Could you provide a brief journey of how you arrived where you are today?
I started my career at the New York office of King & Spalding exactly 11 years ago. After having spent four years with a different law firm practicing law in Kuwait, I joined King & Spalding’s Middle East & Islamic Finance Practice Group in New York as a lateral mid level associate. I practiced for four years in New York working with my mentor Isam Salah, who was and still is the global head of our Middle East & Islamic Finance Practice Group and is now my partner, mainly representing Middle East Shariah compliant clients in connection with their real estate and private equity investments in the US.

In 2002, I moved to London and embarked on a journey that took me across Europe working on behalf of various clients making real estate and private equity investments on a Shariah compliant basis. Between 2002 and 2006, along with my practice group team members, we built a premier tier one award winning Islamic finance and investment practice in Europe and were responsible for a number of “first ever” Shariah compliant structures in European jurisdictions. In 2006, the firm decided to open Middle East offices in Dubai, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. I took a leading role in the establishment of these offices.

In 2007, I relocated to Dubai and focused on expanding our Middle East practice to include representation of clients throughout the Middle East. I assumed the responsibility of recruiting partner for the Middle East offices. In 2009, I became the deputy global head of our Middle East & Islamic Finance Practice Group and in 2010 I took over from my partner Philip Weems, global head of our Energy Practice Group, as managing partner of our Middle East offices.

What does your role involve?
My job is to manage and expand the firm’s legal practice in the Middle East. This involves working with all the practice groups that are represented in our Middle East offices (energy, construction, international arbitration, real estate, M&A, private equity, investment funds, finance, projects & project finance and Islamic finance) to make sure that our firm’s strategic initiatives and objectives are being pursued in a manner that best serves our clients’ interests.

I am also a practicing lawyer with a heavy work load that requires much travel throughout the Middle East, Europe and Asia so management of time and priorities is critical in order for me to discharge my duties in an efficient manner.

What is your greatest achievement to date?
Participating in the building of a truly global Islamic finance and investment practice that has strong capabilities in multiple offices (New York, London, Dubai, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi) and that serve clients in the US, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa.

What are the factors contributing to the success of your company?
King & Spalding’s success in the Middle East can be attributed to many factors. The first is our great team which collectively has over 50 years of experience in the Middle East.

The quality of our team and the depth of our collective experience in the Middle East in general and Islamic finance and investment in particular. This experience was gained by our team over the past two decades working on behalf of Shariah-compliant investors and funds structuring acquisitions and financings of real estate and private equity investments in multiple jurisdictions at the asset level.

Second is our focused approach and the fact that we do not claim or hold ourselves to be everything to everyone. We are focused on practice areas and industries that coincide with our firm’s strategic initiatives globally and in which we feel we have great expertise. These practice areas include, Islamic finance and investment, private equity, M&A, real estate, investment funds, financial restructuring, international trade, construction and international arbitration.

Furthermore, we are focused on certain industries that our firm is renowned for globally like energy, healthcare, pharma/biotech, education and real estate.

What are the obstacles faced in running your business today?
As we expand throughout the Middle East and Asia, the challenge is to recruit quality lawyers who not only have the expertise we require but can fit in to our firm’s culture and buy into our ethos and strategy.

Where do you see the Islamic finance industry in, say, the next five years or so?
There is no doubt in my mind that the Islamic finance and investment market will continue to grow rapidly over the next five years. The question is whether this market will be hijacked and diverted from achieving its main goal of creating an alternative financial and investment system for Muslims and non-Muslims. The danger is that the Islamic finance and investment market will continue on the path of mimicking conventional finance and investment products.

Name one thing you would like to see change in the world of Islamic finance.
The mimicking of conventional finance and investment products under the disguise of necessity, innovation and standardization. I would like to see the Islamic finance and investment market return to the concepts of direct investment based on risk taking and profit sharing.