Samer Abou Said

Head of Commercial Disputes & Investigations

Arabic · English · French

Samer heads The Firm's Commercial Disputes and Investigations team. With over 15 years' experience across several jurisdictions including in conflict zones, Samer specialises in complex and cross-border litigation and is the go-to lawyer for sophisticated regulatory matters, disputes and investigations that require a tailored approach.

البريد: samer@thefirmdubai.com
الهاتف: +971 4 443 3013
LinkedIn: الملف الشخصي

السيرة

Samer represents and advises clients across leading sectors, including construction, management, oil and gas, retail, cosmetics, real estate, finance and media industries. He is considered one of the prominent UAE law experts on enforcement of international and domestic arbitration awards.

Being a dual qualified lawyer in common and civil law jurisdictions, he navigates efficiently cross-border legal disputes, and has conducted several intricate investigations into embezzlement, bullying and harassment allegations inside multi-national organisations in the MENA region.

Samer handles court cases in Arabic before the UAE Arabic Courts and in English before the DIFC English Courts, and represents clients in ad-hoc arbitration cases and before the ICC, ex DIFC-LCIA, DIAC and arbitrateAD (ex ADCCAC).

Samer has published several articles on UAE-related legal updates, and authored a widely read book on enforcement of arbitration awards before Dubai Courts titled 'Landmark Arbitration Cases: Dubai Courts 2019-2021' in cooperation with LexisNexis Middle East. He speaks frequently in seminars and conducts training on strategic litigation regarding terrorism-related crimes in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

أبرز الملفّات

Arbitration: Co-represented successfully a UAE real estate developer in an arbitration case under DIAC rules against a main contractor for AED 158M.
Arbitration: Co-represented successfully one of the UAE Emirates in an ICC arbitration against an international oil and gas company to claim USD 8M arising from a profit sharing agreement.
Arbitration: Co-represented an Emirati high-net-worth individual in an ICC arbitration against a compensation claim valued at USD 12M arising from repossession of an executive jet.
Arbitration: Represented successfully an investor in an ADCCAC arbitration against a real estate developer to claim AED 5M arising from default on an off-plan purchase.
Courts: Represented successfully a UAE bank in obtaining a provisional attachment prior to commencing a claim for AED 342M against a trading company arising from financial facilities.
Courts: Defended successfully a blue-chip German multinational pipes manufacturing company against a claim for EUR 52M.
Investigations: Represented a multinational cement company in bringing charges against an ex-manager for embezzling funds and falsifying financial documents.
Investigations: Handled a very complicated cross-border criminal fraud matter related to equity investment of USD 3M against a former managing partner of an international law firm, resulting in a settlement agreement and partial recovery of the client's investment.
Investigations: Successfully filed a complaint in a very complicated corporate fraud matter implicating top management of a prominent UAE publicly listed company, in relation to charges of insider trading, fraud and embezzlement of AED 600M.
Investigations: Conducted a complex internal investigation of allegations against a director of an internal division in a blue-chip multinational, working closely with the global ethics officer and in-house counsel; interviewed 13 employees across the UAE and worldwide and issued a 60-page investigation report.