Spear’s Review

Diana Hamade of Diana Hamade Attorneys at Law has been practising family law in the UAE for nearly two decades.

Recognised by her peers as being one of the leading practitioners of family law in the Middle East, she specialises in matrimonial finance and children-related matters, as well as succession and wealth planning. Clients include HNW and UHNW couples and families across the Middle East. Hamade is passionate about family law, and tells Spear’s: ‘I just want [clients] to get their way ... There is something in me that really needs to make it happen.

‘I know my way around the law, so that gives my clients a lot of comfort,’ adds Hamade, who is a member of the International Academy of Family Lawyers and who has right of audience before all UAE courts. ‘Clients feel like they can come to someone who knows what they’re doing.’

Read next: Meet Diana Hamade, Dubai’s divorce doyenne

Adviser Profile

Diana Hamade is the founder and managing partner of Diana Hamade Attorneys at Law, a boutique litigation practice in Dubai specialising in high-net-worth family law, and private client and succession matters. She is a pioneer in the practice of family law in the Middle East, and has been recognised by Chambers & Partners in its High Net Worth Guide since 2020. She was ranked in High Net Worth Private Wealth Law – UAE in 2020 and, from 2021 onward, in Family/Matrimonial: High Net Worth – UAE, where she is currently ranked Band 1.

Diana’s practice draws on experience in both sharia law and the civil laws of the UAE, allowing her to advise Muslim and non-Muslim clients alike on divorce, custody, maintenance, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, inheritance and cross-border succession planning. Her clients range from private individuals and high-net-worth families to family businesses, with a base spanning the UAE, the Gulf and internationally.

The firm holds right of audience before all UAE courts, including the Dubai Courts and the DIFC Courts, and provides expert evidence on civil law matters to foreign jurisdictions – a service Diana delivers personally through written opinions and court testimony overseas. Chambers sources describe her as one of the leading family lawyers in the region, with excellent cross-border knowledge.

Beyond her legal practice, Diana has been named Most Influential Woman Lawyer in the UAE by Thomson Reuters, and Law Firm Leader of the Year at the LexisNexis Middle East Women in Law Awards. She is the author of Legally Stylish and was featured by The Legal 500 in its Legal Landscapes video series. She holds an LLB from UAE University and an honorary LLM in commercial law from the University of Aberdeen.