Team

Senior lawyers who have sat on your side of the table.

Our counsel have led legal functions at multinationals, run regional disputes and built compliance programmes from scratch. That is the experience you get on every matter.

Leadership and counsel

Walid Sowaidan

Founder and Chairman

Walid Sowaidan is a seasoned cross-border legal leader with nearly 30 years of experience spanning in-house, private practice, and strategic advisory roles across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. He is the Founder and Chairman of LexDesk360, a modern legal services platform designed to deliver flexible, cross-jurisdictional legal solutions to businesses and in-house legal teams.

Walid has served as General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer at prominent organizations including G42, 3M, Pfizer, Citigroup, and Al-Kharafi, leading international and regional legal and compliance functions across complex and highly regulated industries such as pharmaceuticals, healthcare, technology, finance, and infrastructure. He has directed regional and global legal teams, structured multi-jurisdictional M&A deals, designed world-class compliance programs, and resolved high-value disputes, including successfully defending multibillion-dollar litigation claims.

Amal Fatima Parekh

Managing Counsel

Amal Fatima Parekh is an accomplished legal strategist with extensive experience in cross-border advisory, corporate governance, and high-value legal transactions. As Managing Counsel at LexDesk360, she leads the firm’s global counsel network, managing complex, multi-jurisdictional projects and ensuring seamless client service delivery across the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia.

Amal’s expertise spans mergers and acquisitions, corporate structuring, insurance, and the legal implications of emerging technologies. She has advised on high-value commercial transactions, regulatory compliance matters, and cross-border restructurings, bringing a pragmatic, business-aligned approach to every engagement.

Antigone Papangelopoulou

International Partner, EU

Antigone Papangelopoulou is a seasoned EU-qualified lawyer with 20 years of cross-border legal experience, advising leading multinational corporations, global law firms, and international organizations. Based in the European Union, she brings deep expertise in international commercial law, contract negotiation, law and tech, legal operations, dispute resolution, and regulatory compliance across various sectors.

Antigone has held senior legal roles in both private practice and in-house settings, including with Big Law firms and EU-funded projects. She has a strong track record in managing complex transactions and high-stakes negotiations, often acting as the bridge between legal strategy and business execution across multiple jurisdictions.

Jonathan Hirasawa Ashton

International Partner, Managing Partner, UAE

Jonathan Hirasawa Ashton is a corporate and commercial legal professional with over two decades of experience, specialising in legal frameworks within the digital economy. His work sits at the intersection of technology, media, and telecommunications, with a focus on how emerging technologies are regulated across jurisdictions.

He holds an LL.M. in Corporate and Commercial Law from Queen Mary University of London, with a specialisation in Technology, Media, and Telecommunications. Jonathan’s practice focuses on digital regulation, intellectual property structuring, copyright, licensing, and AI governance. He has a particular interest in how businesses structure and manage intellectual property and data assets in a cross-border context.

Kareem Sallam

International Partner, Managing Partner, Egypt

Kareem Sallam is a distinguished legal professional with over 15 years of experience spanning corporate advisory, dispute resolution, and judicial service. He currently serves as Head of Legal Advisory and Dispute Resolution Management for Egypt’s operations at one of the world’s key telecom corporations, where he leads a high-performing legal team handling multi-million-dollar litigation portfolios, regulatory compliance, and contract negotiation for complex mega projects.

Before joining the corporate sector, Kareem served as a judge in Egypt and earlier as a public prosecutor, specializing in economic, monetary, and communications-related offenses. This background provides him with rare insight into both public and private legal systems in the region.

Sharmeen Ali Khan

International Partner, Chief Compliance Officer

Sharmeen Ali Khan is an accomplished international legal and compliance professional with extensive expertise in regulatory governance, corporate compliance, and cross-border risk management. Based in Zug, Switzerland and licensed to practice law in Pakistan, she serves as Chief Compliance Counsel at LexDesk360, acting in the capacity of an independent legal contractor. In her role, she leads the firm’s compliance strategy, governance frameworks, and regulatory advisory support for clients operating across multiple jurisdictions.

Throughout her career, Sharmeen has advised organizations in highly regulated environments, supporting the development and implementation of ethical governance models, anti-corruption and regulatory controls, compliance investigations, and risk mitigation programs. She has played senior roles in multinational contexts, contributing to the strengthening of compliance maturity and operational integrity across diverse regional markets.

Shazil Ibrahim

International Partner, Corporate

Shazil Ibrahim is Chief Counsel, Corporate and M&A, Middle East at LexDesk360, where he brings nearly two decades of cross-border transactional experience to support clients navigating corporate, regulatory, and investment matters across the region.

Shazil’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, projects, private equity, competition law, and capital markets. He has advised across various industries (Tech, FMCG, Finance, Energy, etc.) acting for multinational clients including Pepsi, Nestlé, VEON, Toyota, Saudi Aramco, e&, Cargill and ABN Amro. He was a key advisor on VEON’s $273 million acquisition of a 15% stake in Jazz and e&’s $400 million acquisition of a controlling stake in Careem Technologies, and is currently advising on a $2.8 billion fertilizer project in Indiana.

Ashraf Erfan

Chief Operating Officer

Ashraf Erfan is the Chief Operating Officer of LexDesk360 Egypt and a LexDesk360 Pathfinder, bringing a rare blend of operational leadership, public sector insight, and private enterprise acumen to the role. With over 25 years of professional experience, including a distinguished career in law enforcement, Ashraf is known for his ability to lead high-performance teams, manage complex regulatory landscapes, and deliver business-aligned legal and operational solutions. Ashraf began his career as an officer in the Egyptian police, gaining hands-on experience in enforcement, compliance, and governmental processes.

Following his public service, he transitioned into leadership roles across various sectors, including legal services, HR, and business operations, where he developed a strong reputation for driving transformation, managing risk, and building cross-functional capabilities.

Counsel

Olga Giakouminaki

Counsel

Enna Hadi

Counsel

May Reda

Counsel

Ahmed Shamandy

Chief Litigation Counsel

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