Haya Rashed Al Khalifa

Our Corporate and Commercial team has extensive legal and commercial experience, they also have very close working relationships with the decision makers in this field and the major lawyers in the region.

The following are examples of our areas of practice:

• Business incorporations and licensing; company / share acquisitions, disposals and mergers;

• Corporate structuring and consolidation; shareholder, partnership and other forms of joint venture agreements;

• Agency, distributorship, franchising and licensing; including renegotiations and terminations;

• Preparation of Prospectuses and Private Placement Memorandums;

• General commercial agreements, for example, management agreements, consultancy arrangements and sales / support contracts.

The firm oversees litigation on behalf of its clients in all of the courts of Bahrain. With massive experience in the local courts, the strength of our litigation team is internationally renowned.

Our clients rely on us for trademark infringement actions and copyright protection, securitisation of loans and any dispute arising pursuant to Bahraini law.

When certain of our clients\' cases are referred to arbitration, our experienced team is there to direct the dispute through the procedures, and most importantly to ensure that the award is legally sound and ready for enforcement by the Bahraini Courts.

In a multi-national environment, such as the one that characterizes life in Bahrain, the practice of litigation demands specialists who are not only experienced in the local laws and procedures, but conversant with practices in outside jurisdictions as well. In this context, we have lawyers admitted in both civil law and common law countries.

Our litigation lawyers have extensive trial experience in both commercial and civil cases. This includes representing individuals and corporate clients in civil and administrative hearings, suits involving the enforcement of contracts, actions for the recovery of damages based on contract and tort, intra-corporate disputes, pursuing the judicial enforcement of intellectual property rights and international trade disputes.

As many of the disputes we handle involve international jurisdictions, they can be both factually and procedurally complex. Our data gathering and in-house document handling procedures enable all cases to be handled efficiently. We work with experts in many fields and our Court Coordinator ensures that all court related matters are dealt with as expeditiously as possible.

The ultimate accolade a law firm practicing litigation can receive is the intrinsic satisfaction derived from winning a client\'s case. At Haya Rashed Al Khalifa Attorneys at Law & Legal Consultants, we believe that our record speaks for itself.

The current real estate boom has brought fresh challenges to the underlying legal framework. Whilst the legislative process evolves, the interim period presents the property developer and investor with a confusing matrix of property ownership issues, since each real estate project has its own advantages and pitfalls.

The firm has had the exciting opportunity to have advised on construction and property law issues for some of the major flagship property developments in Bahrain. As such, we are fully abreast of developments in this evolving area of legal practice in Bahrain. This, combined with the experience of our specialist property lawyers drawn from established land law jurisdictions, ensures that the solutions we propose and the documents we draft are creative, practical in the Bahraini environment and based upon sound land law principles.

We are pleased to assist with the following:

• Legislative & Regulatory Issues.
• Financing & Securities.
• Real Estate Investment Funds.
• Freehold Transactions.
• Common hold/Condominium and Mixed Use Schemes.
• Long Term Leases - Residential & Commercial.
• Short-Term Tenancies - Residential & Commercial.

Our lawyers are regularly consulted by government and private concerns upon major property development projects underway in Bahrain, drawing upon their knowledge and experience gained from more mature Land Law jurisdictions. In addition, an integral part of the Department\'s practice involves advising and assisting upon Landlord and Tenant issues in relation to retail, commercial and industrial premises. We assist with:

• Pre-contractual negotiations
• Preparation of Tenancy Contracts and Leases
• Terminations and dispute resolution.

For more than thirty years, our lawyers have helped clients negotiate the growing landscape of local laws that govern the employer/employee relationship. We assist in providing solutions to employment problems that concern the effectiveness and productivity of the Business.

Our Labor/Employment advisory team comprising Shaikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, Elie Yazbeck and Mashael Mattar deal with a variety of matters covering the employer/employee relationship, including ensuring compliance with employment laws and regulations, managing disputes with employees, advising on wage and indemnity matters, and assisting with appropriate employment policies and procedures.

Our Litigation Team comprising Rashed Bo-Ghammar, Mustafa Mahmood and Budoor Saif are highly involved in employment counselling and litigation, complex employment and employee benefits litigation, Department of Labor matters, and intricate employee benefits matters. We represent clients before courts, in arbitration, and before administrative agencies and other forums. We also assist clients in avoiding litigation, including counselling on every aspect of employment law.

Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa Law Firm assists clients in:

• Charges and litigation relating to labor/employment issues
• Management-union relations
• Employment benefits litigation
• Employment contracts
• Foreign/Local employment laws
• Foreign investor’s compliance with Bahraini laws.

In today’s turmoil economy, more people abandon the big deals of boom times to take on desperate negotiations of companies on the brink. Now more than ever it is important to use an experienced bankruptcy Law firm, to maximize your options in light of the Bankruptcy.

As some firms have poached bankruptcy experts from rivals in a bid to bolster business and to bring in a source of knowledge for lawyers new to dark times, we have always adopted a policy of striving to encircle our Clients legal status from its numerous aspects, and to guide them in their good days as in their bad days. Supported by our firm ‘s efficient structure where each and every department works closely with the highly experienced litigation team , our bankruptcy lawyers are always striving to provide the highest level of client service available, with a compassionate understanding that declaring bankruptcy is an extremely difficult and emotional decision. Our attorneys strive to relieve the stress bankruptcy creates for our clients who receive individualized attention. Our Bankruptcy Lawyers have handled numerous bankruptcy cases over the years. Our aggressive representation and extensive experience have earned the bankruptcy attorneys at Haya Rashed Al Khalifa Attorneys at Law & Legal Consultants a national reputation for excellence in the representation of Debtors in financial distress. Our experience in Bankruptcy law helps place our Clients back on the road to financial solvency, with as little impact on their post status as possible

Following the passing of the Law No. 23 of 2006 regarding the regulation of Financial Trusts in Bahrain, Haya Rashed Alkhalifa have been very active in advising private clients seeking to set up trusts and making wills or gifts. Trustee Companies consistently rely on the firm’s advice on the making of distributions and amendment of their trust. Investment Firms consult the team when intending to set up various forms of investment trusts, especially when unsure whether a particular product, shariah compliant or conventional, can suit the relevant trust regulations.

The teams members are also constantly in consultation with the Economic Development Board and the Central Bank of Bahrain in finding ways to further streamline the relevant regulations.

A recent trusts transaction entailed advising the Liquidity Management Centre in relation to a US$106,000,000 Bahrain Property Musharaka Trust initiated by Eskan Bank.  The Bahrain Property Musharaka Trust was a first of its kind, cutting edge real estate investment trust established for the purpose of developing affordable housing in order to satisfy the national demand for these particular housing units and to enhance the financial capabilities of Eskan Bank. This Musharaka Trust was a breakthrough structure in Bahrain and goes to confirm Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa’s dominance in Islamic Finance and their continued commitment to excellence.

The Haya Rashed Al Khalifa intellectual property team provides a comprehensive range of contentious and non-contentious intellectual property advice and assistance. We advise on ways that Clients may maximise and protect the commercial potential of brands, ideas and technological advances and we are known for giving practical and commercial advice to our Clients.

Our team regularly registers a range of intellectual property rights and offer additional support through our well-established network of professional contacts, such as trade mark and patent attorneys, who can be consulted should the need arise.  Our team also provides advice on how Clients can protect and enforce their intellectual property rights in Bahrain.  Since Bahrain is a member of the World Intellectual Property Organisation our team will advise on the full extent  of protection offered by both domestic regulations and the relevant WIPO Treaties.