Interview with: Yousef S. Khalilieh, Managing Partner

Managing Partner Yousef S. Khalilieh explains how a firm built on decades of Jordanian legal heritage is meeting the evolving demands of clients across the region and beyond.

 

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Rajai K. W. Dajani & Associates from your competitors?

Our firm combines something rare in the Jordanian market: institutional depth and transactional agility. We are one of the few firms in Jordan capable of advising on the full spectrum of corporate and commercial matters – from large-scale M&A and cross-border joint ventures to highly bespoke family governance structures and fintech incorporation. The founding partner, Rajai K. W. Dajani, brings over six decades of legal experience and has served at the highest levels of Jordanian public life, including as Minister of Interior and Secretary General of the Royal Hashemite Court. That heritage carries real weight with clients who need not only legal precision but also an understanding of the regulatory and political landscape.

Critically, we are a full-service firm – our Litigation & Arbitration department is equally strong and closely integrated with our corporate practice. Clients benefit from having a single firm that can handle a complex transaction and, if things go wrong, represent them before courts at every level and in arbitration. Our litigation team has deep sector expertise in automotive, retail, infrastructure, and manufacturing disputes, acting for major international clients including Jaguar Land Rover, TK Elevator, MAF Hypermax (Carrefour), and Arab Bank (Switzerland). That integration between transactional and contentious work is something few Jordanian firms can genuinely offer.

 

Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that?

We see strong growth ahead in four areas. First, energy and project finance: Jordan continues to attract significant renewable energy investment, particularly wind and solar, and the regulatory framework is maturing. Our recent work on the Tafileh Wind Farm and the World Bank-backed Saba Energy project in Nigeria reflects the growing complexity of these transactions and the demand for lawyers who understand both the local legal landscape and international financing structures.

Second, technology and fintech, as the digital economy in Jordan and the broader region is expanding rapidly. We have been increasingly engaged in advising on AI regulation, electronic payment systems, fintech incorporation (including our recent work structuring BalaBank in Delaware), and data protection compliance. Regulatory frameworks are still catching up with the market, which means clients need proactive legal counsel.

Third, family business governance and succession. Jordan has a large and growing family business sector. As these businesses scale and transition to second and third generations, the demand for sophisticated legal structuring – including trusts, foundations, holding companies, and family constitutions – is increasing significantly.

Fourth, commercial litigation and enforcement. As business activity increases and cross-border trade grows, so does disputes. Our litigation team is seeing greater demand from international clients operating in Jordan who require robust enforcement of judgments and effective recovery of commercial debts. The complexity of these cases – spanning automotive, financial services, retail, and infrastructure – is increasing, and clients want specialists, not generalists.

 

What’s the main change you’ve made in the firm that will benefit clients?

 One of the key changes we have made is the strategic expansion of our team, which has enabled us to better support our growing client base. By increasing our capacity and strengthening expertise across core practice areas, we have been able to deliver faster turnaround times, provide more responsive service, and offer clients access to a broader range of specialist knowledge. We have also improved our internal procedures and systems with focus on technology and IT structure.

 

Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them?

Technology is changing both how we work and what we advise on. On the service side, the growth of fintech, e-commerce, AI-driven platforms, and digital payment systems has become a meaningful part of our corporate/commercial practice. Clients are building businesses in regulatory environments that are still evolving, and they need lawyers who understand the technology well enough to translate it into legal risk,  not just lawyers who can draft contracts.

On the operational side, we have adopted digital tools for document management, due diligence, and client communication that allow us to deliver more efficiently on complex, multi-party transactions. For clients involved in cross-border deals with tight timelines, that responsiveness matters.

 

Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business?

One example that stands out is our work structuring a USD 100 million cross-border joint venture between Oman’s Investment Authority (OIA) and Jordan’s Social Security Corporation (SSC). This was not simply a legal drafting exercise, it required us to advise on the optimal legal framework across two jurisdictions, navigate both the Jordan Investment Fund Law and Jordanian Companies Law, and ensure that tax, governance, and regulatory considerations were properly addressed for both sovereign parties. The joint venture has since been positioned to attract further regional and international investment across multiple sectors, including ICT, pharmaceuticals, energy, and logistics.

On the contentious side, our representation of TK Elevator in complex liability cases (including fatal accident claims and multi-party compensation lawsuits) is a good example of how our litigation team protects clients from significant financial and reputational exposure. In cases like these, the commercial value of getting the right outcome is far greater than the legal fees involved, and our track record in high-stakes enforcement and dismissals reflects that.

Another example is our work with Al Razi Drug Store, where we restructured the corporate and holding framework for a chain of approximately 80 pharmacies across Jordan, putting in place succession and ownership transfer mechanisms that protect business continuity regardless of what happens to individual shareholders.

 

Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time?

Clients are absolutely looking for stability, but they also want law firms that can anticipate change rather than just respond to it. The most valuable relationships we have are with clients who come to us early, before a transaction crystallises or a dispute escalates, because they trust us to help shape the strategy, not just document it.

In three years, we see ourselves as the leading full-service firm in Jordan for corporate/commercial and dispute resolution work. On the transactional side, we are investing in our energy and project finance practice, our technology and digital economy capabilities, and our family governance offering, as well as deepening our cross-border reach across Gulf, African, and European markets. On the contentious side, we are committed to achieving the highest recognition for our Litigation & Arbitration department, which we believe reflects the quality and complexity of our ongoing caseload.

Both practices are growing in sophistication, and increasingly our clients benefit from both, whether they are structuring a transaction today or defending it tomorrow.