Bushra Ahmed

Bushra is a barrister and international disputes lawyer with more than 14 years’ experience practising in the UAE. She has a broad commercial disputes practice, acting across a wide range of sectors and areas of law, with particular experience in complex, high-value and cross-border matters.

Her practice spans litigation, arbitration, enforcement, investigations and urgent interim relief. She is regularly instructed where disputes involve multiple jurisdictions, overlapping legal and regulatory issues, significant assets or reputational considerations, and where a coordinated strategy is required across court, arbitral and enforcement proceedings.

Bushra has acted in a number of precedent-setting and first-of-their-kind cases before the DIFC Courts, including landmark disputes concerning financial mis-selling and litigation funding, cryptocurrency and digital assets, disability discrimination and the extraterritorial scope of the DIFC Courts’ enforcement powers. She regularly coordinates proceedings across the DIFC, ADGM, onshore UAE, England and other jurisdictions.

She acts as counsel and arbitrator in major international arbitrations and has particular experience in urgent interim measures, freezing and asset-preservation relief, recognition and enforcement and cross-border asset recovery.

Bushra is registered with the DIFC and ADGM Courts and Dubai Legal Affairs Department. She sits as an arbitrator in ICC, LCIA, DIAC, BCDR and other institutional proceedings, serves on the DIAC Advisory Committee and is President of the UAE Branch of the International Law Association.

Key Experience

• Acted in Khorafi v Sarasin Alpen, the first DIFC financial mis-selling claim supported by third-party litigation funding, including the first third-party funding arrangement litigated before the DIFC Courts. The proceedings helped establish important principles concerning structured investments, financial services liability, litigation funding and enforcement.
• Acted for the first defendant in Huobi OTC DMCC v Tabarak Investment Capital Limited, the first cryptocurrency dispute before the DIFC Courts’ Technology and Construction Division, including subsequent Court of Appeal proceedings concerning digital assets and the interpretation of DIFC exemptions.
• Acted in Ostin v Oleda, landmark DIFC Court of Appeal proceedings concerning the scope of the DIFC Courts’ powers to order the examination of judgment debtors and obtain information concerning assets outside the jurisdiction in aid of enforcement.
• Acting in the UAE aspects of Market Financial Solutions Limited (in administration) v Paresh Shantilal Raja, one of the largest fraud and insolvency disputes to come before the English courts, involving allegations of misappropriation exceeding £1 billion and parallel proceedings in England, the DIFC and onshore Dubai, including freezing, asset-preservation and cross-border enforcement measures.
• Acting in Eva Müller-Stuler v EY, the first disability discrimination claim before the DIFC Courts, involving discrimination, employment and jurisdictional issues under DIFC law.
• Acting for a resources company in a high-value cross-border aircraft dispute involving urgent out-of-hours injunctive relief before the English Commercial Court, emergency proceedings in Québec and related ICC arbitration proceedings concerning aircraft repossession, security and cross-border enforcement.
• Acted for a state owned Construction Company in ADGM Court proceedings arising out of ICC arbitration proceedings, involving jurisdictional and procedural issues concerning tribunal constitution, arbitral process and the supervisory role of the Court of the seat.
• Acted for a senior executive in Paramjit Kahlon v Liberty Holdings, a USD 30 million DIFC employment dispute involving LTIP entitlements, whistleblowing, discrimination allegations and complex jurisdictional issues across multiple group entities.
• Acting in a cross-border insolvency and asset-recovery matter involving approximately USD 100 million of assets, concerning the custody, control and release of client assets held through regulated entities in the DIFC and ADGM.
• Acted for shareholders and UHNW family members in complex cross-border disputes arising from the restructuring of a major family-owned business group, involving beneficial ownership, corporate control, fiduciary duties and parallel proceedings across multiple jurisdictions.
• Acting for a UHNW individual in a complex multi-strand UAE dispute involving parallel criminal, family and commercial proceedings, including issues concerning unlawful surveillance, privacy and cybercrime, alleged blackmail and defamation, together with substantial business, property and asset-ownership disputes.
• Acted for senior executives, partners and regulated professionals in DIFC employment and discrimination disputes, including matters involving termination, victimisation, whistleblowing, restrictive covenants, remuneration, bonus and LTIP entitlements and significant reputational issues.
• Acted in DIFC and onshore UAE proceedings concerning recognition, enforcement and asset recovery across multiple jurisdictions, including freezing orders, judgment-debtor examinations and urgent interim measures in support of foreign judgments and arbitral awards.
• Advised on complex investigations and contentious regulatory matters involving regulated financial institutions, boards and senior executives, including allegations of fraud, misconduct, governance failures and whistleblowing and matters engaging DIFC, DFSA and wider UAE regulatory considerations.
• Acted in ICC, DIFC-LCIA, DIAC and other institutional arbitrations arising from major commercial, shareholder, aviation and construction disputes, including related court proceedings for urgent injunctive, enforcement and asset-preservation relief.

Career History

Partner, Head of Dispute Resolution , KBH, Dubai
Barrister/Tenant, Ely Place Chambers, London
Door Tenant, Hatton Chambers, London
Middlesex University, Dubai, Visiting Lecturer in Law

Articles and Publications

• Insurance issues arising from the conflict in Iran
• Contributor to Business Law Journal on international dispute resolution and arbitration across the GCC
• Contributor to PLC Magazine on arbitration and commercial disputes
• Contributor to International Arbitration Review