Profile

Sophia is a US qualified attorney with extensive experience in cross-border transactions and dealing with sophisticated regulatory issues including competition, capital markets and financial services in the UAE and KSA. She also has experience leading the legal due diligence and restructuring aspects of complex transactions and regularly advises clients on a variety of commercial agreements, including franchise, licensing, distribution and trademark agreements.

Prior to joining Hourani & Partners, Sophia was a member of the Government Affairs team at GE based in Washington, DC, where she assisted the head of Regulatory Affairs in the areas of compliance, aviation, drone and additive manufacturing regulations. She also worked as a Law Clerk in the United States Senate, where she assisted the Transportation Counsel with researching and drafting legislation concerning surface transportation.

Expertise
  • Capital Markets
  • Regulatory
  • Corporate
  • Commercial
Experience

Sophia’s experience includes advising:

  • Several large multi-national companies including, a Japanese multi-national electronics corporation, a leading ESG company and a German multi-national supply chain management company, on Saudi merger control laws and their economic concentration filing requests with the General Authority for Competition in Saudi Arabia
  • An international investment bank on various aspects relating to a SAR 573,750,000 murabaha facility in connection with the acquisition of a majority stake in KSA’s leading digital transformation enabler
  • A leading nutrition provider based in the UAE on its websites’ privacy policies
  • A leading Saudi distributor of globally established brands on the set up of multiple joint ventures with internationally renowned luxury brands
  • The founder of a UAE homegrown café restaurant on franchise terminations
Qualifications

Education

  • JD, American University – Washington, College of Law, USA
  • BA, Foreign Affairs, University of Virginia, USA

Admissions

  • Virginia State Bar, USA
  • Dubai Legal Affairs Departments, UAE
Languages
  • English
  • Spanish