Spotlight on: My career

I possess an unparalleled versatility and resilience that make me an exceptional lawyer. I have been practicing law for almost 20 years across the US, UAE and KSA in both large private practice firms and in-house. Today, I am a senior member of the legal team at Seddiqi Holding where I have practiced law for almost 7 years.

Every step in my career has made me unique and extremely well suited to roles that require an ability to spot issues across multiple legal practice areas and to find quick resolutions for a wide variety of legal issues.

Unlike many other US lawyers whose legal career begins by majoring in pre-law and then joining large private practice firms where they develop a specialty in one area, I majored in Marketing and worked in three distinct practice areas in large private practice firms before I moved in-house. Unbeknownst to me at the time, this broad experience was key to preparing me for the variety of work I do in-house today.

I worked in my undergraduate field of study, Marketing, for over 6 years before starting law school. After spending multiple years in Marketing including the last few years as a Marketing Director, I decided to pursue my interest in law. I developed an interest in law while I was working as a Student Investigator for the Federal Trade Commission where I helped enforce the Care Labeling Rule during my senior year of college at The George Washington University.

After completing my law degree in 2004, I joined a top law firm in the US. In 2011, I moved to Dubai to practice law. I was in private practice in Dubai in corporate and commercial roles until 2017 when I transitioned into an in-house role with Seddiqi Holding LLC, a UAE family-owned entity with a diversified portfolio of businesses and brands across numerous sectors. I was promoted from senior legal counsel to associate general counsel, retail at the company, in May 2021, and to senior director, legal, in May 2023.

As senior director, legal for Seddiqi Holding, I act as a senior advisor across the company’s business units on a broad range of complex legal issues in multiple practice areas including, but not limited to, corporate and commercial law. I routinely serve as lead counsel for the company on high-level, cross-border matters with globally recognised brands. I also act as lead in-house counsel for the company on M&A and joint venture matters with foreign partners.

In 2019, I was sole in-house counsel for the company in the negotiation of its joint venture with US-headquartered Watchbox, a 2017 startup as an e-commerce platform for buying, selling and trading pre-owned luxury watches. I was a senior member of the cross-functional team organised by the joint venture partners to ensure successful implementation of the joint venture into Seddiqi’s business and sole in-house counsel on behalf of Seddiqi advising Watchbox on expanding to open its first ever brick-and-mortar boutique in Dubai.

It’s not only my legal experience that makes me excel in my work. I have committed to my continued professional development since receiving my law degree in 2004. I pursued an LLM in Taxation and an LLM in International and Comparative Law, which I completed in 2007 and 2012, respectively. I also completed two courses in Seton Hall University School of Law’s online Graduate Certificate program. I completed Patent and Trade Secret Law in July 2020 and Copyright Law in January 2021.

My value in the workplace is reflected in the fact that I’ve been hired to return to my previous employer two times in my legal career. I returned to the first law firm I worked at in US after taking a year off to complete my Tax LLM and I recently re-joined my current employer in Dubai after working as senior director, legal and head of legal for the e-commerce business unit of the largest retailer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for 3 months.