements and we keep our client informed of any new regulation or amendments of any relevant laws in addition to submission requirements and deadlines ahead of time.

We pride ourselves in the excellent negotiators we have among our team who always put in their best efforts to solve any dispute amicably, in case amicable solutions failed to resolve the dispute, a team of both corporate and litigation departments join their forces to build a strong case or response reserving the best interest of our client.

We provide high level and detailed legal opinions and studies in matters referred by our clients, such as: investment options, business incorporation, legal compliance, employment, and labor matters, leasing and tenancy laws, local licensing regulations, acquisitions, corporate structuring and restructuring.

We draft, review and advise on all types of agreements offering creative commercial solutions tailored to each client’s business needs. We have previous experience in drafting, reviewing and advising on:

• Memoranda of understanding with different entities some of which were governmental institutions.
• Commercial agreements of any kind, such as: sale and purchase agreements, IP licensing and service agreements, shareholders agreements, employment agreement, commercial and residential lease agreements, loan agreements.
• Financial agreements.
• Settlement agreements whether during the course of tribunals or other.
• Subscription agreements and relevant e-agreements such as privacy policies and terms of use.
• Internal labor policies, regulations, bylaws and revising internal decisions from a legal perspective as well as corporate documents; resolutions, memorandum of association and any addendums.
• Performing and advising on due diligence, mergers and acquisitions in efficient time and proficiency.

Working with our specialists in the corporate and commercial department, enables our clients with a comprehensive service. We advise on disputes arising from all types of commercial agreements, including:

• Joint ventures
• Franchising agreements
• Distribution agreements
• Agency agreements
• Terms and conditions of sale of goods and service
  

Criminal: Global Advocacy and Legal Counsel’s criminal practice provides clients with bespoke legal advice and representation in all types of criminal proceedings.

Our financial crime team specializes in white-collar criminal cases and advises on matters including:

• Corporate fraud
• Embezzlement
• Corruption and bribery
• Anti-money laundering
• Breach of trust
• Cyber-crime

We also advise on technological crimes, including piracy and theft of information, as well as on matters involving breach of trust. Our experienced team of lawyers are able to advise at every stage of criminal proceedings, remaining focused on our clients’ best interests when disputes threaten to harm both their business interests and reputation.

We also represent individuals in criminal matters and are able to provide clients with 24/7 assistance at police stations, representation before Public Prosecution and filing of criminal complaints. Our expert team includes former police officers and lawyers licensed to appear before the local courts.