Biography

Khushboo is a Senior Counsel with Al Tamimi & Company. Ranked as a future leader in arbitration by Who’sWhoLegal and recognised as a Rising Star by Legal 500 for her expertise in construction disputes, Khushboo is a dual qualified in Singapore and the State of New York, Khushboo’s practice focuses on international dispute resolution. She has particular experience in construction, infrastructure, energy, oil & gas, corporate and real estate disputes. Her experience includes international arbitration matters under the rules of the ICC, SIAC, DIFC-LCIA, LCIA, LMAA, QICCA, SCC, as well as ad-hoc arbitration proceedings under the UNCITRAL rules and applications before the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

 

Khushboo regularly advises and represents clients in complex, multi-party and high value construction and infrastructure disputes in the region. In her arbitration matters, she regularly works with experts from a number of disciplines, such as delay, quantum, structural, MEP and architectural. She has extensive experience in dealing with arbitration matters under both civil and common law. Khushboo also regularly works with barristers and King’s Counsels as well as local counsel on arbitration related litigation matters, before the courts in the UK, Singapore, Switzerland, UAE, Qatar, Lebanon, Kuwait, India and Malaysia, to name a few.

 

Khushboo speaks and publishes regularly in international arbitration and construction. She is a Regional Lead for Europe, Middle East and Africa in the YSIAC Council, serves as Associate Editor in Kluwer Arbitration Blog, is a Global Steering Committee member of the Equal Representation of Expert Witnesses (ERE), in the SIAC’s User Council, MENA sub-committee in the Campaign for Greener Arbitrations, Building and Construction Law Committee of the Law Society of Singapore, Executive Committee of the UAE chapter of ENERAP, Vice Chair of the Academic Council at REAL and the MENA representative for the Energy Disputes Arbitration Centre.  She has also been appointed in the editorial board of a number of esteemed journals.

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Thought Leadership

Speaking Engagement

  • Al Tamimi & Company and CIOB, Exploring the Legalities of Construction Disputes, Dubai Arbitration Week 2023, November 2023
  • YIAG Interactive Tylney-style Seminar, Dubai Arbitration Week, November 2023
  • SIAC, Effective Management of Projects, Infrastructure and Energy Disputes, Dubai Arbitration Week, November 2023
  • Annual International Arbitration & ADR Summit, LegalPlus, KSA, November 2023
  • 3rd ICC Kuwait Arbitration Day 2023, Welcome Remarks and Moderator, Kuwait, October 2023
  • Institute of Construction Claims Practitioners (ICCP) Conference, Disputes Panel (Virtual), September 2023
  • Society of Project Managers, Webinar Series 2023/4, Valuing Losses and Damages in Construction Disputes – How should parties put their best foot forward (Virtual), May 2023
  • Al Tamimi & Company, Construction Disputes, Legal and Technical Insight, KSA, May 2023
  • Economic Crisis and Rebuilding: Investing in the Rule of Law, AIJA – International Association of Young Lawyers (Virtual), May 2023
  • YSIAC Witness Evidence and Preparation in International Arbitration: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Paris Arbitration Week 2023, March 2023
  • (Guest Lecturer) Validity of Electronic Forms of Arbitration Agreements, Middlesex University, Dubai, March 2023
  • ESG, B Corps, CSR & More, Limeslade Webinar, 23 February 2023
  • (Guest Lecturer) Insurance Arbitration Certificate Course, ASEAN Institute of Insurance & Risk Management (Virtual), January 2023
  • Al Tamimi & Company, Decipher and ERE Event: The Role of Expert Witnesses in Construction Arbitration, Dubai, November 2022
  • Limeslade Masterclass, ESG’s Role in Construction & Engineering, Dubai, November 2022
  • Al Tamimi & Company Webinar: Hidden Risks in Qatar Construction Contracts – Alternative Dispute Resolution, October 2022
  • World Arbitration Update Forum, Legal Developments in Arbitration in the MENA Region, September 2022
  • (Guest Lecturer) Arb-Dossier – Georgetown International Arbitration Society Course on “The Practitioner’s Perspective in Arbitral Proceedings”, Party and Counsel Conduct: Tackling Guerrilla Tactics, September 2022
  • Singapore Convention Week 2022, “Reimagine, Rethink, Remake International Commercial Dispute Resolution”, August 2022
  • Al Tamimi & Company Webinar: Hidden Risks in Qatar Construction Contracts – damages, limits on liability, defects and limitation periods, June 2022
  • Campaign for Greener Arbitrations, Going Paperless in Arbitration – Why and How?,  June 2022
  • Al Tamimi & Company and Addis Law Group Event, The Culture of International Arbitration: Lessons from Practice, June 2022
  • AIAC YPG Conference 2022, Threading the Needle: Contracts and International Commercial Arbitration, March 2022
  • Video Interview with Ermis Marques, Director of Strategy and Managing Director of KSA at Zutari Managing Director, February 2022
  • Al Tamimi & Company Webinar: Hidden Risks in Qatar Construction Contracts – why practice elsewhere might not work in Qatar, January 2022
  • Campaign for Greener Arbitrations, Dubai Arbitration Week, November 2021
  • SIAC Webinar during Dubai Arbitration Week, Fireside Chat with Lucy Reed, November 2021
  • YSIAC Conference 2021, Resolving ESG Disputes Through International Arbitration, November 2021
  • Singapore Convention Week, Round Table with Singapore Second Minister for Law, Edwin Tong SC, September 2021
  • Yonsei Arbitration Day 2021, Adapting Arbitration to Changing Paradigms, August 2021
  • SIAC Middle East Academy (Facilitator), April 2021
  • Al Tamimi & Company webinar, Exploring the 3Es in Construction Arbitration: Evidence, Experts and Efficiency, March 2021
  • Limeslade, Construction Dispute Funding, February 2021
  • PICQS: PSSCOC and FIDIC Contract Administration in the New Normal, December 2020
  • YSIAC Advocacy Workshop, February 2020
  • 5th Annual International Arbitration & Regulatory Global Sumit, April 2019Key Publications
  • The New Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration Rules 2023: What’s In Store?, Kluwer Arbitration Blog (22 May 2023)
  • Interview with our Editors: The Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) in the Spotlight with Fatima Balfaqeeh, Kluwer Arbitration Blog (16 May 2023)
  • Dispute over Matrimonial Service Website: Singapore Adopts Composite Approach in Declaring Dispute to be Arbitrable, Kluwer Arbitration Blog (25 February 2023) (co-author)
  • The New Rules of the Dubai International Arbitration Centre: An Upgrade to the Centre’s Procedural Framework, Al Tamimi & Company Law Update (July 2022) (co-author)
  • GAR, Construction Arbitration, Qatar (2019; 2020; 2021) (co-author)
  • GAR, The Middle Eastern and African Review: Energy Arbitration in Africa (2022) (co-author)
  • GAR, The Middle Eastern and African Review: Energy Arbitration in the Middle East (2019; 2021, 2022) (co-author)
  • 2021 In Review: Middle East Overview, Kluwer Arbitration Blog (8 March 2022) (co-author)
  • What’s in a name? The Validity of Arbitration Awards in Qatar, Kluwer Arbitration Blog (13 December 2021)
  • Challenges to the Jurisdiction of the QFC Court in Qatar, Kluwer Arbitration Blog (28 August 2021)
  • UAE Arbitration Users Look East, International Journal of Arab Arbitration (2018) (co-author)
  • General Duties of Counsel, American Bar Association, Working Group on Third Party Funding in International Arbitration (2018) (co-author)
  • Third Party Funding in the Middle East, Lexology (2018) (co-author)
  • Is an Arbitration Agreement in a Draft Contract Binding? Perspectives from the courts in Singapore and Switzerland, Kluwer Arbitration Blog (22 January 2017)
  • Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration: Regulating the Treacherous Trajectory, Asian International Arbitration Journal, Issue 2 (2016)
  • Reaffirming the High Threshold of Setting Aside Arbitral Awards, Singapore Law Watch Commentary (2015)

Recent Experience

  • Representing a joint venture comprising of a public-listed corporation in Italy in a multi-party ICC arbitration matter before a prominent three-member arbitral tribunal arising out of a football stadium for the Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022. Claims and counterclaims are in excess of USD 500 million and entail complex arguments related to contractual interpretation of liability clauses, admissibility of the claims and counterclaims and design development issues, amongst many others. Leading experts for delay, quantum and MEP appointed.
  • Representing a major bank in the UAE on a construction arbitration matter, under the DIAC rules, seated in Dubai and governed under the UAE laws before a three-member arbitral tribunal. Prominent experts and KCs instructed. Issues in dispute involved delay, variations, safety issues and defective works in a prominent UAE development project.
  • Representing an Italian public-listed corporation in a dispute pertaining to a technical licensing agreement under the QICCA rules before a three-member arbitral tribunal. The arbitration proceedings involve intricate procedural applications and challenges.
  • Representing a leading F&B holding group in the UAE in a DIFC-LCIA arbitration matter, seated in the DIFC and governed under the DIFC laws, pertaining to the termination of a franchise agreement.
  • Representing a solar power plant company in highly technical and complex ICC arbitration proceedings before a prominent arbitral tribunal involving complex legal issues arising out of English and Qatari law. Issues in dispute involve arguments pertaining to time at large and the scope of the works. Presented the key arguments during the jurisdictional challenge hearing that took place at the beginning of the arbitration
  • Representing a prominent Qatari corporation in a complex construction ICC arbitration before a three-member arbitral tribunal seated in Doha and governed under Qatari law. Issues involve delay, termination and defective works claims and counterclaims exceeding QAR 300 million. Second chair to the KC that was appointed as lead counsel during the hearing.
  • Representing a major construction company on a Oman project dispute involving complex legal issues pertaining to pay when paid provisions.
  • Advising design consultants in relation to the construction of a football stadium for the Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022 on matters pertaining to liability. Assisted in the third-party funding arrangement sought for the ICC arbitration proceedings.
  • Advising an international conglomerate in a multi-party oil and gas dispute arising out of the construction of a high-profile LNG pipeline project in Qatar. Issues involved the approved protocol and procedure in carrying out the construction of the pipeline. Worked with international experts until the successful settlement of this matter.
  • Representing an airport security company in an agency dispute under the ICC arbitration rules, seated in Zurich and governed under Swiss law.
  • Representing a trust company in litigation proceedings before the QFC Courts on matters of English trust law.
  • *Advised a national carrier airline on an urgent application under the SIAC rules, governed under German law where damages claimed were in excess of USD 100 million.
  • *Represented an Indian conglomerate in a SIAC arbitration matter arising out of a Sale and Purchase Agreement of a pulp and paper manufacturing plant where damages claimed were over USD 50 million.
  • *Represented a Singapore arm of an Indian company in two related arbitration proceedings under a SIAC and an ad hoc UNCITRAL arbitration pertaining to the illegality and unenforceability of payment obligations. The arbitrations were governed under Singapore and English laws respectively.
  • *Represented an Indian conglomerate in a joint venture infrastructure project in West Africa under the ICC rules seated in Singapore and governed under Singapore laws.
  • *Matters worked on prior to joining the firm.

Language(s)

  • English
  • Hindi
  • Malay
  • Bahasa Indonesia

Education

2016 – LL.M. (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar), Columbia Law School

2010 – LL.B. (Hons), King’s College London

Admission

2022 – Dubai Legal Affairs Department (Legal Consultant)

2018 – State of New York

2013 – Singapore