Stephenson Harwood Middle East LLP

Maritime, Insurance, Commercial Disputes

Partner

English, Arabic

Saif is a Dubai-based bilingual litigation Partner and arbitrator. He represents shipowners, managers, P&I Clubs, insurers, logistics providers and high-net-worth individuals. He supports clients across the Middle East region on shipping, logistics, insurance, commercial, real estate, and cross-border disputes.

Saif handles high-stakes shipping “wet” claims including collisions, groundings, fires, explosions, pier damage and oil pollution, and “dry” claims, including charterparty disputes, sanctions and cargo claims. Saif also acts for crew members on personal injury, fatalities and repatriation.

Beyond shipping, he advises on logistics and freight forwarding disputes, warehouse fires, customs and supply chain issues, cross-border litigation, asset tracing, fraud, enforcement of foreign arbitral awards and judgments, agency disputes, marine insurance coverage claims, real estate litigation, and sales and purchase transactions.

Known for his pragmatic and commercial approach, Saif has achieved precedent-setting results including establishing one of the first limitation funds in the Middle East, advancing unjust enrichment claims before the Dubai Court of Cassation and applying English law in Dubai Courts to recover legal costs. He is also appointed as an arbitrator by the Dubai Court of Appeal and DIAC.

Clients value his strategic insight, practical guidance, and collaborative style in resolving complex, high-value disputes efficiently and effectively.