Creative Word Training – Introducing our expert trainers

At Creative Word Training, the biggest legal training provider in the GCC, we understand the challenges and demands of international business, and how having the right people on your team makes all the difference.

Over the last two decades we have assembled the ‘right people’ to our team, so that your business will benefit from their knowledge and expertise.

Our highly-accomplished team of trainers are all experts in their fields; well-accomplished and multilingual, they include financial professionals, legal specialists, industry experts, and cultural consultants.

Below you’ll find a short biography from each of our trainers, explaining their skills and industry experience, so you can have full confidence in their abilities and our courses.

Mostafa Hussein

Mostafa is a Senior Associate at Galadari Advocates and Legal Consultants in Dubai and advises and specializes in civil and real estate matters in the region. Mostafa has advised on various insurance/compensation cases and several civil and labour cases for clients. His list of clients includes some of the largest insurance companies, real estate investment companies, construction companies and reputable hospitals in the UAE. Mostafa has over 20 years of legal experience and prior to Galadari he worked in Egypt in his private office/practice handling high profile cases and training of new lawyers in the field.

Course: Insurance Contracts (Arabic)

Mohieeldin El Bana

Mohieeldin El Bana is a Senior Associate in the Dispute Resolution Department. He received his Bachelor of Law degree from Cairo University, English Section. Mohieeldin has been working in Dubai since 2004. Throughout his career, he acted as in-house counsel in various companies and as legal consultant in a variety of law firms (including private practice). He has hands-on experience in various areas of practice (including construction, commercial, Information Technology, Intellectual Property and corporate related matters). Mohieeldin uses his wide knowledge of local laws, commercial and legal acumen, and practical experience, to the best of his abilities in conducting all commercial and civil litigation cases with the commercial reality and the clients’ interest in mind.

Course: Contract Law FS (English)

Stuart Davies

Stuart is the Head of Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) in Al Tamimi, Stuart gained extensive international experience working in private practice and in-house in London and Asia; most recently working for Ooredoo (previously Q-Tel) in Qatar, where he undertook various roles in the group’s legal team and its New Business Unit. He has worked with a wide range of clients locally and internationally. Stuart works on a broad range of corporate and commercial matters across TMT, advising on large telecommunications projects, strategic digital partnerships, infrastructure, vendor agreements and data centres. Stuart also has significant media experience and within the technology space, he has expertise on fundraising, payment solutions, e-commerce and OTT messaging.

Course: E-Laws (English)

Omar Obeidat

Omar’s main field of specialization is in Intellectual Property laws covering advisory, enforcement, litigation and prosecution. Omar also specialized in competition law, regulatory affairs, compliance and consumer protection in the Arab region. His experience in the field of Intellectual property enabled him to train judges, prosecutors, Government enforcement and administration officers on IP. Omar is qualified before Jordan Bar Association and is a member to many organizations locally and internationally including Dubai Quality Group, Board member of Brand Owners Protection Group (BPG), Trademarks Association (INTA) and has chaired and sat on various committees with INTA. He is a Trustee and Board member to the Dubai Advisory Board for Intellectual Property. This Board advises the Dubai Government on high level matters and strategies in relation to Intellectual Property. In addition to being a member of the Advisory Board for the Middle East North Africa Franchise Association (MENAFA), Omar was recently appointed on the Board of Directors AIPPI – UAE Chapter and sits on the Steering Committee for Global Entrepreneurship Monitor.

Courses: IP and Trademark (Arabic)

Muhammad Ashfaq-Ur-Rahman

Ashfaq has curated around 20 years of international experience and specialises in management consulting, banking, Takaful and insurance. He currently runs an independent strategy boutique that offers consulting and advisory services to financial and non-financial institutions and has covered banks, insurers, Takaful operators and Fintech start-ups.

Course: Intro to FINTECH (English)

Victor Siriani

Victor Siriani is the managing partner of Avid Intellectual Property, a boutique agency with eight offices in the region. He has worked within Intellectual Property for more than 15 years.

Courses: IP and Trademark (English)

Osman Khan

Osman serves as an Associate Director at Forte Markets. He has been actively involved in advising start-ups on progressing their ventures to investment stages and has worked on transformation and performance improvement programmes across industries and locations. Prior to his current position, he worked as a member of the Senior Management team within the consulting practice at PwC. He specialises in FinTech advisory, finance consultancy, strategic analysis and his client repertoire includes major banks, financial institutions and state authorities.

Course: Intro to FinTech (English)

Franco Grilli

Franco is a Partner in the Finance and Corporate Department of Galadari Advocates and Legal Consultants. With over 20 years of experience in the finance sector, he specialises in capital markets, structured & asset finance, debt restructuring, securities offering, financial compliance and banking regulations. Franco is ranked among top finance lawyers and has been recognised in The American Legal Lawyers Awards, Legal 500 EMEA, Top Legal Awards and Chambers Europe Awards.

Course: Intro to VAT (English)

Hussain Al Khalsan

Hussain is currently employed at the Commercial Bank of Dubai. He has over 10 years of experience in network security and risk management, specialising in Cyber Security, Information Security Management, Governance, Compliance Management and Business Continuity Management.

Course: Cybersecurity (Arabic and English)

Mujtaba Khalid

Mujtaba is currently the Head of the Islamic Finance Centre at the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance. Mujtaba has experience working with government entities, private organisations and educational institutes across various jurisdictions such as the UK, Malaysia, Pakistan and the MENA region. Mujtaba specialises in Islamic investment, Capital Markets and Sharia Governance.

Course: Islamic Sukuk (English)

Mohammed El-Sefwy

Mohammed is currently the Regional Head of Tax for the Middle East, North African and Turkey Region at HSBC Bank Middle East. Mohammed has garnered nearly 20 years of experience in Tax and specialises in Tax Assessment, International & Corporate Tax, Risk Management and Business Development.

Courses: Tax Transparency, VAT Masterclass and VAT Mitigation and Planning (English and Arabic)

Thanos Karvelis

Thanos has over 20 years’ experience in both front-end and contentious construction matters, working on a wide range of construction projects, including public and private developments, concessions and PPP’s, large transportation projects, thermal power plants, hospitals and hotels. Thanos’ legal expertise, complemented by an MSc in Business, enables him to offer commercially focused business advice, as well as strong legal opinions.

Course: VAT Returns (English)

Basel Abughazaleh

Basel is currently employed by HSBC and has gained years of experience working at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte and Touche. Basel also has experience in various countries in the MENA region, such as Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine and is an often sought-out VAT expert in Dubai.

Course: VAT Masterclass (English and Arabic)

Fiona Robertson

Fiona Robertson is a Senior Associate in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications practice in Dubai at Al Tamimi & Company. Fiona is also a member of the Education, Sports and Events Management, Projects, Rail and Hotels & Leisure sector groups. Fiona’s a senior lawyer with nearly 25 years of experience advising on legal aspects of the media, creative, technology, sports and entertainment industries.

Course: E-Laws (English)

Daniel Brawn

Daniel currently serves as a Senior Associate at Galadari Advocates & Legal Consultants and practices litigation, dispute resolution and construction. Daniel has a wide array of experience in the construction industry, both from a contentious and non-contentious perspective. Significantly, he has successfully put together development projects of all sizes, providing the legal and practical advice needed to manage risk.

Courses: Intro to FIDIC, Particular Clauses of FIDIC and Powers of Attorney (English)

Firas Adi

Firas has more than 15 years of experience in reputable law firms and financial institutions, specialising in civil and commercial litigation, commercial and corporate law, construction and Islamic finance practice. In addition, Firas has 7 years of lecturing experience at several private universities, institutes and business schools.

Course: Mergers and Acquisitions (English)

Asad Choudhry

Asad is currently employed at HSBC as a Regional Manager Compliance Auditor. Asad has a decade of experience in auditing, compliance and banking examination working with various commercial banks such as, Central Bank, Habib Bank AG Zurich and United Bank Limited.

Course: Financial Crime (English)

Ayham Alouch

Ayham is currently working as a freelance Banking, Corporate and Retail Trainer and has garnered experience from Dubai Islamic Bank and Mohamed Hilal Group. He has a decade’s worth of training experience working with clients such as Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah Islamic Bank, Etisalat and Emirates Development Bank.

Courses: Islamic Banking and Islamic Sukuk (English and Arabic)

Ahmed Hassan

Ahmed is a skilled entrepreneur and training consultant with experience working with companies such as, Bloomberg LP and Thomson Reuters. Ahmed has made a career out of developing real return on investment in sales and business development activities and specialises in business development, MENA markets, credit risk and private equity.

Course: Business Development (English)

Bachir Chakra

Bachir is currently employed at Al Tamimi & Company as a Senior Attorney and has over 12 years’ worth of legal experience. He is highly qualified in both Common and Civil law, specialising in litigation, media, intellectual property, technology and franchising.

Course: E-Laws (Arabic)

Jeanette Teh

Jeanette has a decade of international legal experience and has been lecturing, coaching and mentoring in higher education for over three years. She specialises in Corporate, Commercial, IP, Real Estate, Construction, Litigation and Competition law and has advised firms in various industries such as Finance, Marketing and Business Development.

Courses: Managing Successful Clients and Competition & Agency (English)

Giovanni Rossi

Giovanni serves as the Managing Partner of Bonnard Lawson at their Dubai office as well as a Partner in the Geneva office where he is the head of the Corporate and Banking department. Giovanni specialises in Corporate & M&A, Private Equity & Venture Capital, Banking & Asset Management, International Arbitration and Private Clients.

Course: Mergers and Acquisitions (English)

Dr Rita Waked

Rita is currently employed at Frayland Construction and Interiors serving as their Head Legal Consultant. In addition to this, Rita is also a lecturer at St. Joseph University and serves as the Company Secretary for MSA Capital Ltd & MSA Holding Ltd. Rita specialises in corporate law, international arbitration and commercial litigation.

Courses: Competition Agency, Contract Law, IP and Trademark and Public Private Partnership (Arabic and English)

Pierre-Yves Lucas

Pierre-Yves is currently employed at Bonnard Lawson and specialises in Maritime, Land and Air Transport. He acts as an arbitrator representing clients in ad hoc and ICC arbitrations. Pierre-Yves also specialises in negotiation and is highly qualified in drafting international contracts, corporate, transport, business litigation and international arbitration.

Course: Maritime Law (English)

Our trainers are all dedicated to their fields of expertise, establishing long careers with reputable global firms, and now electing to pass their expertise on to others.

Working closely with the Government of Dubai Legal Affairs Department, our Continuing Legal Professional Development courses are designed to meet the changing needs of today’s lawyers in the GCC.

However, at Creative Word, we also understand that our clients require training courses which help to support their teams when working with colleagues from other cultures, or in acquiring additional soft skills.

As such, many of our courses are centred around the vital qualities, traits and skills which help every employee do their job to the best of their abilities.

For instance, teaching mentoring and coaching, improving group dynamics, or gaining insights into Fintech and new digital technologies.

Information on all our courses is available here, or click the links above to view more details about a specific course.

You can also contact us here to discuss any questions you might have, or to book a course.