Personal bio
Alec spent 40 years with a leading international law firm as an associate and partner in England for 6 years, Managing Partner in Hong Kong for almost 13 years, International Partner in London for 3 years, and finally 18 years in Dubai, for the first half as head of the firm’s MENA Dispute Resolution practice and then as a part-time consultant and member of the firm’s global arbitration executive whilst also conducting his independent practice as an arbitrator.
After leaving his former firm Alec has practiced as a full-time arbitrator from January 2018 when he established ADR Management Consultancies, which holds a Dubai Economic Department professional licence.
Although qualified as an English Solicitor, Alec has valuable experience of working for most of his career in dispute resolution in Asia and the Middle East. He is therefore very familiar with different cultural approaches as well as with both civil and common law.
As a lawyer he handled shipping and marine insurance & energy arbitration and litigation, general commercial and insurance disputes, commodity disputes, insolvency and commercial frauds. Since moving to the UAE his work also encompassed shareholder disputes, joint ventures, M&A disputes distributorship, investment, telecoms and infrastructure.
He was a Trustee and Chief Executive of DIFC Arbitration Institute from November 2015 to 20 September 2021.
He is currently a member of the SCCA Global Advisory Committee and the SCCA Court.
Since 2008 he has sat as an arbitrator in more than 250 arbitrations under ADCCAC, DIAC, DIFC-LCIA, EMAC, GCCCAC, ICC, LCIA, LMAA, SCCA and SIAC rules as well as in UNCITRAL and other ad hoc arbitrations