9 - 13 November 2026
Regional disruption is testing the Gulf’s construction industry like never before. So why is Dubai proving more resilient than many of its neighbours?
Join leading voices from the worlds of economics, development and dispute resolution for a timely discussion on what’s keeping projects moving, supply chains flowing and investor confidence alive amid ongoing regional uncertainty.
When a major project begins to unravel, can you fix it without weakening your commercial position in a future arbitration?
Through discussion and contrasting perspectives, the panellists will examine the challenges that arise as projects move towards dispute: the warning signs, how emerging risks can look different to different stakeholders, and the actions available to those seeking to address problems before positions become entrenched.
Drawing on practical experience, the session will consider the decisions that can influence whether a troubled project recovers or develops into a significant claim. Panellists will explore how to balance the demands of project delivery with contractual protection, the role of project reviews and contemporaneous records, and the sometimes difficult relationship between commercial collaboration and legal positioning.
The discussion will offer perspectives on recognising dispute risk earlier, considering when and how to intervene, and managing the interests of both the project and the organisation.
AGENDA
1pm-1.30pm – Networking lunch
1.30pm-2.30pm – Panel discussion
2.30pm-3pm – Networking coffee
SPEAKERS
Jed SAVAGER, Partner, Pinsent Masons
Mehmet Serhat CALISIR, Senior Director Claims, Damac
Richard SCOTT, Partner, Accuracy
Alasdair SNADDEN, Partner, Accuracy
Mediation is playing an increasingly prominent role in resolving commercial disputes across the region, yet many lawyers remain far more comfortable advocating in an arbitral tribunal or a courtroom than in a mediation room. The skills that win in an adversarial forum — combative framing, positional bargaining, playing every card close to the chest — can actively work against a client in mediation. Effective mediation advocacy requires a different toolkit, and lawyers who master it are able to secure better, faster, and more durable outcomes for their clients.
This seminar is designed for practising lawyers who advise clients in commercial disputes and want to sharpen their mediation advocacy skills. Drawing on real-world examples — including the particularly high-stakes and emotionally complex world of family business disputes — the session will equip attendees with practical, transferable techniques they can apply across their commercial practice.
Topics will include:
The advocate’s role in mediation: how it differs from advocacy in arbitration or litigation, and why the same tactics don’t translate
Preparing clients for mediation: managing expectations, identifying real interests behind stated positions, and building settlement authority
Persuasion techniques for joint sessions and private caucuses
Common tactical errors that stall or derail settlement — and how to avoid them
Case study focus: mediating commercial disputes involving family-owned businesses — where shareholder, governance and succession issues intersect with commercial claims, and where relationships (not just remedies) are often at stake
Practical takeaways lawyers can apply in their next mediation, regardless of sector
Timing:
Registration: 10:30
Panel Discussion: 11:00
Networking & refreshments: 12:15 onwards
Format: Interactive panel discussion with practitioner insights, case study and networking reception.
Chair:
Aseel Zimmo, Mediator
Speakers:
Nicole Buncher, Counsel, Clifford Chance
Christine Maksoud, Mediator
Henrietta Jackson-Stops, Mediator, IPOS Mediation
Walid Chiniaria, Family Business Advisor
Ahmad Chit, Partner, Grant Thornton
A 90-minute panel on the single assumption that most often explains the gap between claimant and respondent quantum experts: the discount rate. Working through one DCF example, the panel will show how choices on country-risk premium, currency, valuation date and project-specific risk move a damages figure, where risk gets double-counted between cash flows and the rate, and how tribunals have treated these choices in commercial and investment awards.
The session is aimed at counsel and arbitrators who have to test a valuation rather than build one: what to ask the expert, which inputs are evidence and which are judgment, and how to narrow the difference between two experts before the hearing.
Format: 60-minute moderated panel (testifying economist), followed by 30 minutes of Q&A.
Hosted by Forensic Economic Services LLC (Los Angeles).
Email Info@Rule703.com and book your seat before we are all booked.
Clyde & Co is delighted to be participating in Dubai Arbitration Week 2026.
On Monday 9 November 2026, we invite you to join us for an engaging discussion on:
Procedural efficiency: “Due process paranoia” and strategies for reducing time and cost in international arbitration.
We will host two panel discussions revolving around the hot topic of procedural caution versus procedural efficiency. Bringing together leading arbitrators, counsel and experts, we will explore how the industry is responding to growing demands for efficiency, proportionality and commerciality in dispute resolution, while maintaining confidence in the integrity of the arbitral process. Particular focus will be given to the management of expert evidence, procedural innovation and the role of tribunals in driving more effective outcomes.
Each session will conclude with an interactive Q&A, providing an opportunity to engage directly with our panel of experts and share insights with fellow arbitration practitioners.
Agenda
8:15 – Registration, networking, and refreshments
08:55 – Introduction
Speaker: Susie Abdel-Nabi, Partner and Head of Arbitration and Litigation, Middle East Clyde & Co
09:00 – Panel one: “Due Process Paranoia” in Construction Arbitration?
As parties continue to strive for a faster and more cost-effective dispute resolution process, this session will examine whether modern construction arbitration continues to respond to that need or whether it currently risks losing its competitive advantage over litigation as a result of a fixation by tribunals on due process.
This panel discussion will draw on practical experience from first-rate Arbitrator, Counsel and Expert individuals, who will discuss procedural efficiency in the arbitration process, focusing on expert evidence and picking up on Lord Neuberger’s comments at LIDW 2026 in which he encouraged arbitrators to be more courageous in managing the arbitration process.
Moderator:
• Alexa Hall, Partner, Energy and Construction, Clyde & Co
Speakers:
• Tom Anderson, Senior Associate, Energy and Construction, Clyde & Co
• Sean Brannigan KC, Barrister, 4 Pump Court
• Guy Elkington, Senior Managing Director, Ankura
• Sarah-Jane Fick, Head of Arbitration, Dubai Holding
10:00 – Networking and refreshments
10:30 – Panel two: Procedural Efficiency in Commercial Arbitration
As clients continue to demand faster and more cost-effective dispute resolution, this session will examine the procedural tools, strategies and innovations available to parties and tribunals.
Through a discussion of summary disposal, interim measures, mediation and alternative procedural approaches, the panel will explore how disputes can be resolved more efficiently without compromising the quality or fairness of the process.
Moderator:
• Keith Hutchison, Partner, Arbitration and Litigation, Clyde & Co
Speakers:
• Sherif Akl, Director Arbitration & ADR Middle East, ICC
• Lucy Nash, Legal Director, Arbitration and Litigation, Clyde & Co
• Robert Lewsley, Senior Legal Counsel, Head, Disputes and Government Investigations Legal, Africa & Middle East, Standard Chartered Bank
• Tom Parkin, Senior Associate, Arbitration and Litigation, Clyde & Co
11:30 – Closing remarks and session wrap-up
As investment in energy infrastructure expands across the Middle East, increasingly complex projects are creating new technical, contractual, and commercial challenges for owners, contractors, and their counsel. This panel will explore how disputes arise during the design, construction, commissioning, and operation of conventional and renewable energy facilities, and how those disputes ultimately reach international arbitration. Particular attention will be given to features of projects and dispute resolution in the Middle East, including the evolving regional arbitration landscape. Drawing on practical experience, the panel will conclude with lessons for counsel and project participants on managing technical evidence and positioning complex energy disputes for effective resolution.