Dentons

Sector knowledge

Lauren Bell

Lauren Bell is an associate in the Middle East Construction and Dispute Resolution practice. She has more than seven years’ experience, working as a paralegal before qualifying as a solicitor in 2022. Lauren has experience working on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious construction and engineering, energy and commercial litigation matters. Lauren's contentious experience includes representing clients in major disputes under a range of arbitration rules including the ICC, QICCA, DIAC and LCIA rules. She also has experience in mediation and expert determination. Lauren assists clients in high-value and complex arbitrations covering matters such as defective design and/or workmanship, delay and disruption, variations, loss and expense, payment disputes, debt claims and contract interpretation. Lauren's non-contentious experience includes providing legal advice on high-value complex projects across a range of different sectors including rail, major projects, infrastructure and development in Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Africa. She has vast experience of drafting and negotiating FIDIC contracts and bespoke contracts. Lauren has experience in all phases of the construction project life cycle, including advising several large developers in the Middle East on the application and impact of existing laws and regulations on new developments and in relation to export finance for large projects in Africa.

Jennifer Davis

Jennifer Davis is a senior associate in the Middle East Construction and Dispute Resolution practice in Dentons' Doha office. She has more than six years of experience working on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious construction and projects matters, including advising clients on high-value complex projects in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the UK. Her experience spans a range of different sectors, including renewable and low-carbon energy (new nuclear, offshore and onshore wind, solar and battery storage, and biomass projects), highways and transportation, and commercial and real estate development. Jennifer has considerable experience in providing advice on major projects throughout the project lifecycle, including on project structure, procurement strategy, contract strategy, operation and maintenance, and dispute avoidance. She has particular experience in advising on complex EPC, O&M and supply agreements, as well as traditional construction and design-and-build procurements, including detailed knowledge of FIDIC, NEC3/4, JCT and IChemE suites of contracts. Jennifer also has a range of experience in acting for clients on contentious matters, including project counsel advice, international arbitration, mediation, UK High Court litigation and construction adjudication. Prior to joining Dentons, Jennifer spent three years working at an international firm in the UK as a Projects and Construction specialist, which included client secondments to a European offshore wind contractor, a global renewables developer and a major UK building contractor. She also spent two years working in-house at a global energy company, advising on the first-in-a-generation new nuclear project. Jennifer trained at a Tier 1 UK firm, qualifying into its Construction & Engineering team in 2018.

Samer El Husseini

Samer El Husseini is an associate in the Corporate and Commercial team of the Dentons Doha office. He has more than seven years of experience advising on mergers and acquisitions, disposals, incorporations, redomiciliation, group restructurings, shareholder arrangements and commercial contracts. Samer is experienced in advising on cross-border matters across Qatar and the wider Middle East region. He has represented a variety of clients, including large multinationals, government and semi-governmental entities, private equity funds, sovereign wealth funds, and banking and financial institutions in a range of industry sectors. Samer is multilingual and has the ability to draft and negotiate in Arabic, English and French.

Sarah Fewster

Sarah Fewster is an associate in the Corporate practice in Dentons' Doha office. She has over 5 years' experience advising on general corporate and commercial matters. Sarah has experience advising on corporate governance and regulatory matters, real estate matters, and drafting and reviewing commercial agreements and other legal documents. Prior to Dentons, Sarah worked as a solicitor in the UK, where she completed a full-time client secondment at a large UK supermarket chain, advising on both commercial and real estate matters.

Gabriel Olufemi

Gabriel Olufemi is the managing partner of Dentons' Doha office and a partner in the Middle East Construction and Dispute Resolution practice. He has been working in the Middle East since 2014 and has more than 15 years of experience working on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious construction and engineering matters. Specializing in construction and engineering law, Gabriel has extensive experience providing legal advice on high-value complex projects for the public and private sector in the Middle East with a particular focus on Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and Oman. These have included stadia/sport facilities, real estate developments, road, airport, rail, and other infrastructure and construction projects. He advises clients during all stages of the project lifecycle from design to financial close, including providing advice on project structure, procurement strategy, contract strategy, operation and maintenance, dispute avoidance and international arbitration.

Henry Rees

Henry Rees is an associate in the Middle East Construction and Dispute Resolution practice. He has more than eight years’ experience with Dentons, working as a paralegal before training in our Doha, Abu Dhabi and London offices and then qualifying as a solicitor in 2021. Henry has experience working on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious construction and engineering, energy and commercial litigation matters. His contentious experience includes representing clients under major arbitration rules including the ICC, QICCA, DIAC and LCIA rules, as well as mediation and expert determination. Henry assists clients in high-value and complex arbitrations relating to defective design and/or workmanship, delay and disruption, variations, loss and expense, payment disputes, debt claims and contract interpretation. He also represents clients in relation to Qatar court and QFC court litigation. Henry also has experience in all phases of the construction project life cycle including the initial planning stages of a project. He has assisted several large developers in the Middle East, advising on the application and impact of existing laws and regulations on new developments. Henry also has experience of drafting and negotiating FIDIC Red Book, Yellow Book and Green Book contracts.

Mary Ann Sharp

The Kuwait Desk advisory function is led by Mary Ann, with more than 30 years' experience in advising on Kuwait law and practice (including 17 years with Dentons). She enjoys a sterling reputation in the market and among clients who note her responsiveness and local law expertise. Helping to navigate legal complexities and cultural sensitivities, her in-depth understanding of Kuwait's legal, business and cultural environment is supported by her decades of experience in advising clients seeking to enter, operate and invest in the Kuwait market as well as those pursuing claims or litigating disputes. Clients include the business and legal departments of many leading international companies, including franchisors, manufacturers, defense contractors, financial and technical service providers in the telecommunications, construction and oil sectors. Her unique expertise in the Kuwait tax regime and tax mitigation strategies has distinguished her from other practitioners and proven invaluable to international clients. Recognized for many years by the Legal 500 and Chambers Global international legal directories, Mary Ann acted as lead local counsel for the winning consortium of international companies for Kuwait's flagship PPP project. She regularly authors the Kuwait chapter of the LexisNexis International Agency and Distribution Agreements treatise and the online LexisNexis Employment Law Q&A. She has extensively advised on compliance with laws and regulations in addition to providing practical advice on doing business in Kuwait, including the impact of the agency and distribution laws, mandatory labor law and the immigration and insurance requirements for sending representatives into Kuwait and for assigning manpower to work in Kuwait, the corporate income tax law, anti-corruption and bribery laws, Kuwaitization, foreign direct investment, competition law, electronic transactions law, cybercrimes, and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism law. She regularly advises clients seeking to pre-qualify, tender and contract in the vast public sector market. Prior to moving to Kuwait in 1996, Mary Ann worked with Westinghouse (later Northrop Grumman) on the B1B Offensive Radar System subcontract to the Boeing Company and subsequently she served as General Counsel for a US defense contractor with various Foreign Military Sales contracts and offset obligations in the Middle East. Her experience with US government contracting and local Kuwait administration and operation of FMS contracts has given her a unique perspective in advising both US and non-US defense clients performing US government contracts in Kuwait and the region, in addition to advising those clients seeking direct commercial Kuwait Ministry of Defense, National Guard or Ministry of Interior public sector contracts. The first successful offset joint venture in Kuwait was achieved under her guidance and advice, including the establishment of a local joint venture company that has held FMS and direct KMOD contracts continuously since 1995 in Kuwait.