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Representation built to reacha verdict.

Independent litigation and corporate counsel for founders, family businesses, and enterprises — engaged for the disputes and deals that can't afford an average outcome.

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240+Matters resolved

96%Win / favorable rate

15Years at the bar

6Practice areas

0%Win Rate

Docket No. 04.192Layla HaddadCorporate & Commercial Litigation Counsel

Practice areasEngagements available on a retained or matter basis

Commercial Litigation§Corporate & M&A§Arbitration & ADR§IP & Trademark§Regulatory Compliance§Family Business Disputes§Commercial Litigation§Corporate & M&A§Arbitration & ADR§IP & Trademark§Regulatory Compliance§Family Business Disputes§

00The Brief

Most litigation strategy is written to look thorough in a hearing bundle.

I don't build cases to be admired on paper.

I build them to be understood by a judge in the first five minutes — and won.

— Everything else is paperwork.

01How A Case Moves

Four stages. No holding pattern.

Every matter runs the same discipline, whether it's a five-week injunction or a two-year arbitration.

Intake

Every matter starts with a same-week case assessment — what's provable, what isn't, and what it actually costs to pursue or defend it.

A conflict-checked view of your exposure

Strategy

A written strategy memo with a primary line of argument, a fallback, and a real estimate of timeline and spend before a single filing goes out.

A filed position, not a holding pattern

Advocacy

I appear personally at hearings, negotiations, and depositions. Associates support the file; they don't stand in for me in front of a judge or the other side.

Argued by me, in the room

Resolution

I stay engaged through enforcement or settlement completion — not just to judgment. A win that doesn't collect isn't a win yet.

A closed file, not an open retainer

02Notable Matters

Four matters, closed and collected.

Regional Logistics Operator

Commercial Litigation · Freight & Carriage

Contract Breach — Arbitration

Challenge: A carriage contract dispute over $12M in disputed freight charges, with the counterparty already filing in a jurisdiction chosen to slow us down.
Approach: Filed a parallel jurisdiction challenge within eight days, froze the delay tactic, and moved the matter into DIAC arbitration on our own timeline instead of theirs.
Result: Full recovery of disputed charges plus costs, settled before the final hearing once the other side saw the exposure clearly.

$11.4MRecovered

0 of 4Hearing days

7 monthsDuration

Family-Owned Manufacturing Group

Corporate · Third generation

Shareholder Dispute

Challenge: Two branches of a founding family locked in a deadlock over board control, with an operating business losing customers while the dispute dragged on.
Approach: Negotiated a binding shareholder deadlock protocol and an independent chair appointment before litigating a single claim — the business needed a decision, not a docket number.
Result: Governance restored within ten weeks; the litigation that would have taken two years never had to be filed.

NoneLitigation filed

RestoredGovernance

10 weeksDuration

Series B Fintech

Corporate & M&A · MENA

Cap Table Restructuring

Challenge: A down round with three prior SAFEs, two classes of preferred stock, and a lead investor threatening to block the raise over conversion terms.
Approach: Rebuilt the waterfall from source documents, found a drafting error working against the founders, and used it to renegotiate the blocking investor's position directly.
Result: Round closed on schedule with founder ownership protected within one point of the original model.

On timeRound closed

−1.2ptFounder dilution

6 weeksDuration

International Retail Franchise

IP & Trademark · Retail

Brand Infringement Action

Challenge: A near-identical storefront and mark appearing across three emirates, actively confusing customers and eroding a decade of brand investment.
Approach: Secured an ex-parte interim injunction within five days, then ran a coordinated enforcement action across all three locations simultaneously.
Result: All three locations rebranded or closed within a month; the mark is now formally registered in every GCC jurisdiction the client operates in.

3 of 3Locations resolved

5 daysInjunction granted

4 monthsDuration

03The Docket, By The Numbers

The practice, on the record.

0+Matters resolved

0%Client retention

0.0 moAvg. resolution time

$0M+Value protected / recovered

Caseload, by practice area

Commercial Litigation

36%

Corporate & M&A

24%

Arbitration & ADR

22%

IP & Regulatory

18%

Matters opened, trailing 12 quarters

04Track Record

Fifteen years at the bar.

Founding Partner

2019 — Present

Haddad Chambers

Independent litigation and corporate practice representing founders, family businesses, and mid-market enterprises across the UAE and wider GCC.

Commercial LitigationCorporate AdvisoryArbitration

Senior Associate

2015 — 2019

Whitfield & Cross LLP

Led disputes and corporate transactional work for regional conglomerates, with a focus on cross-border enforcement and shareholder matters.

Cross-Border EnforcementM&A Due Diligence

Associate

2012 — 2015

Whitfield & Cross LLP

Built the litigation groundwork — pleadings, discovery, and hearing preparation — on matters ranging from construction claims to trademark disputes.

Litigation SupportTrademark Disputes

Judicial Trainee

2011 — 2012

Dubai Courts

Trained inside the court system before ever arguing in front of it — where the discipline of writing for a judge, not for a client, was set.

Court ProcedureJudicial Drafting

05Credentials

Paper that backs the practice.

2010

Juris Doctor (J.D.)

American University in Dubai

2011

LL.M., International Commercial Law

SOAS, University of London

2012 —

Advocate, Dubai Courts

Licensed & Practicing

2018 —

Certified Arbitrator

DIAC — Dubai International Arbitration Centre

Legal 500 EMEARecommended, Dispute Resolution●Chambers & PartnersRanked, Commercial Litigation●Who's Who LegalListed, Arbitration●The Oath — ME Legal DigestFeature, 2024●Middle East Legal AwardsFinalist, Litigator of the Year●DIAC PanelAccredited Arbitrator●Legal 500 EMEARecommended, Dispute Resolution●Chambers & PartnersRanked, Commercial Litigation●Who's Who LegalListed, Arbitration●The Oath — ME Legal DigestFeature, 2024●Middle East Legal AwardsFinalist, Litigator of the Year●DIAC PanelAccredited Arbitrator●

06Client Testimony

What clients say once the file is closed.

“

She was the only counsel who told us to settle the shareholder dispute before it became litigation. That advice saved the business two years and, honestly, the relationship between the two branches of my family.

Omar FerranCEO, Manufacturing Group

“

Most lawyers hand you a strategy memo and disappear until the hearing. Layla was in every negotiation herself, and she flagged the drafting error that saved our round before anyone else even saw it.

Priya NairCo-Founder, Series B Fintech

“

We had three storefronts infringing our mark across three emirates. She had an injunction on the first one within five days and didn't stop until all three were resolved.

Marcus WebbGeneral Counsel, Retail Franchise

07Request A Consultation

Bring me the matter you can't afford to lose.

A confidential 20-minute call is enough to know if this is the right counsel for your matter — and the right timeline.

Prefer to talk first?Book a confidential case review →

Emaillayla@haddadchambers.com

LinkedInin/layla-haddad

Based inDubai, UAE — advising across the GCC