Anneliese is a Dubai-based Non-Executive Director, General Counsel, tech sector Angel Investor and Advisor.

She is the former Chairman of the global Board of Directors of Association of Corporate Counsel (the world’s largest in-house counsel organization with 45.000 members in 85 countries), having served on its Board for six years. In addition to her role as the General Counsel of UAE telco giant du, she currently also serves on the governing Council of the Institute of Directors in the UK, on the Advisory Board of a global tech start-up, and on the Investment Committee of leading tech sector micro-VC.

Anneliese’s 30+ year career spans all types of businesses, from successful start-ups, through high growth scale ups, to listed MNCs and professional services firms, with a predominant focus on the ICT/Digital sector and particular experience in data centric digital transformations and international expansion in challenging cross-cultural environments across the Middle East, UK/EU, USA, and Australasia.

Anneliese holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics & Accounting) from the University of Melbourne, Australia. She is admitted to practise as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales (Australia), is qualified company director, and holds a post graduate accounting qualification from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Feras El Hajjar, Founder & CEO of App4Legal, Founder & Chairman of Infosysta, with more than 18 years of multi-national experience leading teams in Paris, Singapore, Dublin, Beirut, London, New York & Dubai. Feras is a Tech expert with a solid management and leadership skills graduated from Ecole ParisTech & Paris Dauphine in France.
Since 2019, Feras is running App4Legal, a Legal Tech Software Editor specialized in innovation of legal practice for both in-house and law firms. With a large client base present in 65+ countries, Feras is leading a dynamic team of Legal Tech Experts & Legal driving App4Legal as the largest legal-tech disruptor in the MEA for the entire market of law-firms and in-house legal teams and expanding at high speed globally.
Feras is also the Chairman of a multi-national Digital Transformation Group, Infosysta, implementing large scale digital transformations for Banks, Telcos, Groups, Governmental and other tier-1 accounts in EMEA.
Feras is a permanent speaker at Agile Summits, Legal Tech Conferences and an active contributor to the legal community & its tech ecosystem. He sits on the Advisory Board of a couple of large institutions in UAE and abroad.
In March 2020, Feras was nominated by InsightsSuccess as “The 10 Most Inspiring CEOs to Watch”.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hajjar/

Richard Knott focuses on supporting regional sovereign wealth funds with transactional capital deployment and has a side interest in facilitating capital formation. He takes a pragmatic, results-oriented approach in advancing his clients’ interest. Richard formerly worked with one of the leading sovereign wealth funds in Abu Dhabi, advising on outbound investment and strategic transactions around the globe, as well as the first-ever establishment of a third-party capital platform within a sovereign wealth fund. He advises on acquisitions and divestments ranging from co-investments through to co- and sole-control transactions, including bespoke capital structure and funds components, as well as joint venture arrangements and material portfolio company legal issues. Richard’s experience working in-house provides him with an understanding of client perspectives and sensitivities, and allows him to identify material issues of strategic and operational relevance, in addition to legal issues.

Richard recently advised one of the leading Asian sovereign wealth funds on its participation in two separate $10 billion+ pipeline transactions in Saudi Arabia, as well as a leading Abu Dhabi based sovereign wealth fund on its $250 million disposal of a large minority interest in a gas pipeline in Spain. He is currently advising a NYSE-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) with the proposed de-SPAC acquisition of a Middle East unicorn and a prominent regional institutional investor on the spin out of a $350 million early stage venture capital sponsor including a captive startup studio. Richard is originally from Australia but has nearly 10 years under his belt living in Abu Dhabi with his wife and four children (most of whom have developed mid-Atlantic accents as a result!).

Since 2018, Adam Peters has been Senior Legal Counsel for ADGM Courts. Prior to joining ADGM Courts, Adam spent 15 years in private practice where he specialised in arbitration, construction and commercial disputes. Adam has acted in arbitration and related proceedings in the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, India, Australia, Oman, British Virgin Islands and United States. He has experience with both institutional and ad hoc arbitration proceedings and has received appointments as sole arbitrator. He is also an internationally accredited mediator and conducts mediations as part of the court-annexed mediation scheme offered by ADGM Courts.

Mr. Massand is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Phoenix Advisors, Ltd., an Abu Dhabi based firm focused on co-funding of litigation in mature and emerging markets, as well as credit opportunities in the GCC and surrounding regions. Phoenix also offers dispute resolution and advisory services to clients seeking to navigate multijurisdictional issues and global opportunities. Mr. Massand has over 20 years of international experience working with Institutional Investors, Multinational Corporations, Banks, and Ultra High Net Worth Individuals in the United States, the Middle East, and India.
Mr. Massand previously served as Managing Director of SAS Asset Recovery, a Cayman Islands firm specializing in complex-cross border litigation, asset recovery, and dispute resolution. Prior to this, Mr. Massand served as Co-Chair of the Emerging Markets Practice for McLaughlin & Stern, LLP, a New York based law firm. His practice focused on Construction Litigation, Mergers and Acquisitions, and advising Private Equity, Hedge Funds, and Infrastructure Services firms on accessing emerging markets in the Middle East and South Asia.
From 2000 to 2009, Mr. Massand served as Counsel and a member of the Board of Directors of DCD Capital, a Global Trade Finance and Shariah Compliant Real Estate Investment firm based in New York.
From 1991 to 2000, Mr. Massand served as General Counsel for the Massand Group – overseeing its Civil Engineering and Construction Management operations in India, the Middle East, and the United States, as well as its diversification into direct investments, and consulting services.
He holds a Juris Doctor from New York Law School and a Bachelor of Science from Boston University, and is a member of the New York State Bar Association, and a qualified Legal Consultant in the UAE. He also serves as an Advisory Board Member of New York Law School’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee.

John McGowan has lived and worked in Abu Dhabi for over 25 years. During this time, John has represented major construction project stakeholders (employers, engineers, architects, contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers), multi-national corporations, local U.A.E. holding companies, energy companies, real estate developers and a U.A.E. free zone. His principal focus
is dispute resolution in the construction and energy sectors. He serves as both an arbitrator and advocate in arbitrations, and is well versed in the rules, procedures and applicable laws in U.A.E.
arbitrations including post-arbitral award enforcement proceedings. John served as U.A.E. counsel on behalf of the Dubai government (Dubai Civil Aviation Authority) in defense against a major international contractor’s post-award enforcement actions in the USA and France. More recently,
John has been listed on the inaugural roster of arbitrators at the Tashkent International Arbitration Centre (TIAC) in Uzbekistan. John’s work includes overseeing/managing complex U.A.E.
litigation. He also served on GALC’s team tasked by the Ministry of Finance to draft the English translation of the U.A.E. bankruptcy law [original Arabic]. John is a founding member of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Abu Dhabi, and formerly served as both a member-at-large of the Board of Directors and an officer (Secretary). He is a member of the
Pennsylvania bar in the United States.