EXPERTISE

Refki El-Mujtahed

Founding Director

As its Founding Director, Refki identified a need in the GCC market for strategic partnerships with clients to support their overall objectives and goals. He established REM in Dubai to facilitate these working relationships over the long term.

GET IN TOUCH

Born, raised, and educated in the UK, Refki El-Mujtahed brings a rare combination of global perspective and regional fluency to every engagement. A UK-qualified Solicitor with over 24 years of post-qualified experience, he has gained extensive in-house regional experience advising various businesses and is now able to provide strategic internal advice on a multitude of commercial issues to REM Consulting clients moving forward.

 

Refki has held several key positions such as Group General Counsel, Board Secretary, Compliance Officer, Chief Legal Officer, Senior Legal Consultant, and Legal Director in top-tier international companies in the GCC and UK. His experience with cross-border issues from the US, Europe, Asia, and MENA enhances the skills he offers for corporate assignments. The Founding Director’s extensive network with specialised law firms, barristers, consultancies and experts enables us to facilitate effective solutions for complex problems faced by corporate clients across various jurisdictions.

 

REM through its Founding Director possesses the expertise to assist its clients in establishing a comprehensive management strategy. This includes navigating complex matters with business leaders across various areas such as Board Advisory, Commercial Mediation, EPC, Litigation Management, Procurement and Projects.

CREDENTIALS

Consultancy Services

Board Advisory

Provided comprehensive business support to Chairmen, Board of Directors, Executive Committees, and C-Suite Officers on risk management, governance, and strategic objectives, ensuring effective business integration through clear communication.

Commercial Mediation

Involved in numerous mediations, both pursuant to contractual agreements and independently, facilitating commercial settlements between Developers and Contractors at various stages of projects under dispute within the GCC.

EPC

Involved in construction related matters with extensive experience of all contracting model contracts as follows:

 

  • Experienced in commercial risk negotiations of FIDIC, JCT, ICC, ACA, NEC, and iChemE contracts at both main and subcontractor levels, including JV/Consortium agreements, FEED engagements, and other pre-construction frameworks.

 

  • Assisted in the development of full suites of standardised contracts for major GCC projects, complete with risk matrix guidelines, and provided suitable training workshops for procurement and project teams.

Litigation Management

Assisted in the internal business management of multiple litigation disputes for clients as follows:

 

  • Helping to set a firm tone in the applicable GCC market by working with top legal counsel and related consultants to deter weak or opportunistic claims.



  • Creating and implementing tailored litigation tracking systems across business divisions whilst aligning internal resources with external legal counsel to drive favourable outcomes.

 

  • Assessing the merits of claims and type of disputes as well as advising at the applicable moments on the need of seeking engagements and/or representation with law firms, consultants and experts.

Procurement

Assisted in the management and closure of all forms of contracts for the procurement side of many businesses by establishing suitable standard T&Cs in conjunction with Purchase Orders to high-value supplier complex purchase agreements in multiple jurisdictions such as:

 

  • Helped to close critical Integrated Facility Management contracts across banking, tech, life sciences, and manufacturing sectors, valued between €50m–€250m+.



  • Identified flow-down provisions with global subcontractors for production line installations in the Emission Control and Battery Materials sectors (€100k–€5m).

 

  • Structured a €100m+ global joint venture with a new Data Centre Services (DCS) provider, assuming full operations from a major industry player.

Projects

Helped to Project Manage business-critical Projects such as:

 

  • Reviewed and advised on tender related documentation for a KSA Public Investment Fund (PIF) Developer on a giga project.


  • Conducted background due diligence on contractors and subcontractors with various agents and contacts to ensure they are capable to undertake such projects within the GCC region.



  • Led negotiations with a UAE Government Developer on two major museum projects and conducted post-award workshops for contractor project teams.

 

  • Oversaw commercial risk reviews on critical Dubai projects, managing supplier and subcontractor claims to ensure smooth delivery and resolution.