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Al Adalla
Read MoreA complete spectrum of legal services across jurisdictions in the Middle East & North Africa.
Biography
Max is a Legal Director in the firm’s international dispute resolution team with 16 years’ experience in the fields of complex multi-jurisdictional fraud litigation, asset recovery and arbitration. Max leads the firm’s digital assets disputes practice.
Max has a deep understanding of the complexities involved in digital asset disputes having played a pivotal role in the landmark cryptocurrency recovery case, which was the first of its kind before the DIFC Court of Appeal, and which is helping to shape the digital assets legal framework in the region.
As a founding member of the Middle East chapter of the Crypto Fraud and Asset Recovery network, co-author of the UAE chapter of LexHost’s Digital Assets Law and Regulations, and a regular speaker on all aspects of digital assets and fraud, Max is a recognized thought leader in digital asset disputes across the region.
Max’s reputation in the market and his experience of proceedings in the courts of the Cayman Islands, England and Wales., Hong Kong, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Singapore, Tanzania and the UAE means that he has a truly international network of contacts.
Max is regularly approached by financial institutions, virtual asset service providers, venture capital and private equity investors, family offices, tech entrepreneurs, specialist insurers, insolvency practitioners, professional services firms and contacts from law firms in other jurisdictions to assist on matters that touch on all aspects of the digital assets sector, and in relation to claims for fraud and asset recovery where individuals or assets have been traced to the UAE.
Recent Experience
Digital Asset Disputes
- Acted for the Claimants in a claim for the return of 300 Bitcoin (valued at USD3m at the time of the loss, later valued at c.USD33m) against an intermediary for, inter alia, breach of contract, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and disclosure of confidential information at first instance and on successful appeal.
- Acting for a cryptocurrency business in seeking the first Worldwide Freezing Order, Proprietary Injunction and Disclosure Orders in the DIFC Digital Economy Court in support of USD450m fraud proceedings in Hong Kong.
- Acted for the former owners of an NFT marketplace responding to a claim for USD50,000,000, including claims for specific performance and injunctive relief.
Fraud and Asset Recovery, UAE
- Acting for the Defendants to a Part 8 Claim for a Worldwide Freezing Order in the amount of c.USD530m in support of US proceedings
- Acted for the Defendants to a Part 8 Claim to execute a fraud judgment of the Dubai Courts and facilitate the recovery of USD24.2m of assets held by a DIFC company in the DIFC Courts. This matter involved an application to set aside the Enforcement Order, Worldwide Freezing Order and Charging Order on the basis that the DIFC Court lacked jurisdiction to make those orders because the pre-requisite conditions of the Judicial Authority Law had not been met .The matter was granted permission to appeal to the DIFC Court of Appeal.
Fraud and Asset Recovery, International
- Acted for the 13-17th successful Defendants in the USD33bn fraud claim brought in the Cayman Islands Court against a Saudi Arabia family-owned conglomerate at first instance and on appeal. The 129 day trial is the longest in Cayman Islands’ history.
- Acted for the successful claimant in a claim for fraud, deceit and breach of fiduciary duty for GBP30m. The claim involved multiple applications for disclosure to identify, trace and freeze assets in various offshore jurisdictions over a period of 8 years, culminating in LCIA arbitration proceedings and multi-party proceedings before the Commercial Court in London.
Language(s)
- English
Education
- 2006– Legal Practice Course,. College of Law, London
- 2005 – Post Graduate Diploma in Law,. College of Law, London
- 2004 – BA Ancient History & Egyptology, University College, London
- Egyptology, University College, London
Admission
- 2022, DIFC and ADGM Courts
- 2009, England and Wales
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