< Previous30 November 2025law-middleeast.com COVER STORY LME_Nov2025_26-33_Cover story _13742000.indd 30LME_Nov2025_26-33_Cover story _13742000.indd 3027/10/2025 20:2827/10/2025 20:28November 2025 31law-middleeast.com The near-death I experienced was not physical. It was being forced to stop doing what I love—the law gave me something to live for alongside major local conglomerates. But for Hashish, success is not measured by size. He has no plans to expand beyond the fi rm’s Cairo base. Instead, his focus is on strengthening its international strategy and deepening partnerships with global law fi rms. “Our priority is to add value for our clients and build meaningful relationships with our international partners,” he says. “Joining a network may be a future step, but never at the expense of our identity.” RESILIENCE IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY In 2017, three years after launching the fi rm, Hashish’s world changed. “I was attending a meeting in the US,” he recalls. “When I returned to Cairo, I started to feel severe pressure on my left ear. The fi rst doctors said it was nothing. But a second opinion revealed a brain tumour pressing on my nerves.” Two surgeries in Germany followed. “Initially, they thought it was benign,” he says. “Then after having a third surgery in Switzerland, the results came back: an extremely rare and aggressive form of brain cancer. There was no approved treatment.” In addition to hearing loss, he began to suff er partial facial paralysis and a speech impediment. The prognosis was grim. “The doctor told me, ‘You have maybe a few weeks left’. I had no family history, no one to turn to for support. It was like the ground disappeared from beneath me.” But he refused to accept defeat. He scoured medical journals, contacted researchers, and connected with other patients battling the same condition. He eventually found an experimental therapy abroad. “I persuaded the medical board to approve it,” he says. “Two weeks later, the tumour started to shrink. The doctors were amazed.” He kept working throughout his ordeal, even answering emails and leading conference calls in the hours before his surgeries. “I would sleep PARTNER CONTENT LME_Nov2025_26-33_Cover story _13742000.indd 31LME_Nov2025_26-33_Cover story _13742000.indd 3127/10/2025 20:2827/10/2025 20:2832 November 2025law-middleeast.com COVER STORY LME_Nov2025_26-33_Cover story _13742000.indd 32LME_Nov2025_26-33_Cover story _13742000.indd 3227/10/2025 20:2827/10/2025 20:28November 2025 33law-middleeast.com for 20 hours a day from exhaustion. The few hours I was awake—I worked,” he says. “Work gave me purpose. It kept me sane.” FAITH, FAMILY AND THE FIGHT TO KEEP GOING Hashish speaks with deep gratitude for his family—his wife, Randa, who is also a lawyer, and his daughter, Khadijah. “The real courage came from them,” he says. “My family never treated me like a patient.” He credits that mindset—and his profession— with saving him. “The near-death I experienced was not physical,” he refl ects. “It was being forced to stop doing what I love—the law gave me something to live for.” His treatment continues to this day in terms of medication and lifestyle changes, including cutting back on work and stress and embracing a keto diet. The tumour, once 9.5 cm, is now 0.25 cm in size. “It is stable,” he says. “I am stable too.” LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP When asked how he leads a 30+ lawyer team while managing his health, Hashish says: “Time management is everything, and you must lead by example. No one is above accountability.” He is also clear about the culture he wants. “We build from within: I recruit junior lawyers and train them personally, then I let them lead. That is how you build a legacy fi rm.” On what he looks for in new hires, he says: “Every month, I receive hundreds of CVs. But only a handful stand out. Many graduates do not expend the eff ort. If you want something you have never had, you must do something you have never done before.” His story is ultimately one of resilience— in law, in leadership, and in life itself. “I have learned that resilience is not just about surviving,” he says. “It is about fi nding meaning, even when everything around you seems to fall apart.” 2017 The year Mohamed Hashish was diagnosed with brain cancer PARTNER CONTENT LME_Nov2025_26-33_Cover story _13742000.indd 33LME_Nov2025_26-33_Cover story _13742000.indd 3327/10/2025 20:2827/10/2025 20:2834 November 2025law-middleeast.com INTERVIEW 34November 2025law-middleeast.com INTERVIEW From his core leadership principles to what keeps him awake at night, in this transcript of a recent video interview, Kamran Bajwa, the managing partner and founder of Kirkland & Ellis’ Middle East practice and Riyadh offi ce, shares three qualities that make a Kirkland lawyer, the value of humility, and why, for him, leadership is guided by one belief: “A leader is a servant of the people.” Bajwa, our October 2025 cover star, also refl ects on balance and boundaries in a high- pressure career: “I work really hard to have a shut off point, an arm’s length distance to the absolute craziness that happens in our daily work lives,” he says. What three qualities make a Kirkland lawyer? Three qualities that make a Kirkland lawyer: an absolute commitment to the highest level of legal work product and excellence. The second would be an absolute commitment to the highest levels of client service. The third would be an entrepreneurial, passionate spirit and something at Kirkland & Ellis that we call the 'day one mentality'. What are your core leadership principles? Yeah, it is something I think about quite a bit and a very important topic that I think you have as a leader. I want to always be open to reassessing even what my core principles are. But what has got me to this point and what I believe in are a MEET THE MANAGING PARTNER: KAMRAN BAJWA FROM KIRKLAND & ELLIS In this transcript of a recent video interview, he shares what three qualities make a Kirkland lawyer, the value of humility, and his core leadership principles few things: one is humility. It is really important for a leader to remember that there have been many great leaders before you and there will be better leaders after you. So, having that humility and understanding that it took a lot of things and circumstances, and other people to get you in this position, is key. The second is having a spirit of learning. The world is a fast-changing place. Every leadership situation demands a diff erent approach, and if you are not constantly learning about leadership and assessing your skills and victories and challenges, you are going to eventually fall short. So, leadership demands learning and growing. Finally, I think the overarching principle is something that I learned from the Middle East culture. There is a famous saying about leadership which is in the tradition of Arab wisdom and that is, 'a leader is a servant of the people'. So, having that spirit of serving the people you lead and looking out for their advancement and what is best for them, that is really the lens through which I hope I can lead. Describe your biggest challenge and how you overcame it. Too many shortcomings and failures on a personal level that we have time for, but that is what I mean by humility. In other words, I am always looking at personal challenges and things that I fell short on because one of my themes in life is that your personal life and values are the most important drivers for your LME_Nov2025_ 34-36_Interview_13737805.indd 34LME_Nov2025_ 34-36_Interview_13737805.indd 3428/10/2025 13:3728/10/2025 13:37November 2025 35law-middleeast.com INTERVIEW November 202535law-middleeast.com INTERVIEW professional success. Anything that I have fallen short in as a father, as a husband, as a friend, I take those to heart and try to improve on that. And if I work on those things, I am going to be a better person and bring the best of myself to my work, and my work and professional career is going to be better. What is the one rule you have lived by throughout your career, and would pass on to others? I prioritise my interests and passions over career objectives. So, I have been very fortunate to guide my life based on whatever I feel is best and I am passionate and excited about career-wise, and I do not worry about the consequences. It just so happens that following that path has allowed me to be in this position of founding Kirkland's Riyadh offi ce and Middle East practice, but that was not by design. The goal was to follow my passion and be happy with the results. What keeps you awake at night? I try not to let work keep me up at night. So, in other words, if you let work keep you up at night, you are going to burn out really quick, and you are going to let your colleagues and clients down. So, I work really hard to have a shut off point, an arm's length distance to the absolute craziness that happens in our daily work lives. So, again, the only things that would keep me up at night is if I feel that I fell short on my really important duties in life to family, friends, and the values that I believe in. What advice would you give to an aspiring lawyer—both one to follow and one to avoid? For an aspiring lawyer, I would always say ultimately, your career is based on the excellence of your legal skills, and no matter how ambitious you are, and no matter how high you want to reach, it is never going to be without excellence in your legal skills. So, I preach to every young lawyer, do whatever you can to constantly improve your legal skills. And then once you have that as a basis, which is always a work in progress, you can start adding other things that diff erentiate you from lawyers, from the pack, and consequentially, one thing to avoid, it is related to the same point: do not start with the high-level relationship, marketing talk approach to law. There are certain markets where that is commonplace and lawyers that are hungry for business and interested in making a name for themselves, they can often get caught up in putting that in the lead, and again, that is a short-term solution. Once you do a few things for the client, they are going to realise that the substance is not there, if you led with that, instead of the legal excellence. What are your hobbies and interests? Oh, too many for this interview, and I am proud to say that, because if you do not have lots of hobbies and interests, the work will burn you out, because we give a lot of our early mornings and late evenings and decades to this job, as we should. But whenever I have free time, I love wellness and health. I am a huge fan of golf. I love what it does for me, personally, in terms of the mental and physical challenges. Spending time with family. I am an avid lifelong learner, in subjects outside the law. So, I love to read and discourse with scholars and other subjects. I work really hard to have a shut off point, an arm’s length distance to the absolute craziness that happens in our daily work lives LME_Nov2025_ 34-36_Interview_13737805.indd 35LME_Nov2025_ 34-36_Interview_13737805.indd 3528/10/2025 13:3728/10/2025 13:37March 2025 7law-middleeast.com INTERVIEW The inaugural Law Middle East Awards 2025 is launching in November, celebrating the fi rms and individuals driving meaningful impact across the region’s legal industry. The awards will recognise achievements across a range of categories, refl ecting the breadth of innovation and excellence shaping legal teams in the Middle East. The awards ceremony will convene the region’s most infl uential legal professionals from both private practice and in-house to recognise industry- defi ning accomplishments over the past year. This premier gathering for the region’s legal elite is set to be the most prestigious event on the Middle East legal calendar, honouring the best and brightest minds. Join us this November for an unforgettable evening of recognition, networking, and celebration. SPONSORSHIP david.bentley@itp.com EVENTS events@law-middleeast.com EDITORIAL aishah.hussain@itp.com CONTACT NOVEMBER 4, 2025 PALAZZO VERSACE DUBAI RECOGNISING THE REGION’S LEGAL ELITE SCAN TO VIEW THE SHORTLIST PARTNERS LME_Nov2025_7_Awards Law_13743851.indd 7LME_Nov2025_7_Awards Law_13743851.indd 729/10/2025 17:1229/10/2025 17:12November 2025 37law-middleeast.com AWARDS November 202025 3737laww-mi-m ddlleeaee st.com AWARDSS Top legal minds from Microsoft, Dubizzle, Dar Global, and more have joined the judging panel for the inaugural Law Middle East Awards 2025 MEET THE JUDGES ABOUT THE JUDGES ALI HAIDAR ROLE: HEAD OF LEGAL AFFAIRS COMPANY: MICROSOFT MIDDLE EAST Ali Haidar is a Canadian-qualifi ed barrister and solicitor with nearly 20 years of experience in Canada, the UK, and the Middle East. He has worked in both private practice, at fi rms such as Cliff ord Chance, and in-house for multinational companies such as 3M. Currently, he is the head of legal aff airs for Microsoft in the Middle East. In this role, he leads various legal and technology initiatives. With his extensive international experience and focus on ethical technology, Haidar helps companies navigate the complexities of AI and its eff ective application in legal practice. Top legal minds from Microsoft, Dubizzle, Dar Global, and more have joined the judging panel for the inaugural Law Middle East Awards 2025, taking place on November 4 at Palazzo Versace Dubai. Microsoft Middle East’s head of legal aff airs Ali Haidar joins Al Khaleej Investment chief legal offi cer Fadi Kilani, Dubizzle Group general counsel Mohammed Majid, Dar Global chief legal offi cer Charbel Sabeh, and Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Middle East and North Africa (MENA) board director and senior fi nance lawyer Layla El-Wafi , on this year’s judging panel. They are reviewing the shortlist—selected from over 350 nominations submitted by 120 fi rms. Law Middle East Awards 2025 is supported by partners Baker McKenzie, Gibson Dunn, Greenberg Traurig, Hogan Lovells, Peerpoint by A&O Shearman, and Titanium Escrow. LME_Nov2025_37-39_Judges_13739963.indd 37LME_Nov2025_37-39_Judges_13739963.indd 3729/10/2025 17:1329/10/2025 17:1338 November 2025law-middleeast.com AWARDS 38 November 2025law-middleeast.com AAWARDS FADI KILANI ROLE: CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER COMPANY: AL KHALEEJ INVESTMENT Fadi Kilani is a legal executive with over two decades of leadership experience spanning restructuring, governance, and capital markets across the UAE and Jordan. He was recently appointed chief legal offi cer at Al Khaleej Investment, an Abu Dhabi-listed holding company, where he oversees the legal strategy, governance frameworks, and regulatory compliance. Kilani is particularly recognised for his previous role as chief legal offi cer at Drake & Scull International, where he led the fi rst court-sanctioned restructuring of a Dubai Financial Market (DFM)-listed company under the new UAE Bankruptcy Law. His extensive background also includes time at Al Tamimi & Company in Dubai, leading his own legal practice in Jordan, and serving as general counsel for the National Electric Power Company (NEPCO). MOHAMMED MAJID ROLE: GENERAL COUNSEL COMPANY: DUBIZZLE GROUP Mohammed Majid serves on the board of the Dubizzle Group and oversees the global legal function across the MENA region. Having joined Dubizzle in 2020, the same year the group achieved ‘unicorn’ status as the UAE’s fi rst homegrown tech fi rm to hit a billion- dollar valuation, Majid has since been instrumental in its continued success. He has led the group’s M&A activities and is currently steering it through its major upcoming initial public off ering (IPO) on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). Before joining Dubizzle, Majid spent 15 years in private practice, retiring as a partner from CMS. He relocated to the Middle East in 2011, following earlier work as a private equity lawyer in London. LME_Nov2025_37-39_Judges_13739963.indd 38LME_Nov2025_37-39_Judges_13739963.indd 3828/10/2025 13:3628/10/2025 13:36November 2025 39law-middleeast.com AWARDS November 2025 39law-middleeast.com AWARDS LAYLA EL-WAFI ROLE: SENIOR FINANCE LAWYER & BOARD DIRECTOR COMPANY: ACC MENA Layla El-Wafi is an executive lawyer with 20 years of experience in law, banking, fi nance, and human rights work across regions for NGOs, multinational corporations, and law fi rms. She most recently served for over a decade as senior legal counsel at Standard Chartered Bank in Dubai. In this role, she advised on matters including new market entries across the MENA region (Abu Dhabi, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia), and the launch of new products, such as sustainable fi nance and digital assets. Her responsibilities involved high-value contract negotiation, risk management, and regulatory compliance. She currently serves as a board director for the ACC MENA chapter and actively supports various legal and cultural initiatives. CHARBEL SABEH ROLE: CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER COMPANY: DAR GLOBAL Charbel Sabeh was recently appointed chief legal offi cer at Dar Global. He oversees the luxury real estate developer’s global legal operations from its newly established regional headquarters (RHQ) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Prior to this role, Sabeh gained signifi cant experience in the Kingdom, serving as a senior associate for over two years at Clyde & Co in Riyadh. His background also includes close to four years at Al Tamimi & Company and time as legal counsel at RAFAL Real Estate Development Company. He began his legal career in Lebanon before moving to Saudi Arabia, where he worked for Al Shahrani & Partners Law Firm for one year. His practice focuses on real estate development and hospitality, helping the company navigate Saudi Arabia's evolving real estate environment. LME_Nov2025_37-39_Judges_13739963.indd 39LME_Nov2025_37-39_Judges_13739963.indd 3928/10/2025 13:3628/10/2025 13:36Next >