Areen Jayousi is a Partner at Horizons & Co., specialising in complex dispute resolution with a particular focus on real estate, construction, and financial institutions. With over 17 years of experience in the Middle East, he represents multinational corporations, government entities, and high-profile clients in high-stakes arbitration and litigation across the region and internationally.
Areen advises developers, contractors, and subcontractors on large-scale disputes arising from major projects, including contractual breaches, delays, defects, termination, non-payment claims, as well as joint venture and shareholder conflicts. His experience in both in-house and private practice allows him to provide strategic and commercially focused solutions in arbitration, including DIAC, ICC, and arbitrateAD, as well as litigation before UAE courts such as DIFC and ADGM.
He is equally experienced in banking, insolvency, and financial disputes, acting for banks, creditors, and distressed companies in matters relating to debt recovery, enforcement proceedings, insolvency, creditor rights, white-collar crime, and financial fraud disputes. Areen is often engaged by international law firms to handle cross-border disputes involving UAE courts and regulatory challenges.
As a registered arbitrator with leading institutions including DIAC, ICC, IICRA, SCCA, and arbitrateAD, Areen combines civil and common law expertise to resolve disputes efficiently. Fluent in both Arabic and English, he is a seasoned litigator with extensive experience before UAE courts, including DIFC and ADGM.
Areen holds a Bachelor of Laws from SOAS University of London and a Master of Laws from University College London. He is a registered legal practitioner with DIFC and ADGM Courts, a member of the International Bar Association, and part of the UAE National Committee for the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC UAE).
He has advised a syndicate of ten banks on navigating UAE bankruptcy procedures with total exposure of approximately AED 1.2 billion and represented a trading client in bankruptcy proceedings against 15 UAE importers for trade valued at over USD 200 million. Areen has acted for a GCC construction company in an arbitration exceeding AED 2.1 billion relating to a suspended Abu Dhabi project and represented a UAE construction company in a dispute over a pumping station against a government entity valued at AED 600 million. He has handled a DIAC arbitration worth AED 105 million for a major Middle Eastern contractor over non-payment in a mixed-use tower project and an ICC arbitration in Geneva for a multi-national contractor valued at over AED 75 million. Areen has also acted for a semi-government entity in Abu Dhabi in a fraud and embezzlement case involving AED 95 million, represented a high-net-worth individual in Dubai in fraudulent trading proceedings exceeding USD 146 million, and advised a UAE-based bank in two separate fraud cases against individuals with financing of approximately AED 200 million, currently before the Court of Cassation.
Areen is recognised for delivering robust, commercially minded dispute resolution strategies in some of the region’s most high-profile and high-value cases.
