Over the last few years the legal team at ABB has grown more closely aligned with the business in terms of becoming simpler, more flexible, accessible and streamlined. Examples of...

The ALJ legal team possesses a number of notable personalities within its legal department that account for the major success it has had in supporting the varied business interests of...

Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC), the owner and operator of the largest exhibition venue in the Middle East, employs a small but highly efficient legal team to oversee its...

AD Ports has moved into an extremely exciting new chapter in its history recently, securing a position on the “Belt and Road” developmental initiative by the Chinese government to focus...

AGH’s 17-person legal team oversees a multi-billion dollar operation encompassing around 30 subsidiaries and sister companies worldwide. AGH is a diversified family owned global conglomerate based in Kuwait, focusing on...

The recently consolidated ACWA Holding legal function possesses multiple competencies that allow it to meet the demanding requirements of ACWA’s varied infrastructure development portfolio. The company deals in many sectors,...

Led by GC Powerlist 2017-featured lawyer Mona Hussein, the adidas in-house legal team in Dubai successfully deals with high volume of work over multiple jurisdictions within the MENA region. Despite...

Led by Salem Al Darei, the ADNOC Group legal team is staffed with the level of highly talented individuals one would expect of the UAE’s largest company, which is a...

Aggreko’s business model of providing interim power solutions is much in demand in the Middle East, but provides unique challenges for its legal department to overcome. As well as providing...

Airbus’ legal team for Africa and Middle East came into existence only recently, when the company decided to create dedicated teams for each region. At present the company employs a...

Coming in for praise from nominating sources on the back of excellent performances on a number of transactions, the Al Dahra Holding legal function is compact but consistently excels in...

One of the foremost conglomerates in the Gulf with holdings in the hospitality, automotive, car leasing, real estate, education and publishing sectors, Al Habtoor Group’s diverse portfolio provides a wealth...

Boasting an impressive first quarter year-on-year profit increase for 2018, Saudi Arabia’s largest bank Al Rajhi has been performing well on the back of both sound investments and the support...

Active in the automotive, retail, industrial and investment sectors, Al Tayer Group has featured prominently in the Middle East business landscape for decades, and currently has a presence in 12...

Already one of the most notable travel companies in the region, Al Tayyar Travel Group has entered into a number of strategic partnerships with other businesses and has undergone a...

The legal team of 21 lawyers and eight support staff at Al Futtaim Group, a large real-estate conglomerate based in Dubai, is headed by group general counsel Fadi Hammadeh. The...

Broadcasting giant Al-Jazeera had a turbulent and controversial year in 2017, when it was at the centre of the 2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis and faced calls to be shut down...

The legal department of the renewable energy business Alcazar Energy comprises four professionals working across the company’s offices in Turkey, Jordan and Dubai. The team is currently led by general...

Alghanim Industries’ legal team has taken a rigorous approach to streamlining procedures and taking efficiency to the next level. Santiago Lucero, senior director – legal, explains: ‘As part of an...

Before Khalid Alaseeri assumed the general counsel position at the Arabian dairy manufacturing company Almarai, the company’s legal team had a hierarchal structure of organisation with layers below the general...

Established by its extremely highly regarded head of legal Ajith Madhavan, who has guided the function to its current high level of efficiency since 2010, Aster DM Healthcare’s legal team...

Despite being spread across a number of locations in the Middle East (namely Bahrain, UAE, Oman, KSA, Lebanon and Egypt) lawyers within the regional legal department at AXA Insurance are...

The legal department at Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company – the sovereign wealth fund of Bahrain – has undergone a major structural overhaul of its previously undocumented processes, in addition to...

Consisting of nine individuals, including group head for legal and compliance Chahdan Jebeyli who covers all Group Audi entities, the Bank Audi legal team supported the company in the development...

Alongside a strong presence in its home market of Lebanon, Bank Med has branches in Iraq and Cyprus and subsidiary companies in Switzerland and Turkey. This provides a multi-jurisdictional set...

Priding itself on being one of the fastest-growing banks in the Middle East, Bank Sohar counts upon a similarly dynamic and forward-thinking in-house legal function to drive its enviable rate...

Over the past two years, the Barclays legal team has transitioned from operating as a number of separate business-focused teams, with lawyers sitting in different locations within the UAE with...

Barzan Holdings is a newly established company that serves as the investment arm of the Ministry of Defense of Qatar and whose mission is to strengthen Qatar’s sovereignty and support...

Fauzia Kehar, director and cluster legal head for Gulf and Pakistan, manages a long standing team of seven lawyers as direct reports and two as matrix reports, all of whom...

Nai Xiaoyong, deputy general manager of CNOOC Iraq Limited is the leader of the legal department which has been critical to the recent development and success of the company, the...

A forward thinking and highly innovative function, the Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) legal team has supported a number of major deals over the past two years. CBD’s chief legal...

Headquartered in Athens, CCC is one of the largest contracting companies in the world, boasting a total workforce of over 120,000 individuals as of 2016 and the completion of some...

Mark Hultum, head of legal Middle East and Africa (MEA), leads the legal team at Deutsche Bank comprised of senior lawyer Nadhira Rajcoomar – based in Johannesburg – and supported...

Achieving exceptional results with a compact team, the Dimah Capital Investment legal function provides support for a sharia-compliant portfolio accounting for approximately US$800m assets under management. The function is led...

The Middle East legal team at DNV GL Group is part of the broader Middle East and Asia Pacific group legal team with two lawyers, Isoken Imohe and Stefanie Szabo,...

The Dragon Oil legal team has taken a major role in the corporate restructure of the business on the back of its multi-billion dollar takeover by Emirates National Oil Company...

As the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) is on course of realising its vision of being the most business-enabling free economic zone in the world, and strives to be a...

Supporting the extremely diversified concerns of the major investment arm of the government of Dubai, the Dubai World legal function is required to stay abreast of a highly demanding volume...

The E.A. Juffali & Brothers legal team has recently taken on a new group legal advisor to head the function. Shadi Aldaoud is a former general counsel at Siemens Saudi...

Anneliese Reinhold, general counsel and senior vice president of EITC (trading as du), relates that her personal motto “onwards and upwards” is one that is shared by the company’s legal...

Responsible for the development of the King Abdullah Economic City megaproject announced by Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in 2005, the Emaar Economic City legal team oversees a truly momentous...

2017 saw another set of landmark deals for Emirates – the Middle East’s largest airline – once again affirming its financial clout and huge importance to the Gulf economy and...

Founded in 1980 and based in Dubai, Emirates General Petroleum Corporation (EMARAT) has established a strong presence in the local markets for petroleum retailing, aviation refuelling, lubricants marketing, and terminal...

Established in 1993 as a wholly owned company of the government of Dubai, ENOC has grown to be one of the leaders in the regional energy industry. Comprising multiple subsidiaries,...

The Emirates NBD legal team underwent a major development in 2018, as its highly respected general counsel Lubna Qassim moved on to pastures new. The team she left behind, however,...

Engie’s market for power and water in the Middle East is both immense and growing, with the UAE alone projected to increase its electricity requirements by up to 40% between...

Locked in a fierce rivalry with other Gulf carriers such as Qatar Air and fellow UAE-based carrier Emirates, Etihad has been engaged in somewhat of a transformation lately. With the...

With the ambitious stated goal of diversification of investments and the completion of mega projects, through large investments in real estate and other assets, Ezdan Holding Group and its internal...

Fajr Capital Group is a sovereign-backed private equity firm with a diverse portfolio operating across Islamic cooperation markets, and whose legal and corporate affairs department is led by Zahid Kamal,...

The FAST Consortium is one of three consortia responsible for the construction of the multi-billion dollar Riyadh Metro megaproject, a momentous piece of engineering which is among the most exciting...

FedEx’s Middle East, India Subcontinent and Africa (MEISA) legal team has seven lawyers based in Dubai, including the team’s overall head and vice president legal and regulatory affairs for MEISA,...

One of the most eye-catching developments in the Middle East business world in recent years saw First Gulf Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi merge in early 2017 to...

Andrew Cooke, general counsel and head of strategy, leads a two person team at Flash Entertainment, and will be expanding the team to four professionals by the end of the...

The flydubai legal team has had a busy twelve months, with senior vice president of legal Krishan Sunnadurai’s function being at the forefront of a number of deals aimed at...

Fadia Mufid Mubarak, the legal counsel and the senior lawyer at GARMCO has been leading the legal team since June 2014. She is an expert on the laws in the...

Bruce McAlister, general counsel global growth and MENAT, leads the legal team responsible for Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, having been with GE for 18 years. McAlister has overall...

GEMS Education Dubai, founded by Indian-born billionaire and noted philanthropist Sunny Varkey, is one of the foremost international education companies in the world. It boasts over 47 schools across the...

The Gemstone Real Estate Development legal team is based around a core of highly skilled lawyers. As well as chief legal officer Aasma Khan, whose importance to the group is...

GFH Financial Group (GFH) has put pen to paper on some eye-catching transactions in 2018. Alongside paying off the outstanding amount of a 2007-drawn US$200m sukuk in August, it announced...

An extremely diversified industrial consultancy company, Indevco Group’s operations in the agricultural, beverage, construction, catering, dairy and ice cream, hygiene converting, food, packaging converting, paramedical and pharmaceutical, petrochemical and chemical,...

Working under the direction of general counsel Ulf Bathke, a fully bilingual Arabic-English lawyer who holds a PhD in Islamic law and is admitted to the bar of England and...

The legal department at Inovest is managed by head of legal Ismaeel Omer Elnasri, and supported by Hashmeya Ali Alsaba, senior legal officer and Dalal Al Qahtan. The team focuses...

The Investment Corporation of Dubai’s highly diversified portfolio encompasses holdings in premium companies across a number of sectors. Notably, Emirates Group in the aviation sector, Emaar Properties and Dubai World...

Growing from a single lawyer in 2011 into a team of five lawyers in 2018 and moving the legal department at Kuehne + Nagel Management MEA from the state of...

Established in 2013 as one of the arms tasked with implementing the country’s development strategy, Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority is currently tasked with promoting direct investment by both local...

Boasting a highly capable set of lawyers based across the Middle East, North Africa and elsewhere, Americana’s legal team is tasked with safeguarding the fortunes of perhaps the most prominent...

The business end of Kuwait’s foreign energy exploitation and production capacity, KUFPEC has operations around the globe in Australia, Asia, Africa Canada, the UK North Sea, Norway and the Middle...

Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI)’s legal team is led by Juan Riancho, general counsel and consists of senior legal manager Mark Pennington, senior legal counsels Julien Bergerat and Mariam Abdullatif Al-Obaid,...

Landmark Group boasts one of the most successful retail portfolios in the MENA region, and has first class hospitality and healthcare divisions within the scope of its operations. It has...

The legal team at the Indian multinational conglomerate Larsen & Toubro provides support to strategically important projects for the company in the Middle East such as the Al Rayyan FIFA...

Ma’aden’s general counsel Stephen Bodley believes ‘the biggest driver in an in-house professional function is the people’, which has led to a personality-focused approach to the department. As such, the...

In the last two years the internal legal team of Macsteel International Holdings has been involved in a corporate restructuring and several M&A’s, handling all of the legal matters throughout...

One of the most prestigious companies in the Middle East, Majid Al Futtaim Group operates an impressive portfolio of shopping malls, communities, retail and leisure installations spanning 15 countries, with...

The legal team of Mezzan Holding Company (KSCP) is led by group legal manager Walid Khalil. He joined the company in 2006 as a senior legal assistant and over the...

MH Alshaya’s legal function has been at the heart of the spectacular growth and diversification that has led to its current world-renowned status in the retail sector. Since it has...

The Microsoft in-house legal team in the Middle East region came together less than two years ago as the role of the in-house team in the Gulf adapted to working...

One of the major Middle Eastern investment arms, Mubadala’s portfolio accounts for US$127.8bn in total assets worldwide, contributing towards its stated goal of increasing prosperity for Abu Dhabi through diversified...

Muntajat’s legal function has had a major role in the company’s global expansion in the past few years. Tasked with marketing and selling Qatari petrochemical products around the world, the...

Bucking the regional trend of a general economic slowdown over the past 24 months, Nakheel has ‘experienced a stable past couple of years with some consolidation as well as focussed...

Due to the nature of the reinsurance market and its esteemed place within this, NASCO Re’s highly organised and well-drilled team is one of the most experienced within the Middle...

The legal department of the Qatar based power and water investment company Nebras Power has been developed by Marco Faldella, who joined the company in 2016 and started out as...

Established in 2008, Noor Bank has consistently received praise from the financial industry press for its innovation in terms of technology and products, as well as its commitment to social...

OiLSERV operates as the leading regionally founded and independent oil and gas services company in the MENA region with main operations in Abu Dhabi, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Tunisia and...

Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production (OOCEP) was recently named as the fastest growing oil and gas company in the Middle East by a mining industry publication. It has therefore...

Led for many years by legal and compliance manager Lorenzo Bruttomesso, the Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) legal team moves onto a new chapter in 2018 as...

The in-house legal team of OPWP has four lawyers supporting all of the company’s water and power projects in Oman, whether such projects are under development, implementation or in the...

Ooredoo’s reputation as one of the foremost telecommunications providers in the world has been built on the back of excellent internal processes, a robust compliance culture and detailed due diligence...

One of the leading broadcast companies in the Middle East, OSN broadcasts to 24 countries across the MENA region, providing 65 high definition television channels with a large volume of...

Patchi is an industry leading confectionary e-commerce company from Lebanon with a global presence, specialising in chocolates, baklavas and other confections. Patchi’s legal team consists of three members: Joumana Younes,...

Petrochemical Industies Company (PIC) is an international petrochemical company and a subsidiary of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, an oil and gas production exploration and development company based in Kuwait. PIC...

As the primary investment arm of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the scope of PIF’s business is incredibly broad, with the company possessing holdings in a number of sectors in...

The PwC Middle East legal team is led by Middle East general counsel Fayez Khouri, who is supported by Carine Geagea, who manages a contract review team based in Beirut....

Chief legal and compliance officer of Qatar Airways Group Ben Swagerman (a GC Powerlist: Middle East 2017-featured lawyer) has grown the company’s legal, risk and compliance (LRC) department from a...

Headed by former Shell in-house lawyer Nasser Al-Taweel (one of the first Qatari nationals to be admitted to the Senior Courts of England and Wales), the Qatar Financial Centre Authority’s...

The last several years have been highly eventful for general counsel Michael Mitchell’s 19 person legal department at Qatar Foundation. Having adapted the attitude that lawyers are service providers ‘whose...

The Middle East’s largest bank by assets, Qatar National Bank has a large, highly diligent and capable in-house legal function to match its prominent position in the sector. The exceptionally...

The Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ) is the newly formed authority comprising of the Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Free Trade Zone Authority and the RAK Investment Authority responsible for...

RB’s vast product portfolio and exposure to Middle Eastern markets means its legal function possess the skills to spot and handle risks before they develop further. Regional legal and compliance...

Dr Markus Federle, Samena Capital’s senior managing director, general counsel and member of the group’s executive committee, explains that the past year has been a particularly busy one for the...

Saudi Aramco’s in-house legal function contains a number of individuals of note in its large and highly experienced team befitting what is regarded by many analysts as the world’s most...

The legal function at SASREF consists of three staff including general legal counsel Ahmad Zaky Ismail, who leads the team, as well as legal counsel Omar Al-Ghamdi and one compliance...

Organised along its main four strategic business unit lines of petrochemicals, specialties, agri-nutrients, and metals, SABIC is one of the major players in the petrochemicals sector in the Middle East...

Having successfully geared up for the extremely busy Hajj operational plan, which aims to transport over 1.1 million Muslim pilgrims on the arrival and return stages of the Hajj, the...

Savola Group is The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s largest food production company, reliably pulling in large revenue figures on the back of its ownership of leading food and food retail...

Schindler Group is renowned for its escalator, lift and moving walk solutions for urban projects (with, by its own estimates, one billion people per day travelling via its products), and...

Dr Zaid Mahayni holds the most senior position in the team at SEDCO Holding, chief legal officer and is supported by three senior attorneys who oversee the department, which consists...

The Seddiqi name is synonymous in Dubai with luxury watches (particularly Rolex, for which they have been a franchisee since 1952) and the company enjoys a leading position in the...

Shelf Drilling is an international shallow water jack up drilling contractor offering drilling services for international oil and gas companies operating in the Middle East, South East Asia, India, West...

Shire’s Eurasia Middle East and Africa legal function is headquartered in Dubai, with team members dotted around Russia, India, Turkey and South Africa. Head counsel Narguiz Birk-Petersen explains that the...

The legal team at Sidra Medicine consists of five lawyers and two paralegals, three law clerks, a graduate associate and two administrative staff. The team provides both proactive and reactive...

Six Construct, a subsidiary of Brussels-based BESIX Group, has been at the centre of some of the Gulf’s most exciting and internationally renowned construction projects, including The Burj Khalifa, The...

Described by regional CEO Sunil Kaushal as ‘instrumental to our continued success in building sustainable business growth across the region’, Standard Chartered’s Middle East legal team is a true partner...

A leading Gulf-based business with holdings in such diverse fields as energy and logistics, manufacturing, engineering, contracting and financial services to name just a few, The Zubair Corporation’s chief legal...

Providing regulatory oversight to one of the busiest and most rapidly expanding aviation sectors in the entire world is no mean feat, with UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) being...

UAE Trading Group introduced high-end clothing to the UAE in 1972 and incorporated an affiliate company in Lebanon (Luxury Clothing Company) in 2008 and now has over 78 stores featuring...

Visa – a colossus of the financial technology sector – encounters a wide variety of legal matters on a daily basis. The company’s legal department in Dubai is a lean...

Given the fast-paced nature of the telecommunications industry, Vodafone Qatar is continually required to evolve its business and its areas of commercial focus to ensure it keeps pace with a...

The legal department of Abu Dhabi-listed investment company Waha Capital (Waha) is headed by general counsel and company secretary Peter Howley and is comprised of three other members, namely, senior...

Zain Group is a Kuwait based mobile telecommunications company with a footprint in eight countries in the Middle East and North Africa and approximately 47 million active customers across the...

Zee Entertainment’s international legal team was formed in Dubai in 2017 by highly-regarded general counsel Gordon Finlayson, who came from a role as European general counsel of HBO. Since joining...