Saif El fawaer

Saif El fawaer is a Legal Director and a bilingual, highly experienced litigator with extensive knowledge of the law and judicial system. His primary practice area is Construction Law.

His expertise encompasses claims and arbitration proceedings relating to construction, corporate matters, banking, enforcement of foreign awards, agency disputes, labour, intellectual property, real estate and commercial disputes.

He began his legal career with a prestigious firm in Amman, Jordan, before moving to the litigation and arbitration team of a leading law firm in Doha.

His recent experience includes representing the subsidiary of an international contracting group headquartered in Saudi Arabia in several construction cases related to seven different projects filed against the employer, totalling AED 2 billion; over 40 construction cases filed against the contractor by subcontractors and suppliers; a bankruptcy case filed against the contractor by one of the subcontractors; and mediation with a subcontractor and approximately 20 suppliers and service providers who are creditors of the subcontractor, as well as two banks.

He has also represented one of the largest semi-government developers and its subsidiaries in several construction and property disputes; represented one of the largest entertainment companies in several construction disputes related to its parks and in a dispute with one of its service providers related to park sponsors worth AED 100 million; and acted for an Emirati multinational real estate development company in a dispute arising from the main contract concerning the construction of a 'mega project' in Dubai, where the value of the project exceeds 800 million dirhams and the disputes involve claims by the contractor of approximately 1.2 billion dirhams and counterclaims of 1.2 billion dirhams by the employer.

Other matters include acting for one of the major construction firms in the region headquartered in Spain in relation to a dispute arising from the main contract concerning the construction of electrical power generation, where the value of the project exceeds 800 million dirhams and the disputes involve claims by the employer of approximately 980 million dirhams and counterclaims of 188 million dirhams by the contractor; and acting for the main authority responsible for distributing water and electricity in the Northern Emirates in relation to a dispute arising from the main contract concerning the construction of main transformer stations (132/11KV) and (132/33/11KV) and the expansion of stations, involving eight stations across the Northern Emirates, where the value of the project exceeds 200 million dirhams and the disputes involve claims by the contractor of approximately 55 million dirhams.

He has also represented a Korean industrial conglomerate in its dispute with an international contractor worth QR 30 million; represented a consortium in a construction dispute with Qatar Rail worth QR 5.1 billion; and represented the subsidiary of an international contracting group working on the largest polysilicon factories in the MENA region in its dispute with the employer.

He acts for most of the top commercial and Islamic banks and financial institutions in various banking and finance disputes, including multimillion-dirham debt recovery disputes, involving interim and enforcement measures such as securing travel bans, precautionary attachments, garnishment and seizure orders, and enforcement over secured and unsecured assets, as well as defending lawsuits filed against banks and financial institutions before the UAE Courts.

He also acts for a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry in multiple cases; a global specialist in energy management and automation in respect of a dispute over the supply of goods; and a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer in an AED 1.5 billion dispute related to commercial arrangements regarding the promotion and supply of vehicles in the Middle East through a UAE joint venture company. He supports the arbitration team in preparing multiple legal expert reports in construction arbitration disputes involving deep legal research and analysis.

He holds a PhD in Public Law (Dissertation: Private Public Partnership Contracts) from the University of Jordan (2016), a Master of Law (Dissertation: The Legal Aspects of Electronic Transmission via the Internet) from the University of Jordan (2009) and a Bachelor of Law from the University of Jordan (2007). He is a registered Legal Consultant with the Legal Affairs Department of the Government of Dubai and a lawyer with the Jordanian Bar Association. He speaks Arabic and English.