Julie is a Senior Associate in the Commercial practice. She has more than 20 years legal practice experience, 14 years of which have been within the UAE market. She has expertise in corporate/commercial law, data protection, education, hospitality, cross-border transactions, corporate governance and compliance. Outside of the UAE, she has practised in Canada and in the United Kingdom, and has worked in private practice as well as in-house where she held Senior Legal Counsel and General Counsel positions.

Prior to teaming with Hadef & Partners, Julie was the head of the legal team for the Registration Authority at the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) where she led the team responsible for drafting and developing all commercial legislation in the financial centre.

Julie was previously General Counsel at an international university in Dubai and acted as the sole in-house counsel for the owner/operator of 31 international schools in the United Arab Emirates. During her time in the education field, Julie provided strategic, business-focused advice to Boards and management teams on all general corporate/commercial matters including drafting and reviewing all commercial agreements, providing legal advice on data protection, leasing, franchising, school management agreements, corporate governance and compliance.

Julie has also been in-house counsel for a major international hospitality group where she worked closely with the development team negotiating hotel management agreements across the Middle East and Africa. She was senior associate with Allen & Overy in London and Dubai.

Admissions

• Solicitor, England & Wales