The Spear’s Family Lawyers Index: Middle East is the inaugural ranking from Spear’s dedicated to the region. It recognises the practitioners who advise HNW and international families on matrimonial finance and child arrangement with the deepest concentration of talent in the United Arab Emirates.
The lawyers in the Spear’s Index work in conditions found almost nowhere else.The overwhelming majority of their clients are expatriates with assets and business across several jurisdictions at once. The law these lawyers practise is young, and in places it is still being written.
Trends in 2026
Rewriting cross-border divorce
For years the assumption among wealthy international couples was that London was the place to divorce. That assumption is now being tested.
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Byron James, partner at Expatriate Law, has been close to the change. ‘We are very much at the forefront of pushing the boundaries of what the courts are going to do in terms of both custody and finance cases,’ he tells Spear’s. His firm acted this summer in what he describes as a billion-dirham matter, the largest the local courts have handled.
The headline difference is speed, according to James. A financial and custody dispute that would take the better part of a year to resolve in England can be concluded in the Emirates in a matter of weeks. ‘In Abu Dhabi, the court deals with the same issues, same allegations. Four weeks. Beginning to end.’
Succession and divorce, handled together
In the Gulf, family law doesn’t stops at the marriage. Succession and estate planning are woven into the same practice, and the lawyers who do this work move between the two without a clear line dividing them.
Diana Hamade, founder of Diana Hamade Attorneys at Law, set up her practice 18 years ago. She had intended to build a corporate and commercial litigation firm, and found that there were no family lawyers in the country who could advise in English. That gap defined her career. Today the larger part of her work is for high-net-worth clients on matrimonial and succession matters.
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She points to a rise in marriages between people of different faiths, and a corresponding rise in couples entering postnuptial agreements to settle terms before any question of divorce arises. ‘I know my way around the law, so that gives my clients a lot of comfort,’ she says.
Explore the other rankings within the 2026 Spear’s Family Law Indices
- Best family lawyers
- Best family law barristers
- Best divorce consultants and support services
- Best family lawyers in the US
Click the links below to jump to a section of this article:
- Methodology
- Best family lawyers in the Middle East: some names to know
- Best family lawyers in the Middle East: the complete list
- Contact us
Methodology
Each year, the Spear’s Research Unit reassesses and refreshes its rankings of the leading providers in each sector by gathering data from and about the advisers and firms themselves, assessing submission forms, collating nominations, carrying out peer reviews, reviewing data from third-party sources, gathering references and recommendations, canvassing experts and conducting hundreds of interviews.
Advisers are evaluated using a proprietary scoring system that assigns different weightings to certain attributes. These scores feed directly into each new set of rankings in the Spear’s Indices. Each of these indices are published first online (according to the research calendar) and then in print. Print publication takes the form of the annual Spear’s 500 directory, which includes the top advisers in every index.
[See also: A guide to The Spear’s 500: Everything you need to know]
Each featured adviser is profiled on spears500.com. The site allows users to search the Spear’s database of more than 4,000 entities to find one (or more) to meet their specific requirements by filtering for specific attributes such as an adviser’s location, their specialist expertise and information about their client base.
Best family lawyers in the Middle East: some names to know
Awatif Al Kouri
- Focus: Emirati family law
- Ranking: Recommended
- Firm: Awatif Mohammad Shoqi Advocates & Legal Consultancy
Having practiced law for more than three decades, Awatif Al Khouri of Awatif Mohammad Shoqi Advocates & Legal Consultancy is one the UAE’s eminent authorities on family law. Her client book – comprising UHNW individuals and corporations – features some of the biggest players in the region, including Emirati royalty and firms such as Emirates NBD.
Fluent in French, Arabic and English, Al Khouri is often called on by various embassies to provide legal services for expatriates residing within the UAE. Her expertise therefore extends to issues relating to emergency injunctions, domestic abuse, child abduction, prenuptial agreements, spousal maintenance and protection orders.
Read Awatif Al Khouri’s full profile on Spears500.com
Byron James
- Focus: Expat divorces
- Ranking: Top Flight
- Firm: Expatriate Law
Byron James knows a thing or two about divorce, jurisdiction and the families who cross borders to navigate both.
James, who moved to Dubai in 2017, is a family law partner at Expatriate Law. He has appeared in some of the region’s largest financial remedy cases, including a billion-dirham dispute, and much of his work involves asking the UAE courts to go where they haven’t before.
He has acted in what he reckons are the five largest financial remedy cases in the UAE’s history, and, in 2026, took on a landmark custody case challenging the right of influencer parents to feature their children online – raising questions of consent and privacy that the law, in most of the world, has yet to catch up with. ‘We are very much at the forefront of pushing the boundaries,’ he tells Spear’s.
Read Byron James’ full profile on Spears500.com
Diana Hamade
- Focus: Middle Eastern HNWs
- Ranking: Top Recommended
- Firm: Diana Hamade Attorneys at Law
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 Diana Hamade’s full profile on Spears500.com
Hassan Elhais
- Focus: Divorce and separation
- Ranking: Top Recommended
- Firm: Amal Alrashedi Lawyers & Legal Consultants
Dr Hassan Elhais is a legal consultant at Amal Alrashedi Lawyers & Legal Consultants with nearly two decades of experience in UAE family law. His expertise spans divorce, child custody, alimony, child support and inheritance matters, alongside drafting sharia and UAE law-compliant nuptial and divorce settlement agreements.
He regularly advises expats on complex cross-border issues, including the enforceability of foreign financial awards and the international movement of children. Beyond family law, he is also sought after in criminal and property-related cases.
A prolific author and speaker, Elhais provides expert insights in leading international publications and actively contributes to the global legal community, serving as co-chair of the International Academy of Family Lawyers’ relocation of children committee.
Read Hassan Elhais’s full profile on Spears500.com
Best family lawyers Middle East: the complete list
Click on the individual names to be directed to more detailed profiles of each adviser on The Spear’s 500 website. The table is ordered by ranking and then alphabetically by surname.
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