Tom has specialized in Middle East financial restructuring, working capital management, and business turnaround since 2010.

Tom advises lenders, credit funds, SWF’s, large corporates and family offices. He also supports in Court supervised situations. Tom’s sector experience has been focused on Capital Projects and Construction as well as Manufacturing and Retail.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England & Wales.
 

Emma Higham is an employment and immigration partner within the MEA Regional team and is based in our Doha office. Emma has been based in Qatar for over 20 years and prior to becoming a lawyer, she was an accountant working with a Big4 firm.  During her extensive career in the region, she has seen and contributed to clients’ growth and strategic planning.  Emma’s practice covers all aspects of Qatar employment and immigration law in both the State and the QFC.  She has a diverse global mobility immigration practice for multinational clients assisting with all aspects of their people mobilisation schemes (and dependants). 
Clients in this year's Legal 500, referred to "The 'absolutely outstanding' Emma Higham focuses on employment issues and 'goes above and beyond' for her clients, providing 'in-depth knowledge of the law and practice in Qatar'.”

Jim Sturman KC is widely recognised as one of the UK’s top defence barristers in the areas of fraud and financial crime, acing for corporate clients and individuals.  He offers vast experience in cases involving the most serious and complex criminal fraud allegations and has acted in some of the most high-profile cases in recent British legal history. His practice is also marked by its astonishing breadth: in addition to financial crime, he is also ranked as one of the leading barristers in the areas of sanctions, general crime, sports law and health and safety. Jim has advised all over the world in criminal cases and in arbitrations involving allegations of corruption and/or fraud.
Jim acted in the Petropavlovsk case before the High Court in England acting for the Joint administrators of an English holding company which successfully applied for a court order seeking permission under the IA 1986 to proceed with the sale of its business to a Russian entity. Jim has aced and advised in numerous cass where dishonesty has been alleged in relation to insolvency and attempts to secure corporate recovery. See more details at https://www.2bedfordrow.co.uk/barrister/jim-sturman-kc/
 

Rita is the Chief Legal and Compliance officer and Board Secretary at Lesha Bank. She has over 17 years of experience in both private and public listed companies in legal and compliance, providing guidance in the commercial and operational context.
Prior to joining Lesha Bank, Rita, worked for 8 years with Vodafone Qatar P.Q.S.C. and Infinity Solutions LLC. Rita worked also at Jaidah Group and SGBL.
Rita holds an executive MBA from HEC Paris and a master degree in law from the Lebanese University – Filiere Francophone de Droit – Faculty of Law and Political Science. Rita also holds a Mini-MBA in Telecommunications from Telecom and Tech Academy United Kingdom Academy (Qatar) and a certificate from INSEAD in Leading Organizations in Disruptive Times.
 

Umar Azmeh was appointed Registrar in October 2022, and oversees the management of cases before the Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre. He is also a member of the senior management team and the Judicial Advisory Board.

Umar qualified and practised as both a barrister and a solicitor in the United Kingdom. He has extensive legal experience including work in government (having worked for the Attorney General of England and Wales, and for the senior judiciary in the Court of Appeal), private practice and in-house. Since joining the QICDRC, he has, among other things, authored the guide to proceedings before the QFC Court (the User Guide, also known as the ‘Maroon Book’), and is the co-author of Azmeh and Nicol on the Law and Practice of the QFC Civil and Commercial Court and Regulatory Tribunal (1st Edition, LexisNexis UK, 2025).

Umar holds an LL.B. degree from King’s College, University of London, an M.Sc. degree from the University of Oxford (Worcester College) where he graduated first in his year, and a doctorate in law from the University of Oxford (St Anne’s College).