Mediation in Dispute Clauses:

Farid Bin
Hussain

Legal Counsel & Head of Procurement and General Services Contracts,
Government of Dubai Legal Affairs Department

Farid is a UK-trained senior lawyer with over 26 years of distinguished experience across both public and private sectors. He currently serves as the Head of Procurement and General Services Contracts Section at the Government of Dubai Legal Affairs Department, where he advises on various complex, high-value and pioneering projects that carry strategic significance for the Emirate of Dubai, including the impending establishment of Dubai International Mediation Centre (Dubai Mediation). He is also an accredited and qualified mediator.

Before assuming his current position, Farid was a senior partner at an international law firm, where he played a pivotal role in establishing and expanding the firm’s operation across the MENA and CIS regions from its flagship office in Dubai. His legal career also includes a tenure as director of legal and corporate affairs at a pioneering digital certification entity in Malaysia, underscoring his versatility across jurisdictions and industries.
Farid’s broad expertise includes corporate and commercial law, infrastructure and procurement, finance, and information technology, with a strong focus on strategic legal advisory, risk mitigation, and cross-border transactions. With his dual grounding in common law and civil law systems, he brings a uniquely adaptable, pragmatic, and forward-thinking approach to legal practice in today’s dynamic and evolving legal landscape.

Muhammad Bin
Zainuddin

Legal Counsel, Procurement and General Services Contracts,
Government of Dubai Legal Affairs Department

Muhammad Syamsulfaiz is a senior legal counsel with over 20 years of experience in banking, finance, and dispute resolution. He qualified as a lawyer in 2002 in Malaysia and has been based in Dubai since 2008, having practised with both local and international law firms as well as a commercial bank in the UAE.

He currently serves as Legal Counsel in the Procurement and General Services Contracts Section at the Government of Dubai Legal Affairs Department. In this role, he advises on complex financial and contractual matters for key government stakeholders, including the Department of Finance, Dubai Financial Support Fund, Knowledge Fund Establishment, Dubai Airports, Dubai Paramilitary Pension Fund, The Executive Council, Dubai Supreme Fiscal Committee, and Dubai Investment Fund, among others. His areas of focus include banking and finance transactions, corporate exercises, IPOs, and public-private partnership (PPP) contracts. 

 

Prior to his current role, Muhammad Syamsulfaiz was involved in a number of high-profile financing restructuring transactions and arbitration proceedings in Dubai, particularly in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, during his years in private practice. This experience has shaped his practical understanding of dispute resolution and the role of mediation in complex commercial settings.

Moutasem Abu
Ghoush

Senior Legal Officer, Procurement and General Services Contracts,
Government of Dubai Legal Affairs Department

Moutasem is a legal counsel with over 10 years of experience in projects, insurance, and dispute resolution. Fluent in Arabic and English, he is qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales, and having worked for international law firms, and international private companies, he has over a decade of multi-jurisdictional experience in both contentious and non-contentious matters.

In his current capacity as Senior Legal Officer for the Government of Dubai Legal Affairs Department, within the Procurement and General Services Contracts Section, he provides legal counsel across a broad range of public sector agreements, and initiatives, for key government stakeholders, including His Highness the Ruler’s Court, The Executive Council, Government of Dubai Media Office, Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, among others.

Prior to his current role, in addition to being regional legal counsel, Moutasem was also leading an insurance programme and insurance claims across Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia for an international private company, where he focused on utilising his multi-cultural experience gained in the United Arab Emirates for resolving disputes amicably by acting as a mediator between the company, and the insurers, ensuring all disputes are resolved with outcomes suitable for all parties involved.