Pro Bono Committee

Hayley was appointed as the Assistant Registrar of the DIFC Courts in January 2023. She currently oversees and manages the DIFC Courts’ Pro Bono Programme as well as sitting as a judge and mediator in the Small Claims Tribunal. Hayley also hears applications in the Court of First Instance, Court of Appeal and the Enforcement Department.

Hayley joined the DIFC Courts in 2013 having served the positions of Registrar’s Associate and Case Progression Officer. In 2017, she was appointed as a Member of the Small Claims Tribunal, and in 2020 was appointed as the Pro Bono Programme Leader.

Hayley has experience working for the Crown Prosecution Service and prior to moving to Dubai she worked as a Judicial Clerk at the Royal Courts of Justice in the UK. Hayley has completed her law degree (LLB) from the University of Southampton.

Adam Bradshaw focuses on all aspects of international and domestic arbitration, offshore litigation and alternative dispute resolution and has experience in the UK, Middle East and Australia.

Adam has dispute resolution experience acting for both private and public organisations in a wide variety of sectors, including information technology, construction and telecommunications.

Janine Mallis is a senior associate in the dispute resolution team of Herbert Smith Freehills. Janine trained with the firm and qualified in 2015, having worked in both its Dubai and London offices. Janine works on a wide range of complex commercial disputes for local and international clients. Her experience includes dispute resolution through litigation in the English, DIFC and regional courts and international arbitration in LCIA, ICC, DIFC-LCIA, DIAC and ad hoc arbitrations, with a particular focus on disputes in the hospitality and financial services sectors, shareholder disputes and employment-related claims.

Janine is recognised as a leading litigation lawyer and "future leader" for the UAE in Who's Who Legal Litigation from 2018 to 2022 and was also named the DIFC Academy of Law's Young Lawyer of the Year in 2016.

Janine holds a Bachelor of Laws with Honours from the London School of Economics and Political Science and also has a Masters in International and Comparative Commercial Law from the School of Oriental and African Studies. In 2018, she obtained her Higher Rights qualification, entitling her to represent clients before the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court in England.

Janine has a keen interest in helping those within her community. She is a member of the Herbert Smith Freehills' Dubai Pro Bono & Citizenship Committee and has also done volunteer work with refugee children in Jordan and Lebanon.

Peter is a barrister with experience of a wide range of civil and commercial disputes and sectors, including arbitration, banking and finance, company, construction, employment, insolvency, insurance, media, real estate, technology, and professional negligence.

He is a Legal Director with Charles Russell Speechlys LLP and a door tenant at Outer Temple Chambers.

In the Legal 500 (UAE Dispute Resolution: Arbitration and International Litigation), he was recommended as a ‘Rising Star’ in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, and was described as “notable” in 2019.

He was included in the inaugural Legal 500 Arbitration Powerlist Middle East in 2022, and again in 2023.

Representing Middle East and global entities regionally and internationally, Rebecca’s clients include companies involved in the construction, infrastructure, finance, industrial, technology, transport, general trading, education, healthcare, and pharmaceutical sectors.

She is a Solicitor of the High Court of Australia and a Registered Foreign Lawyer with the Law Society of England and Wales with rights of audience in the DIFC. Rebecca has been based in the UAE since 2005 and her practice focuses on resolving international litigation and arbitration, and crisis management for clients exposed to internal and external investigations.

She manages complex cross-border arbitration, representing parties involved in arbitrations through the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC); the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA); the Abu Dhabi Commercial Conciliation and Arbitration Centre (ADCCAC); and the International Court of Arbitration – International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

Rebecca also advises public and private corporations on corporate governance and regulatory compliance. She counsels clients involved in regional and international criminal and quasi-criminal investigations and prosecutions, conducts fraud investigations, and files international criminal and civil proceedings to recover misappropriated assets worldwide. Rebecca advises companies on how to address and comply with anti–money laundering, anti-corruption, and bribery legislation including the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the UK Bribery Act 2010.

Actively involved in law reform in the region, Rebecca advises clients on Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) obligations and legal challenges in the UAE and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC ). She has one of the only dedicated OSH practices in the Middle East and was appointed to the UAE’s Federal Ministry of Labour Technical Committee responsible for the development of the UAE building and construction sector’s OSH legislation.

Rebecca is recognised as a leading disputes and corporate investigations lawyer and has been ranked in Chambers Global, The Legal 500 and the Global Investigations Review.

Zara is Counsel and global investigations lawyer at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP in Dubai.

Zara focuses her practice on crisis management as well as white collar defence. Zara represents businesses and individuals in global investigations involving allegations of financial crime, bribery, fraud, money laundering, tax evasion, terrorist financing, sanctions violations and anticompetitive activity. She provides strategic advice to clients to help them manage fraud and corporate crime risks.

Zara is dual qualified as a Barrister and Solicitor in Ontario and a Solicitor in England and Wales. In addition to Dubai, Zara has worked in Toronto and London. Zara is Chambers ranked and she is winner of the Chambers 2022 Middle East Associate of the Year Award.