Jiwon Ha

Jiwon Ha is a Legal Director at Al Tamimi & Company, based in the Dubai International Financial Centre, where he leads the firm's Korea Group. His practice focuses on Corporate Law.

Jiwon is well versed in cross-border transactions, advising on all aspects of general corporate law, corporate restructurings, joint ventures and project financing deals. His client base spans a number of industries and includes major Korean public companies, financial institutions, private equity funds, contractors, oil & gas corporations, healthcare companies and defence companies.

He is also engaged day-to-day in supporting clients seeking to enter the MENA market, as well as those operating and investing in the region, and has extensively advised on compliance with laws and regulations in addition to providing practical corporate advice for overseas business expansion through subsidiaries, contractors and distribution agreements. Regularly working across jurisdictions in the Middle East and North Africa, Jiwon has taken part in a number of high-profile transactions and deals involving major Korean public and private companies, including G2G collaborations, joint ventures, innovative structuring and cross-border M&A in the region.

He also regularly represents and advises clients dealing with conflicting demands from Korean and Middle East legal regimes, helping Korean clients navigate dispute resolution systems in the Middle East region, with first-hand knowledge in litigating construction claims, contract disputes, corporate fraud claims and judgment enforcement actions in various jurisdictions including the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, KSA, Bahrain, Jordan, Iran and Iraq.

Jiwon previously served as deputy counsel for Korea Resources Corporation and also worked for a major Korean law firm in Seoul. A native of Korea, he is currently acting as a special legal advisor to the Korean Consulate General in Dubai and the embassies in Abu Dhabi, UAE and Doha, Qatar, and also serves on the Ministry of Justice SME Legal Advisory Board in Korea.

His recent experience includes advising POSCO on the sale of a steel fabrication plant in Ras Al Khaimah, SK Innovation on its proposed acquisition of a minority stake in ADNOC's subsidiary, Hyundai Motor on its formation of business operations in the UAE and KSA, and POSCO E&C on the operation of an EPC JV company in KSA in conjunction with the Saudi Public Investment Fund. On the disputes side, he has advised Samsung SDS, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, Hyundai Heavy Industries, SK Trading International / GS Caltex, SK Engineering & Construction and Nexen Tire on various matters.

He holds an LLM from John Marshall Law School, a JD from Handong International Law School and a BA from Handong Global University, and was admitted in New York, USA in 2006. He speaks English and Korean.