Kareem Bessisso

Kareem Bessisso is a Senior Associate in the International Litigation Group at Al Tamimi & Company, based in Dubai. His primary practice area is Commercial Litigation. He acts for clients in complex commercial disputes before the DIFC Courts, the ADGM Courts and the onshore Dubai Courts, and regularly advises on matters governed by English law, DIFC law, ADGM law and onshore UAE law.

He is proficient in both Arabic and English and maintains a broad commercial practice. His recent experience includes matters involving civil fraud, shareholder disputes, banking and financial services, and cross-border enforcement. He regularly manages complex, cross-jurisdictional disputes across the common law and civil law jurisdictions of the UAE, and also acts as part of wider teams in high-value, complex commercial litigation.

He holds rights of audience before the DIFC Courts and has appeared before the DIFC Court of First Instance in a range of matters, including jurisdiction challenges, claims brought under DIFC Regulatory Law, employment disputes, and appeals from the DIFC Small Claims Tribunal.

His recent experience includes acting for the Claimant in GTC Trading SA v Hazem Abdolshahid Mahmoudi Rashed and Ors, proceedings to enforce a Dubai onshore judgment in the sum of AED 100,000,000 (c. USD 27 million) before the DIFC Courts, where he secured two worldwide freezing orders, including relief granted on Chabra grounds against third parties, charging orders, orders for sale over DIFC-situated assets, third party disclosure orders and an order committing a defendant for contempt of court. The enforcement strategy operated in parallel across the DIFC and the Dubai onshore courts and involved the attachment of a substantial portfolio of Dubai real estate assets, multiple appeals and cross-appeals from decisions of the Dubai Execution Courts, and coordination with the Dubai Police in respect of enforcement of arrest orders.

He also acted for the Claimant in JTrust Asia PTE Ltd v Konoshita and Ors, proceedings for the recognition and enforcement in the DIFC of two judgments of the Courts of Singapore and the BVI Courts arising out of a substantial $200 million fraud; and in Access Group DWC LLC and ProEx Partners Limited v BLS International FZE, a complex breach of contract dispute governed by UAE law, culminating in a two-week trial before the DIFC Court of First Instance concerning the operation of multiple visa application centres across Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iran and Ghana.

Other matters include acting for the Claimant in IDBI Bank Limited v Mabani Delma General Contracting Co LLC and Ors, a c. $8 million debt claim by a DIFC registered bank, where he successfully obtained an order striking out the Defendants' Defence and entering judgment for the Claimant bank; acting for the Claimants in AC Network Holding Ltd & Ors v Polymath Ekar SPV1 & Ors, an ADGM Courts' claim in respect of the validity of a "drag along" notice, where he successfully challenged the validity of the drag notice at first instance and successfully appealed the dismissal of a claim in unlawful means conspiracy; and acting in Arabian Construction Company WLL v Credit Suisse Bank, proceedings in the DIFC Court of Appeal concerning the circumstances in which foreign judgments can be enforced in the DIFC under the Riyadh Arab Convention for Judicial Cooperation 1983 or the GCC Convention for the Execution of Judgments, Delegations, and Judicial Notifications 1997.

Prior to joining Al Tamimi & Company, he read Law at the University of Sussex and completed an LL.M. in International and Comparative Commercial Law at SOAS, University of London. He is admitted as an attorney and counsellor-at-law in the State of New York, having placed in the top 3% of candidates in the New York Bar Examination. He holds a Master of Laws from SOAS (2017) and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sussex (2015), and speaks Arabic and English.