2024 Judging Panel - Qatar Business Law Forum

Abdullatef Al-Mohannadi was appointed in 2019 as Deputy Registrar to support the Registrar in case management for the Court and the QFC Regulatory Tribunal. Previously, he served as a Prosecutor Assistant in the Public Prosecution and later founded his law firm, where he managed various corporate, criminal, labor, leasing, liquidation, and civil lawsuits. Abdullatef acts on behalf of the Court and the Tribunal to ensure that government institutions comply and enforce the Court and Tribunal’s orders and decisions. He holds a Bachelor of Law from Qatar University.

Umar is the Registrar of the Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre (QICDRC). He is a dual-qualified solicitor and barrister, and has practised as a self-employed barrister, within government for the Attorney General for England and Wales, and in private practice as a solicitor. Umar has a master’s degree from the University of Oxford (Worcester College), where he graduated at the top of his class, and is currently undertaking a doctorate in law from the same university (St Anne’s College).

Professor Hilary Bell is an Assistant Professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University College of Law. She teaches construction and infrastructure development law, dispute resolution and legal skills courses. In addition to teaching, she coaches teams competing in the Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot.

Professor Bell has 11 years of professional dispute resolution experience, she holds an LL.M (Distinction) in Construction Law and Arbitration from Robert Gordon University and an LL.B (Hons) from the University of Glasgow.

Professor Bell is a solicitor and notary public, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitration.

Professor Bell’s scholarship focuses on construction law, dispute resolution and legal education. She regularly presents to international audiences at education conferences.

Ishaq (“Issy”) Burney,  is known for his contribution to the  development of corporate, financial services and regulatory law in Australia, Central Asia and Middle East.   Issy is well known in the field of development and regulation of all facets of renowned special economic zones.   He takes a keen interest in the development of the legal profession as a current and past board member of professional associations like the Astana Legal Services Board and the ACC Middle East.  Issy has also taught corporate investment and regulatory law in Australia and the Chartered Governance Institute’s qualification course. Issy holds a Juris Doctor from University of Queensland and Master of Commercial Laws from University of Melbourne and a PGD (Distinction) from University of Oxford. Issy qualified as a chartered secretary (awarded a BDO Dux Medal) and is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia. Issy is also a CEDR accredited Mediator.

Arnaud Depierrefeu is a Partner in the Paris office of LPA-CGR avocats. His practice focuses on the Middle East region, with a particular focus on the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar where he was based and practised for 10 years.

With more than 20 years of private practice, Arnaud specializes in corporate structuring (establishing, transforming, and liquidating legal entities, negotiating joint-venture agreements) and in projects development in emerging markets, in particular in the energy, infrastructure, construction and defence sectors.

He also heads the firm’s Middle East Desk in Paris, set up to support the firm's French clients in the development of their activities in the Middle East but also Middle Eastern clients in their projects in France.

Before joining LPA-CGR avocats, Arnaud was a partner of Simmons & Simmons based in Doha and a member of the Energy & Infrastructure Projects team. Previously, he worked at Gide (in France and China) and then at UGGC law firm (in China and Qatar).

Dr Kehinde Folake Olaoye is an Assistant Professor of Commercial Law and Program Coordinator of the LL.M. in International Economic and Business Law at the Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) College of Law. Before joining HBKU,  Dr Olaoye was a Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer at the School of Law, City University of Hong Kong. Dr Olaoye studied law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, King’s College London, and the University of Ibadan. Dr Olaoye is an international lawyer qualified to practice law in Nigeria. She has worked as an international arbitration and dispute resolution trainee in the Hong Kong office of an international law firm and as a commercial lawyer in Lagos, Nigeria. Dr Olaoye's  research has been published in leading international law journals, including the American Journal of International Law, the European Journal of International Law, the World Trade Review, and the Journal of International Economic Law. 

Cassandra Heilbronn is the CEO for a Family Office of a Saudi Royal Family, responsible for overseeing strategy, investments and general operations internationally. Prior to this, she practised as a lawyer in Australia and Saudi Arabia predominantly in Sports & Corporate Risk.

Cassandra acted as President of Women Lawyers Association of Queensland from 2016 to 2018 and has held a number of Board positions, in addition to various appointments, including the Judicial Appointment Advisory Panel by the Attorney-General of Queensland.

In 2022, Cassandra was named an Honourary Member of the Women Lawyers Association of Queensland, the youngest to be awarded such membership in the association’s history. Cassandra was listed by Queensland Business Monthly as a ‘Top 20 under 40’ in 2017 and regularly features on the Who’s Who List of Australian Women.

Alia Jenayah is a French-qualified lawyer with extensive expertise in public law and international business law. She holds a PhD in Public Law from the University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, focusing on public procurement contracts, and an LLM in International Business Law. Fluent in English, French, and Arabic, with a working knowledge of Spanish, she has over seven years of experience advising on complex energy, infrastructure, and project transactions, particularly across Africa and the Middle East.

Alia currently serves as In-House Counsel at Alstom Group, where she manages legal matters for key accounts in the Île-de-France region. Her responsibilities include overseeing tender processes, contract management, claims, and legal risk analysis for significant infrastructure, systems, and transportation projects.

Prior to Alstom, she worked at top-tier international law firms such as Norton Rose Fulbright and Bird & Bird, advising governments, multinational corporations, and public entities on public-private partnerships (PPP), project finance, and cross-border infrastructure projects. Her work has spanned advising on water desalination plants, telecom projects, tramway systems, and public transport concessions. Alia has a strong background in drafting and negotiating complex bilingual (English and Arabic) legal documents, particularly in highly regulated sectors.

In addition to her legal practice, she has published several articles on public procurement, constitutional law, and energy regulation, and has been an active member of various legal associations focused on African and Middle Eastern markets.

Sheikha Jawaher Al-Thani serves as the Head of the Shareholding Companies and Investment Funds Section at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

She is a member of the Accountants Affairs Committee within the ministry and also serves on the Committee for Resolving Appeals Against Decisions of the Industrial Property Protection Office.

In addition to her official roles, she is a columnist for Al-Sharq newspaper.

Sheikha Jawaher holds a Master of Laws (LLM) degree from Qatar University and is an alumna of the Qatar Leadership Center, where she graduated in 2021.

Her professional experience includes serving as a teaching assistant at the College of Law at Qatar University.

As an author, she has published three nonfiction books and one poetry collection.

She was recognised as the Legal Compliance Officer of the Year 2023 by the Qatar Business Law Forum.

Michael Patchett-Joyce is a barrister and Deputy Head of 36 Commercial at the 36 Group, London. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and CEDR-qualified mediator. He has acted as Counsel in many cases heard by the DIFC and ADGM Courts. He sits as an arbitrator or acts as arbitral counsel, particularly in commercial arbitrations seated in the Gulf/MENA regions. Beyond pure commercial law, he has a keen interest in international regulatory law, including environmental law. He has strong professional links across the Gulf and MENA regions. He is a long-standing supporter of the MENA pre-Vis arbitration moot competition and of legal education and capacity-building. He is a frequent and popular speaker at professional and academic conferences. He is a member of the Scientific Board of the MENA Business Law Review and sits on the Saudi Centre for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) international advisory committee.

Victor Leginsky is a Chartered Arbitrator and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He has served as Arbitrator in well over 100 cases, a large proportion of which are high-value construction cases and conducts both institutional and ad hoc arbitrations. He is certified as a mediator through the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (London) [CEDR]. He conducts mediation including construction-related mediations. He confines his practice to that of a neutral (arbitrator / mediator), largely in construction and energy-related disputes. Victor is an elected member of the steering committee of the ICC UAE Commission on Arbitration & ADR for the term 2023-2025.

Victor has been appointed many times in arbitrations seated in Qatar, through the ICC, LCIA and the QICCA, as well as ad hoc. He is very familiar with the Qatar Arbitration Law, and the Qatari substantive law. Given the many cases he has been appointed to as arbitrator in the Middle East, Victor is adept in the civil law of the region, as well as the common law of Canada, England & Wales and others.

Email: vleginsky@arbitralis.com Ph. +97150 457 3770

David is admitted to practise in England and Wales, Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, New York (as a legal consultant) and the Courts of the Dubai International Financial Centre . He was first appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1986.

He was President of the Taxation Institute of Australia from 1993 to 1995, and of the Asia Oceania Tax Consultants’ Association (“AOTCA”) from 1996 to 2000. He has been appointed an AOTCA Honorary Adviser for life, an Honorary Member of the Taxation Institute of Hong Kong and an Advisor of the Global Tax Advisors Platform.

He was Deputy Chairman of STEP WorldWide during 201 and 2019 and Chair of its Governance Committee to 2021, a co-chair of the UAE Chapter of the International Section of the New York State Bar Association, an Academician and Council Member of The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law and since 2016 has been a member of Legal Week’s Private Client Global Elite.

In 2016 and 2017 he chaired the DIFC’s Wealth Management Review, has contributed to the drafting of the DIFC Trust and Foundations Laws, and is the Executive Editor of the Laws of the DIFC.

Noelle Tannous is a Lebanese qualified Lawyer with more than 18 years’ PQE as in-house legal counsel and in external legal practice. She has a deep and diversified legal experience which positions her to direct legal, compliance, corporate strategy, policies, and practices.

Noelle is currently serving as Qatar Cool’s General Counsel where she provides robust leadership in the areas of legal risk, compliance and corporate governance. Additionally, she is an active member of the Senior Management Team. Noelle brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Qatar Cool due to her polyvalent professional experience.

Noelle’s professional experience involves commercial advisory and corporate governance at United Development Company; whilst her practice has focused on advisory in a wide range of commercial matters, together with construction law and dispute resolution.

Prior to joining Qatar Cool, Noelle was working as counsel at Al Tamimi & Company’s office in Doha, where she advised local and international clients on major construction projects and business ventures and represented them in high profile litigation and arbitration disputes.

Noelle has a Bachelor of Law, and holds an LLM in Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution, from Pantheon – Assas Paris II University. Noelle is the co-foundress of the Lebanese Association for Mediation and Conciliation (LAMAC) and a member of the chartered institute or arbitrators. She is also the author of several legal articles including in the Law update and the International Journal of Arab Arbitration.

Prof. Jon Truby, PhD is Founder of MENAExecutiveTraining.com, the Gulf region’s leading professional training and qualification academy specialising in AI, data privacy, financial compliance, cybersecurity, digital literacy and legal skills training.  Dr. Truby is an AI Law & Governance Professor, named by Stanford University as one of the World's Top 2% Researchers. He is a highly cited and published specialist in emerging technologies law, with strong research impact in AI Governance which has helped influence policy.  He is an Academic Visitor at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University and a Visiting Fellow in AI at Newcastle University Law School. His research on emerging technology was presented at the United Nations, and he serves a number of AI policy and advisory committees including the UNESCO Group of Friends on the Ethics of AI.  During 2010-2023 he was a Law Professor at Qatar University, directing the University Legal Research Centre which delivered major research in AI and emerging technologies law and policy.

Prior to joining the firm, Helen has a broad international commercial disputes and advisory practice. Helen advises on a broad range of contracts and legal issues. Helen was involved with the development of the MASS regulations developed by UK shipping stakeholders and later adopted by the IMO and has a background in maritime security and international law. She has previous experience as a vessel legal policy advisor for a national coastguard and has experience in-house and working with clients in the Middle East advising on vessel purchases, ship registration, corporate structures and claims. She also has experience in dispute resolution, especially litigation and arbitration under ICC, LCIA, DIAC, SIAC, CIETAC, ad hoc, and under trade association rules including GAFTA and FOSFA proceedings.

Helen also had secondments in relevant shipping departments of respective firms in Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai, where she advised on contracts and
disputes.

Helen studied LLB European, Comparative and International law (Hons) at the University of Sheffield (2002) and also spent a seminar at Tilburg University as part of the Erasmus programme. She obtained her post graduate diploma BVC at the College of Law, London in 2009. Alongside being called to the Bar in 2009, Helen is also Foreign Registered Lawyer (Victoria) and was previously a Part II registered advocate at the DIFC.

https://www.hilldickinson.com/people/helen-tung