Fareya Azfar
Partner, Dispute Resolution
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Fareya Azfar is co-founder and managing partner of Fareya Azfar & Araoui LLP, an ADGM-registered private capital and international disputes firm in Abu Dhabi. She has practised in the UAE since 2010 and acts for owner-managed companies, family offices and private investors in high-value cross-border disputes.
She founded the firm in 2019. It operates on a partner-only model, in which every matter is led by a partner and no work is passed to a junior tier. In 2022 it became the first law firm in the UAE to receive venture capital funding.
Before founding the firm she practised at Gateley plc in Dubai, Hadef & Partners in Abu Dhabi, and The Legal Group in Dubai. She holds an LLB from the University of London.
Practice Focus
Her practice is international arbitration and commercial litigation. She has been lead counsel in more than 130 international arbitration proceedings and has secured final awards in over 100 of them.
Fareya acts in the disputes that decide the value of a business rather than the terms of a single contract: shareholder disputes, joint venture breakdowns, and corporate crises requiring parallel proceedings in more than one jurisdiction. She advises boards and executive teams directly through those proceedings.
Her institutional experience covers DIAC, arbitrateAD, the ICC International Court of Arbitration and the LCIA, and ad hoc tribunals under the LMAA and UNCITRAL Rules. She has appeared before the ADGM Courts, the DIFC Courts and the UAE onshore courts.
She sits as an arbitrator on the panels of DIAC, the ADGM Arbitration Centre and the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.
Alongside the contentious practice she has run the compliance function of a law firm for five years as money laundering reporting officer and data protection officer, and completed certification at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in intellectual property, ESG and corporate compliance.
She is on the panel of accredited and experienced arbitrators and mediators at the ADGM Dispute Resolution Hearing Centre, appointing the highest professional calibre.
Licences and Admissions
Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales, admitted 2018
Advocate, Sindh Bar Council, Pakistan, admitted 2010
Registered legal consultant, United Arab Emirates
Experience Highlights
Energy & Infrastructure: Acted as counsel in a massive USD 1 billion dispute concerning the design, development, construction, and operation of an integrated water desalination and power production plant in the Middle East (Seat: Abu Dhabi, Rules: ICC).
Oil & Gas EPC Project: Managed a confidential, high-value joint venture dispute involving a major UAE oil and gas company and a global energy corporation regarding a main contractor on an EPC project in an active oil field (Seat: Abu Dhabi, Rules: ICC).
Sovereign Project Financing: Handled a confidential development agreement termination and financing dispute between an Emirati borrower and the State of Qatar, backed by a prominent Abu Dhabi bank (Seat: Abu Dhabi, Rules: ICC).
Cross-Border JV Dissolution (USD 450m): Navigated the dissolution of a joint venture between a large regional conglomerate and a prominent real estate developer, successfully securing a court order to freeze 38% of the JV’s shareholding (Seat: Eastern Caribbean, Rules: Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal).
Parallel Corporate Proceedings (USD 450m): Managed complex parallel cross-border arbitration proceedings within the UAE regarding the unlawful termination of a joint venture while foreign arbitration proceedings were concurrently ongoing in Dubai (Seat: Dubai, Rules: DIAC).
Public Development Consultancy (AED 199m): Represented clients in an ICC arbitration seated in Abu Dhabi regarding sustainability ratings under a consultancy agreement for a public building.
Maritime Enforcement (USD 150.2m): Provided legal advisory on the enforcement of two English Court orders in the DIFC Courts under the Arbitration Act 1996, involving a major shipping company (Seat: London, Rules: LMAA)
Languages and Skills
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Practice Areas
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Fareya Azfar & Araoui LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in the Abu Dhabi Global Market under registration number 000002420.
The law firm is subject to the Overseas and Cross-border Practice Rules of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) of England and Wales which can be found at sra.org.uk
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Fareya Azfar & Araoui LLP
Al Maqam Tower,
aDGM Square, Maryah Island
abu Dhabi, UAE
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