Hadef & Partners is praised as ‘one of the pre-eminent firms in the region for international litigation’ for its work before the DIFC and ADGM Courts, and also acts in a range of international and domestic courts on commercial litigation and arbitration matters. The firm advises clients across the construction, logistics, finance, and investment sectors, and has recently led on complex contentious instructions, including applications for interim relief and injunctions. Zarghona Fazal heads the practice and advises on enforcements orders, and co-head Adrian Chadwick ’has a wealth of experience’ in litigation and arbitration. Maria Lezala advises on asset tracing and recovery, while Harriet McLaughlin leads on shareholder, insolvency, and sanctions-related disputes.
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Work Department
Dispute Resolution
Position
Adrian is a Commercial Dispute Resolution specialist. He has substantial experience handling a wide range of general commercial disputes through litigation, arbitration, or alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
Adrian was admitted as a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales in 1987. In addition, he was admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong (1990), as a Solicitor and Barrister of the Australian Capital Territory (1993) and as a Barrister of the High Court of Australia (1993). He has worked in several jurisdictions namely England (1985-89 and 1995-2008), Hong Kong (1989 – 1995) and Dubai, UAE (February 2008 to date).
He regularly represents his clients as Counsel in arbitrations governed by various institutional rules including DIAC, DIFC-LCIA, ICC, and LMAA. He has also been appointed as a Sole Arbitrator by DIAC for several arbitration matters. He is a member of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA).
Adrian is registered as a Legal Practitioner of the DIFC Courts with full rights of advocacy and has appeared many times as an Advocate before these Courts and before the Special Tribunal relating to Dubai World and its subsidiaries. He is a current member of the DIFC Courts’ Rules Committee and a former Chair and Deputy Chair of that Committee. He is a lecturer for the DIFC Academy of Law and handled the leading case heard by the DIFC Court on forum non conveniens.
He also regularly works with our UAE Advocates in connection with a wide range of disputes before the UAE Courts where the governing law of the dispute is UAE Law as applied in the Emirate of Dubai. Adrian is licensed to advise on UAE Law by the Dubai Government’s Legal Affairs Department.
Adrian has developed particular experience handling multi-jurisdiction enforcement of judgments and arbitration awards including directly through the UAE Courts or through the DIFC Court as a conduit court for enforcement in onshore Dubai. He has appeared as an expert witness before Courts and Arbitration Tribunals including, before the Sudanese Courts on enforcement of foreign court judgments in England.
For a considerable part of his legal career Adrian specialised in handling shipping and international trade matters in London (with Waterson Hicks, a boutique specialist shipping and international trade practice) and in Hong Kong (with Clyde & Co) and this remains an important part of his workload. He handles both contentious and non-contentious shipping work. As well as dealing with charterparty and bill of lading disputes he has considerable experience of shipping finance, newbuilding and vessel repair and ship sale/purchase transactions.
Languages
English
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Hadef & Partners is one of the pre-eminent firms in the region for international litigation, having a truly global team of lawyers who understand the complexities of litigating in the DIFC, in the UAE and in foreign jurisdictions. In my experience, their analysis is always thorough, accurate and practical.'
‘I have worked, as English counsel, with Maria Lezala and Kim Mullins on a potential DIFC investment mis-selling case. Their approach to the case was pragmatic and commercial, and their own analysis of the strengths and weaknesses in the client’s position was excellent. They handled our client very well, and provided a seamless interface between him and me. Above all, they were a delight to work with. I have also dealt with Walid Azzam and Karim Mahmoud, who are extremely knowledgeable and highly respected international litigators.'
Key clients
- LXT Real Estate
- Globe Investments
Work highlights
Providing advice in relation to cost assessment proceedings in the DIFC Court filed by the Claimants for the outstanding costs of the main proceedings as recorded in the Judgment.