Law firm Three Crowns has revealed that Amani Khalifa will become a partner in its Dubai International Financial Centre location, effective January 1, 2027. Her appointment will strengthen the firm’s construction and infrastructure arbitration practice and deepen its ability to serve clients across the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia.
Arbitration expertise added to Dubai team
Khalifa is an arbitration specialist who has acted as counsel in high-value, complex disputes throughout the region. Her work covers energy, sports, transport and infrastructure matters and includes arbitrations under all major institutional rules.
Khalifa is qualified in Egypt, England & Wales, and New York, and is fluent in Arabic and English. Before the new role, she led the Saudi Arabia disputes practice at Freshfields.
In addition to private practice, Khalifa serves as a Judge of the Bahrain Court of Cassation, sits on the International Court of Arbitration of the ICC, and is vice-president of the LCIA Arab Users’ Council.
Global Arbitration Review named her among its “45 under 45” leading arbitration practitioners in 2023, highlighting her reputation in the field.
Colleagues welcome the addition
Commenting on the appointment, Khalifa said, “The opportunity to join Three Crowns’ growing team in the region was too good to refuse. The firm’s elite position, dedicated focus on international arbitration, and calibre of its lawyers make it a natural home to grow my practice. I look forward to working with my new colleagues to serve clients across the Middle East on their most complex disputes.”
Manish Aggarwal, managing partner of the DIFC office, stated, “We are thrilled to welcome Amani to the partnership. From the outset, our ambition for the DIFC office has been to build a specialist team of the highest calibre for the region’s most significant disputes. We have been deliberate about how we grow, and Amani embodies that ambition. She is a first-rate advocate, with deep construction and infrastructure expertise, experience across common and civil law traditions, and exceptional standing across the Middle East.”
Reza Mohtashami KC, who plays a leading role in the firm’s practice across the Middle East, added, “I have known Amani for 15 years and have seen her become a formidable practitioner over that time. Her poise, legal acumen, and cultural awareness have always impressed me, and I am delighted that we will be working together on some of the firm’s most important mandates.”
Jan Paulsson, one of the founding partners of Three Crowns, and president of the Bahrain International Commercial Court and judge at the Court of Cassation of Bahrain, said, “Amani is an exceptional addition to the Three Crowns team, brilliant, sophisticated, and thorough, fully bilingual, and always helpful. Those who have the good fortune of sitting with her occasionally in a judicial capacity, producing judgments in English but subject to the civil law applicable in Bahrain, count their lucky stars.”
Tom Sikora, senior counsel, International Disputes at ExxonMobil, said, “Amani Khalifa is an absolutely exceptional disputes specialist. She brings deep expertise and strategic insight to commercial and investment disputes in the Middle East and especially in Egypt, the Gulf, and Saudi Arabia, where she has lived and practiced extensively. She is also of course a native Arabic speaker. Three Crowns adds a formidable player to its Dubai office.”
Khalifa’s arrival follows the recent opening of the firm’s DIFC office and its subsequent relocation, with the team’s expansion, to larger office space within the DIFC in September 2026.
