Mohamed El Hawawy > Stephenson Harwood Middle East LLP > Dubai, United Arab Emirates > Lawyer Profile
Stephenson Harwood Middle East LLP Offices
LEVEL 13
BURJ DAMAN BUILDING
DIFC, P.O. BOX 482017
United Arab Emirates
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Mohamed El Hawawy
Work Department
Maritime, Insurance, Dispute Resolution
Position
Partner and Head of Middle East Shipping and Insurance
Personal
Mohamed is a bilingual (Arabic and English) partner based in our Dubai office and leads the shipping and insurance practices for the Middle East region.
Mohamed, who qualified in 2004 in Egypt before relocating to Dubai in 2011, specialises in dispute resolution, particularly within the shipping, insurance and aviation sectors. With extensive expertise, he represents clients in litigation matters across various courts throughout the Middle East, covering civil, commercial, and criminal cases.
His client base comprises of shipowners, P&I clubs, ports and terminals, ship agencies, charterers, energy companies and traders. Mohamed manages complex disputes throughout the UAE, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, relating to wet shipping issues such as collisions, allisions, ship abandonment, fire, salvage, groundings and oil pollution. He also provides support to clients on dry shipping matters including ship arrests, charterparty disputes, bills of lading and cargo claims. Mohamed’s experience within the maritime sector extends to transactional advice, assisting clients in drafting, reviewing and negotiating contracts such as sale and purchase, logistics and trade agreements.
In addition to his expertise in shipping, Mohamed oversees various insurance matters for clients, spanning different policy types such as life, property, liability, marine, political risk and medical insurance. His experience extends to policy review and providing advice to insurers, reinsurers and brokers on regulatory matters specific to the Middle East region.
Within the aviation sector, Mohamed advises on air carriage disputes including both passenger and cargo carriage, aircraft lease, mortgage and ownership disputes. He has been engaged in several aviation incidents in the Middle East, where he has represented airlines and aircraft manufacturers.
Lawyer Rankings
United Arab Emirates > Shipping
(Leading partners)Stephenson Harwood Middle East LLP works widely across maritime disputes, corporate advisory, and maritime asset finance, with particular expertise handling complex, high-value cases in the Middle East and internationally. The firm has a speciality in contentious matters including conventional litigation and international arbitration concerning both dry and wet shipping issues. Rania Tadros
leads the global maritime and offshore practice, while Mohamed El Hawawy heads the shipping and insurance practice for the Middle East, bringing extensive litigation experience in marine insurance and transportation disputes. Other key figures include Khurram Ali, noted for his experience in the KSA, and Mark Lakin, who is described as ‘knowledgeable and approachable’. Saif Almobideen continues to act on some the most high-profile civil law litigation, crisis management and marine insurance matters to occur in the region and Menelaus Kouzoupis also acts on many leading super-yachts and sanctions related matters. Chinar Zaidi and Paul Katsouris also come recommended.
United Arab Emirates > Insurance
(Leading partners)Stephenson Harwood Middle East LLP provides specialist insurance advice, including alternative risk transfer, to a diverse roster of insurers and brokers, and also offers captive insurance and reinsurance solutions. The team’s expertise ranges from product liability, injury, professional indemnity, business interruption and specialty risks. The team also houses an active marine insurance practice, as well as advising insurance companies on M&A transactions. Mohamed El Hawawy joined the team as head of insurance in March 2024, bringing a strong background representing insurers in a range of disputes, as well as advising on the drafting and review of policy. Saif Almobideen focuses his practice on marine insurance and his expertise covers matters such as collisions, grounding and cargo claims. Mahmoud El Sayed regularly litigates in coverage disputes, leveraging his broad knowledge of policy issues.
Lawyer Rankings
- Leading partners United Arab Emirates > Shipping
- Leading partners United Arab Emirates > Insurance
- Shipping United Arab Emirates
- Insurance United Arab Emirates