Event Report

The Legal 500 was pleased to be back again for its GC Summit Qatar 2022 programme, the first time it has been back in the region in the post-covid era.

With over 100 attendees and five sponsors including panel sponsors Charles Russell Speechlys, Al Tamimi & Company, Dr. Ghada M. Darwish Karbon Law Firm and White & Case, along with our lunch network sponsor, Arab Law Firm Bureau.

Our Summit was opened by Chris Kay, Conference Producer at The Legal 500. This was followed by a welcome address by Matthew Heaton, Partner, Head of Office, Head of Banking & Finance – Qatar at Al Tamimi & Company, talking about the impact of the Qatar 2022 World Cup and of course, its potential lasting legacy as well as potential market trends from this.

After a broad overview of the market we moved straight into our first session in front of a packed crowd, looking at some of the key factors in the life of in-house counsel. For instance, how can external counsel help bridge the gap between business units and the in-house counsel and generally make things more efficient for the in-house team. Mark Hill, Partner at Charles Russell Speechlys (CRS) moderated the panel discussions and was joined by Marjan Mirrezaei at CRS, and Lauren Djedid from the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) and Dominic Winfield from Qatar Rail.

This was followed by Al Tamimi & Company’s panel, moderated by Matthew Heaton, focusing on Fintech within Qatar. The panel analysed issues such as what efforts has the (QFC) been making to nurture FinTech in Qatar and how have rules and regulations been adapted to fit in with this. A wide-ranging background of speakers supported the discussions from a variety of avenues, including Prof. Georgios Dimitropoulos from Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Jiazhong Wang from the QFC, and Georges Fouad Salem from the Qatar Development Bank along with Muhammad Mitha also from Al Tamimi & Company.

After a short break, and opportunity for panellists and delegates to network and exchange ideas, the next session focussed on international arbitration, and interestingly looking not only at the ‘standard’ passage of arbitration, but instead issues beyond the scope of this such as when there is alleged fraud or perjury. The panel discussion was in association with Dr Ghada, Founder and Managing Partner of Dr. Ghada M. Darwish Karbon Law Firm, moderated by Dr Asmaa Al Quradaghi, and they were both joined by very heavy hitters in the market – Dr Sheikh Thani Bin Ali Al Thani and Mr Ahmed Abdulla Al-Subaey.

Our final panel discussion was put through its paces by White & Case, looking at the latest capital trends in the Qatar market, with a focus on key considerations that GCs, legal advisors and other stakeholders look at for capital markets transactions in Qatar. The panel discussions were expertly handled by Charbel Abou Charaf, partner, White & Case with Dr. Ismaeel Makdisi of Power International Holding, Sebastian Strathmann of Maroon Capital Advisory LLC and Laith Dajani of Consulting HAUS LLC giving their contributions.

The half-day Summit ended with a networking lunch, attended by both delegates, speakers and sponsors, in order to exchange ideas in-person on a casual basis. Something we have all been looking forward to being able to do again.

A thanks once again to our sponsors and all speakers and attendees for making this event such an enlightening and informative one for everyone involved. The Legal 500 looks forward to returning again in the near future.

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