Profile

Sunita is a partner and Head of Private Wealth & Family Offices practice group at Hourani & Partners. She is a UK qualified attorney and globally recognized as one of the leading experts in her field and advises significant business families, private clients based in the Middle East, Africa and SW Asia, as well as global trustees, private banks, regulatory authorities and foreign law firms, on cross-border Estate and Succession Planning, Asset Protection, Wealth Management, formulating and implementing Family Codes of Governance, Family Constitutions and establishing Family Offices in the Middle East.

Sunita is also known for dedicating time to teaching and spreading awareness of current legal and practical updates and developments in the regional private wealth sector, within the global advisory community. She is a full member of STEP (Africa and Arabia), IBA and The Cambridge Forum, and regularly chairs and presents at international wealth management forums.

Year-on-year Sunita is consistently ranked by Chambers and Partners as a Private Client and High Net Worth Advisor – “Sunita has a great knowledge of the market in the Middle East, is culturally aware and a great pleasure to work with.”

She is the only female lawyer in the UAE, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (and greater GCC) who is ranked as a Private Client Expert by Private Client Global Elite. She received the 2024 Private Client Lawyer of the Year Award and Top Recommended lawyer for Trusts, Structuring and Offshore by Spears Tax and Trust Advisers Index 2023.

Expertise
  • Private Wealth & Family Offices
  • Estate and Succession Planning
  • Foundations
  • Trusts and Wills
  • Asset Protection
  • Family Governance
Experience

Sunita’s experience includes advising:

  • One of the largest Saudi industrial family conglomerates in relation to the implementation of a family constitution and the restructuring of the group holding company to benefit from the new Saudi Companies Law which came into effect in January 2023 and restructuring of the ownership interests held by a number of Waqfs
  • A branch of a prominent Saudi banking family in relation to the implementation of a family charter and the restructuring of the group holding company to mitigate the risk of heirs and Waqfs disrupting the group’s operations
  • A prominent Saudi Family in relation to the restructuring of investments, companies and real estate properties that were held or owned by the family patriarch in order to ensure a smooth succession of ownership and transition of wealth to the next generation
  • The patriarch of one of the largest retail groups in Saudi Arabia in relation to the implementation of a family charter and the restructuring of the group holding company to facilitate the inclusion of the next generation of Family members and restore harmony within the Family
  • The patriarch and his large family in relation to establishing an estate and succession plan. The Family is a significant business family of four generations in the UAE, the core business of which is spread across the distribution of international brands, commercial and residential real estate, entertainment, hospitality, luxury goods and education
  • International Commercial Freezones of the Northern Emirates on the provision of legal services in connection with legal, policy and strategy services to further assist the Freezone to elevate itself as a world class jurisdiction and service provider and to help establish long-term and sustainable changes
  • On contentious multi-jurisdictional (three in total) financial issues which involved tracking and tracing the alleged (significant) misappropriated assets
  • UHNWI expats, who have amassed significant wealth, on relocation from various countries around the globe including, UK, Singapore and India, in relation to their pre-arrival, immigration, setting up a base, tax planning, and establishing estate and succession plans and Family Offices
Qualifications

Education

  • LLB, University of Westminster, UK

Admissions

  • Law Society of England & Wales, UK
  • Dubai Legal Affairs Department, UAE
Languages
  • English
  • Hindi
  • Urdu