R.A.G

Welcome to R.A.G Legal Consultancy

R.A.G Legal Consultancy is a boutique legal advisory firm with a team of Arabic, French & English-speaking international lawyers. We specialise mainly in corporate, commercial, and financial services serving local and international clients with business interest in the Middle East and North Africa.

Our clients range from major international corporations to semi-government institutions, smaller companies, and private individuals.

Our legal advisory services cover corporate and commercial matters, investment funds, onshore and offshore business set-up, corporate due-diligence, corporate restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, debt capital markets, derivatives and structured products, finance (including fintech), employment compliance/regulatory filings, competition and alternative dispute resolution.

 

Our Practice Areas
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Company formation, closure & administrative services

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Joint Ventures, Commercial Agencies & Distribution

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Advice on employment law in the public & private sectors

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We advise on general commercial property


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Data Protection & Privacy, Anti-Money Laundering

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Debt Capital Markets, Derivatives & Fintech

Meet Our Team

Raya Abu Gulal

Founder & Managing Partner

Raya Abu Gulal

Founder & Managing Partner
Raya Abu Gulal is an award - winning, multilingual legal advisor with over 15 years of experience. She founded a boutique legal consultancy in 2012 with a focus on the Middle East market. She has advised both SME’s and multinational companies based in the GCC region, as well as clients spanning the US, Europe and MENA on a broad range of corporate and commercial matters focusing on establishing businesses, GCC market entry and setup requirements, corporate restructuring, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, commercial agreements, employment matters, compliance/regulatory filings and general business matters. Prior to setting up her boutique legal consultancy, Raya gained extensive legal experience working for two leading international law firms: Simmons & Simmons and Reed Smith. Raya speaks regularly at global conferences, seminars and roundtables. In 2017, she won the award “Legal Consultant Of The Year” from the Arab Woman Awards. Raya is active in various womens’ development initiatives in the MENA region and is the founding member of the Women Lawyers Group-Middle East. Raya was also appointed as an Advisor for the Middle East for the Diplomatic World Institute (Brussels). She is viewed as a trusted advisor and subject matter expert by both private clients and public sector bodies. Raya holds an LLB law degree from the University of Westminster and successfully completed the Legal Practice Course from the College of Law in London. She is fluent in Arabic, Dutch and English. Raya is described by her clients as “Incredibly knowledgeable, especially on corporate management and governance with an intuitive ability to think out of the box and propose practical solutions for a range of complex scenarios”.

Fatima Ghalib

Partner
<strong><b>Fatima Ghalib</b></strong> is a qualified solicitor of England and Wales with a wealth of experience in the areas of corporate/commercial law, finance, investment funds, private equity, hedge funds and financial services regulation. As well as advising on general contractual matters, commercial and corporate related matters for businesses and corporations, educational and cultural institutions, art galleries, charities, oil and gas companies and healthcare companies, Fatima has provided in-depth advisory support for asset managers and institutional investors with a particular expertise in supporting sovereign wealth funds and investment funds on a range of legal issues, including on how to adopt a more sustainability-led business approach when making key decisions. Fatima is on the leadership committee of Global Leaders Group (a leadership advisory firm) and on the founding committee of the Johara Global Platform (a female leadership accelerator for GCC women) as well as being a trustee of Friends of Hadhramaut, an MBE awarded UK registered charity for the alleviation of poverty. Fatima was one of the founders of Women Lawyers Group Middle East, the first foundation of its kind for women lawyers from MENA. <em><i>Fatima has been described by clients as “technically strong with a thorough understanding of her clients’ goals for success”.</i></em>

Christine Abou Assali

Partner
<div class="page" title="Page 4"> <div class="section"> <div class="layoutArea"> <div class="column"> Christine Abou Assali, partner at R.A.G legal, is a multilingual senior solicitor, with civil and common law legal background and experience both in the UAE and London. Christine’s key areas of practice focus on corporate and commercial, debt capital markets, finance (including structured products, derivatives, and fintech), funds, and regulatory. She worked at some of the leading international law firms (Ashurst LLP and Trowers & Hamlins) and financial institutions (Goldman Sachs and Credit Agricole) both in-house and in private practice, advising on transactional as well as regulatory matters. She is highly commended by her peers and clients and was described as “one of the most talented lawyers”, “committed, intellectually capable and outcome-focused”. </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="page" title="Page 4"> <div class="section"> <div class="layoutArea"> <div class="column"> Christine holds an LLB degree from the University St Joseph in Lebanon and an LLM degree from the London School of Economics. She completed her Legal Practice Course with distinction from BPP Law School in London. <div class="page" title="Page 4"> <div class="section"> <div class="layoutArea"> <div class="column"> Christine is fluent in Arabic, English and French and has basic knowledge of Italian. </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>
Our Pro Bono initiative has been created to provide 
free legal advice to parties in need in the Middle East and North Africa.
Laughing businesswoman with papers talking to her colleague during meeting in cafe

We encourage and support our team to use their legal knowledge and other professional skills to 
benefit those who are disadvantaged, under-privileged or lack access to the advice that we can offer. 

R.A.G Legal Consultancy team is dedicated to empowering women in the Middle East and North Africa through
promoting development initiatives and projects.

Our Managing Partner Raya, is the founder of the Women Lawyers Group Middle East, a leading organization and network
for the support and empowerment of women in the legal field.

Testimonials
Souad Al Hosani
President, Nexus Business Group, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Honesty. Integrity. Transparency. Partnership. With R.A.G Legal Consultancy and Raya I got this and more. I'm always treated first class and like I am family. Excited about the future and a long and fruitful partnership!

Jessy Al Murr
Founder, Motahadith

Raya's legal team was absolutely crucial in helping us set up our business. Navigating the legal process guided by R.A.G Legal consultancy was the best business decision we have made to date.

Astoria Solutions
Mageret Ely, Manager, Research and Legal, Singapore

Our company has worked with Raya Abu Gulal and her team in the past few years for our Middle East operation. Raya has always been there when we needed her. She is an ethical, honest and knowledgeable lawyer. We highly recommend her to assist with any issues you or your company may need.

Andrew Wright
Group Corporate Adviser Bothar Group Pty Ltd

For the past 12 years, Raya’s performance as a legal advisor has shown high professional standards and has proven to be highly valuable to our team. She has conducted herself, her affairs with integrity and is an upstanding member of Bothar’s GCC entities.

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