Expert Legal Services in Litigation
At Habib Al Mulla and Partners, we pride ourselves on our extensive expertise in litigation, particularly within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Abu Dhabi Global Markets (ADGM).
Dr. Habib Al Mulla, a key figure in developing the legal framework for the DIFC, has helped position our firm as a leader in providing high-quality legal services in this specialized area.
Our team’s deep understanding of the intricacies of financial free zones in the UAE enables us to offer unparalleled legal support to international clients navigating complex offshore disputes.
Dispute Resolution Expertise
With years of experience in dispute resolution, our firm is adept at handling a wide range of offshore litigation matters. Our services include:
Providing strategic legal advice on dispute resolution strategies, helping clients understand their options and the potential implications of various courses of action.
Specialized Knowledge of Financial Free Zones
Our firm’s extensive involvement in the development and operation of the DIFC and ADGM uniquely positions us to offer specialized legal services in these jurisdictions. Our expertise includes:
Advising clients on compliance with the regulatory requirements of the DIFC and ADGM, ensuring that their operations adhere to the highest legal standards.
Handling commercial disputes involving contracts, financial transactions, and other business matters within the financial free zones.
Representing clients in employment disputes, including issues related to employment contracts, terminations, and regulatory compliance.
Why Choose Habib Al Mulla and Partners for Offshore Litigation?
We offer a full spectrum of offshore litigation services, from advisory and representation to expert witness testimony.
We prioritize our clients’ needs, providing tailored legal strategies that align with their business objectives and mitigate risks.
Recent Cases
Our client, a minority shareholder holding 34% in a limited liability company (LLC), faced a prolonged denial of rights due to the company’s managers’ failure to fulfil their statutory obligations. For over a decade, the managers neglected to convene annual general meetings, declare profits, or distribute dividends to shareholders — effectively withholding our client’s rightful share of earnings.
Recognizing the gravity of this breach, Habib Al Mulla and Partners filed a substantive claim seeking the appointment of a financial expert to audit the company’s accounts and determine the accumulated dividends from 2003 to 2022. The claim further sought to compel both the company and its managers to pay our client’s share of profits.
Despite the company’s LLC structure — which typically shields managers from personal liability — our team successfully demonstrated their direct accountability for breaching statutory duties. The court issued a landmark judgment, ordering the company and its managers jointly and severally to pay our client approximately AED 28 million in overdue dividends.
The opposing parties escalated the case before the Dubai Court of Appeal and subsequently the Dubai Court of Cassation. Both higher courts upheld the original judgment in full, affirming our client’s rights and the managers’ liability.
With the judgment now final and binding, we have entered the enforcement stage, ensuring our client receives full recovery. This victory underscores our firm’s unmatched expertise in commercial disputes, shareholder rights, and corporate governance, setting a benchmark for accountability in the UAE’s corporate landscape.
Our client, a leading Big Four consultancy firm, faced a complex dispute following a criminal complaint it had filed against a former employee for alleged data theft. While the criminal case ultimately resulted in an acquittal confirmed by the Dubai Court of Cassation, the employee subsequently filed a civil lawsuit against our client, claiming AED 11 million in damages. The claimant alleged that the criminal complaint constituted an abuse of rights and caused reputational and financial harm.
Representing our client, Habib Al Mulla and Partners developed a focused and proactive strategy from the outset: to demonstrate that the client’s actions were lawful, justified, and undertaken in good faith. We underscored that the complaint had been filed responsibly, and that the Public Prosecutor’s referral to trial validated the existence of sufficient legal grounds.
Through meticulous legal reasoning and persuasive advocacy, our team successfully established that our client had acted within the scope of its legal rights and without any malicious intent. The Dubai Court of First Instance rejected the claim in its entirety, finding no evidence of abuse of process. This outcome was subsequently upheld by both the Court of Appeal and the Court of Cassation, bringing the matter to a definitive close.
This case reaffirms our firm’s track record in defending multinational clients against complex and high-value civil claims, safeguarding both their financial and reputational interests through precision, integrity, and strategic foresight.
Our firm successfully represented a leading equipment and crane supplier in a complex dispute involving the cancellation of its commercial agency by a former partner. The opposing party sought to revoke the agency registration and recover more than USD 16 million, alleging outstanding payments.
In response, our team filed a counterclaim before the Commercial Agencies Committee, seeking to annul the cancellation decision and claim compensation for unlawful competition and resulting losses.
Through a rigorous litigation strategy and compelling expert evidence, the Court of Appeal overturned the Ministry of Economy’s decision to deregister the agency and awarded our client AED 21,968,005 in damages, upholding its rights as the lawful agent. The Court of Cassation later affirmed this judgment, making it final and binding.
This outcome reflects our firm’s deep expertise in commercial agency law, competition disputes, and appellate advocacy, reaffirming our position as one of the UAE’s leading firms in protecting clients’ commercial rights and market standing.