Zouhdi Yakan - Partner

Zouhdi Yakan

Partner - Corporate Commercial / Banking and Finance / Dispute Resolution

Professional Highlights :

• Ranked Band 3, Chambers Global 2026 – Dispute Resolution: Domestic: Without Rights of Audience (UAE)
• Arbitrator, Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) Panel
• Mediator — Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Dispute Resolution Hearing Centre; ADGM Courts-Annexed Mediation Scheme (Pro Bono Mediators Panel); Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts; Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA)
• Arbitrator & Mediator, Lebanese Arbitration and Mediation Center (LAMC) Roster
• CEDR and ADR Center Accredited Mediator, Accredited Neutral (TheNeutrals.Org )
• Member, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC-UAE)
• Advisory Council Member, The Mediation Hub MENA

Experience & Expertise

Zouhdi Yakan is a seasoned Partner, based in Abu Dhabi with over two decades of legal expertise, including significant tenure in the UAE. Specializing in corporate and commercial law, banking and finance, and dispute resolution, Mr. Yakan offers comprehensive advice on a wide range of business transactions, including setups, corporate structuring and restructuring, M&As, joint ventures, and the crafting and analysis of complex contracts. His legal expertise extends to a variety of sectors, including construction, architecture, commercial finance, banking (conventional and Islamic), insurance and brokerage, real estate, IT, employment, commercial agencies and more.

Zouhdi counsels and represents domestic and international clients in relation to UAE laws and regulations, compliance and corporate governance matters. At Shaikha Almehrzi Advocates & Legal Consultants (LAW HOUSE), he leads the firm’s arbitration and ADR practice, overseeing all aspects from initiation to the enforcement or annulment of awards, and represents clients in resolving disputes through strategic negotiation and out-of-court settlements using his mediation techniques.

He sits as arbitrator in ad hoc arbitration proceedings, having been appointed by DIAC, and has acted as counsel and co-counsel in ad hoc and institutional arbitrations arising from construction, commercial contracts, investment arrangements, real estate, and share purchase agreements. He has worked in the field of international arbitration in disputes involving international sales, banking, B.O.T. and construction (FIDIC) and engaged in arbitration hearings, including pleadings, examination, and cross-examination of witnesses across Lebanon, UAE, Paris, Geneva, and Lausanne.

He is also a skilled mediator and negotiator, having mediated disputes and co-mediated a wide range of disputes as a volunteer with the California Academy for Mediation Professionals (CAMP) in Los Angeles, within the Los Angeles County Superior Court’s mediation programs. He trained under and shadowed leading US mediators, including Lee Jay Berman (American Institute of Mediation) and Richard Chernick (VP and MD, JAMS Arbitration Practice), gaining practical insight into complex mediations across diverse practice areas. He also co-trained a 40-Hour Mediation Training Program with the American Bar Association (ABA) and Pepperdine University in Jordan in 2007.
He serves as a trainer with the ADR Center, where he delivered "Mediation Advocacy" workshops under the Government of Dubai Legal Affairs Department (LAD) CLPD programme, and co-trained the ADR Center, LAD-accredited 40-Hour International Mediation Training in Arabic (2025). He also contributes as a trainer to DIAC's Professional Diploma in International Arbitration.

Publications & Thought Leadership

Zouhdi contributes actively to the field through publishing and thought leadership. He has authored and co-authored several works on mediation and arbitration, including:
• “Filing Civil and Commercial Lawsuits Before Dubai Courts: Overview” (Thomson Reuters, 1 August 2025);
• “Mediation: Are All Disputes Alike? Strategies for a Mediator to Successfully Navigate Particular Situations” (LexisNexis, 10 February 2025);
• “Procedural Steps in a DIAC Arbitration (2022 Rules)” (Thomson Reuters Practical Law, 14 January 2025).

He also authored a comparative study titled “The Adoption of the UNCITRAL Model Law by Egypt and Tunisia-A Comparative Study”, (The Lebanese Review of Arab and International Arbitration, 2004) and contributed significantly to the third Arabic edition of Dr. El Ahdab’s Encyclopedia of Arbitration (three volumes).

Zouhdi speaks regularly at international conferences as a speaker, panelist and moderator, and contributes actively to the ADR field and other areas of law. He served as an Assessor at the CDRC Vienna IBA-VIAC Mediation & Negotiation Competition in July 2025 and July 2026.

Education & Affiliations

• LL.M. in Dispute Resolution (2004), Pepperdine University, Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Malibu, California
• B.A. in Political Science from the Lebanese American University,
• LL.B. Lebanese University.
• Member of the Beirut Bar Association.

Email:  zyakan@lawhouse.ae