Ali Al Zarooni

Practice Areas

Ali is the founder and managing partner of Horizons & Co., and a practicing Emirati lawyer. With almost 30 years of experience, Ali specialises in disputes resolution, notably litigation and arbitration, as well as providing sophisticated UAE local corporate and commercial legal advice. He has deep sector expertise especially in the areas of real estate and construction, financial institutions, and private clients.

He has represented some of the most prominent companies, establishments and individuals before all levels of courts and various arbitration tribunals in the UAE, GCC region and around the world. Ali is also regularly appointed as both an Independent Expert and as an advocate on matters of UAE law and its applicability to disputes.

Ali also leads the litigation team, supporting many prominent companies and individuals before all levels of the UAE courts. He is especially renowned for his real estate and construction sector expertise, where he advises on often very technical, complex and high-value cases for clients including government departments, developers, occupiers, lenders, contractors and consultants.

A registered arbitrator with DIAC and a registered member of the Islamic Centre for Reconciliation and Arbitration (IICRA), Ali is also regularly appointed as an arbitrator or legal expert by both institutions along with the ICC, ADCCAC and the local UAE courts.

Career

Founder and Managing Partner of Horizons & Co. Law Firm, 1999 - Present

Professional Memberships

• Arbitrator registered with Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC)

• Arbitrator registered with Abu Dhabi Global Markets (ADGM)

• Chartered Arbitrator Fellow with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb)

• Registered with ADGMAC Panel of Mediators

• Registered with ADGMAC Panel of Arbitrators

• Arbitrator registered for the Saudi Centre for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA)

• Arbitrator registered with Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC)

• Registered Legal Practitioner with the DIFC Courts

• Member of the International Bar Association, London

• Member of the UAE National Committee for International Chamber of Commerce (ICC UAE)

• Member of the International Committee of the Indian Council of Arbitration (ICA)

Publications

Highlights of recent speaking engagements:

- Speaking at the ICC-YAAF Dubai Arbitration Week event on “Middle Eastern perspectives on cross-border disputes”, November 2023.

-Panelist at GAR Live during Dubai Arbitration Week, discussing a roundup of key court decisions in the region, November 2023.

-Panelist at The Legal 500 (Legalease)'s Middle East Disputes Summit, discussing the new era of commercial agency disputes, September 2023.

-Speaking at the Russian Arbitration Center seminar at Russian Institute of Modern Arbitration on “Arbitrating through the thorns: how to conduct international arbitration proceedings nowadays”, July 2023.

-Speaking at The Wealth Today's FoRe Summit, hosted by Forensic Risk Alliance, on the "Global and Regional Trends in the Legal and Regulatory Framework for Restructuring and Insolvencies“, June 2023.

-Providing training as part of the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC)'s comprehensive training program on how to handle arbitration cases under the DIAC rules, whether as counsel or arbitrators, June2023.

-Panelist at the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) webinar on "The Challenges of Delivering Major Projects in the Middle East and their Impact on Disputes“, May 2023

-Speaking to students at Al Ain University on the topic of “Careers in arbitration and ADR” with ICC YAAF in November 2022.​

-Speaker at the ICA-FICCI conference providing a meaningful overview of current developments in the field of domestic & international arbitration and its interplay between civil and common law, March 2022.

-Speaker at the ICC and SCL Egypt Conference on ‘Claims and Dispute Resolution Mechanisms: what’s new in FIDIC 2017 compared to FIDIC 1999?’ in Cairo, Egypt, November 2019

-Panelist at the ThoughtLeaders4: FIRE Middle East 2022 on the topic of “Enforcing Judgments in the UAE and the Middle East” in Dubai, November 2022.​

-Panelist at the L2 i-CON International Construction Claims and ADR Conference on ”Expert Evidence in Construction Disputes: Problems and Safeguards” in Dubai, November 2022.​

-Panelist on the The GAR Live - UAE Federal Arbitration Act – Three years into the UAE Federal Arbitration Act, discussed developments since the implementation of the law, February 2022

Speaker at the ICA International Conference on Arbitration in the era of globalization – The Fourth Edition, January 2022

Work Highlights

- A Middle East-based contractor in relation to delayed payments by the employer, one of the largest developers in the UAE. Valued at AED55.9m, the case was referred to Dubai Courts and engineering experts were appointed to verify claims. The case is ongoing as claims experts are still examining the documents.

- A multinational contractor in relation to a dispute arising out of an EPC contract in relation to several construction projects at eight ports across the UAE. The opponent filed a dispute before ADRC, requesting the appointment of an expert to verify their entitlement to AED 49.2 million, stating this relates to additional works and variations carried out by the claimant. The expert however found that our client was only liable to pay AED 8 million.

- A major UAE development company on their dispute with a fellow developer concerning a land deal. We successfully argued and the court agreed that all sales and purchase agreements of the disputed lands should be terminated with all amounts paid by our client to be returned plus compensation by the other party’s breach of obligations.

- A prominent local conglomerate in the successful award of a claim valued at AED 120 million against a semi-government owned developer, for compensation concerning a rental dispute regarding a multi-use development in the UAE.

- A UAE-based contractor in their successful claim against the main contractor of USD 85 million relating to an oil and gas construction project in the Middle East and continue to advise in the subsequent appeal made by the main contractor.

- Several defendants in their commercial disputes filed cases against the debtor, and the personal and corporate guarantors. Joined in the case the other companies due to pay the funds to our client requiring them to pay under the assignments of revenue instead of paying the funds/revenue to the debtor towards the facility. This was valued at over AED 700 million. The main debtor was held jointly liable with other personal and corporate guarantors to pay the facility amount to the creditor.

- A syndicate of 10 separate banks bankruptcy proceedings before the Abu Dhabi Court against KBBO group and its billionaire shareholders (His Highness Sheikh Saeed al Qubaisi and Khalifa Al Muhairi) for facilities valued at more than AED 7 billion (USD 2 billion).

Industry Sector Expertise

- Construction

- Real Estate

- Financial Services

-Infrastructure & Energy

- Private Client and Family Offices

-White Collar Crime, Fraud and Investigations

Languages Spoken

Arabic and English

Education

Awards