Dentons

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 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 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.

Andrew Jones is the managing partner, and heads the Dispute Resolution and Construction practice, of Dentons' Doha office. He has over 29 years of experience in construction, projects and engineering law having acted for clients in all sectors of the construction and engineering industry. He has experience in acting for a wide range of clients in the Middle East, Europe, Far East and the CIS. He has advised extensively on major infrastructure projects, power plant, process plant and landmark hotel office and retail developments. Andrew's practice also involves all forms of dispute resolution varying from national and international arbitration and litigation in the Technology and Construction Court to statutory/contractual adjudication, ADR (including mediation and expert determination). He has recently been involved in cases which included issues arising from delay to projects, loss and expense, termination issues, final account disputes, professional negligence and defects. Andrew is ranked in Chambers and is regularly published in various journals and lectures widely on issues related to International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution.

Zaher has practiced law in the Middle East for over 17 years, including 15 years in Qatar. He was a member of the team that established Dentons Doha office in 2007. Zaher has extensive experience in corporate joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, corporate governance, public offerings, private placements and the related regulatory framework. Zaher has advised on restructuring and acquisition of multi million companies in Qatar and abroad. In addition to his corporate expertise, Zaher is also recognised for his real estate and dispute resolution experience and in-depth knowledge of Qatar law in this area. Over the years, he has counseled both foreign investors as well as local entities (private and governmental) on a number of large-scale infrastructure projects including The Pearl, Lusail and the Qatar Integrated Railways Project.

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 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.