about Us
Small firm.
Big mandates.
Alyff is an independent international law firm advising entrepreneurs, family offices, private investors and their businesses on their most significant legal and strategic matters.
We act on complex disputes, transactions, investments and special situations, involving substantial assets, multiple jurisdictions and overlapping business, family and reputational considerations.
Our clients work directly with senior lawyers who bring decades of experience at leading international law firms and major businesses. We combine sophisticated legal expertise with commercial judgement, discretion and a highly personalised approach.
We work through long-term relationships. We are our clients' first call when a situation is urgent, unclear and the stakes are high.
Expertise
Multidisciplinary by nature.
Complex mandates call for more than one perspective. We bring those perspectives together.
Disputes & International Arbitration
We advise on complex, high-value cross-border disputes involving
investments, shareholder relationships, joint ventures and strategic
commercial arrangements. Our experience spans international commercial
and investment arbitration, English litigation and interim measures —
acting for states, leading global corporations and private clients.
Private Wealth, Investments & M&A
We advise our clients on the full spectrum of private wealth,
investments and M&A transactions. Our experience spans joint ventures,
leveraged buyouts, acquisitions, divestitures and complex investment
structures, with a particular focus on transactions where strategic
interests or sensitive relationships are at stake. A distinctive feature
of our practice is our experience of successfully executing transactions
in dispute-driven environments.
Special Situations
We are instructed on complex and distressed situations requiring urgent legal and strategic intervention. We combine transactional, disputes and business experience to shape the response at an early stage, before a difficult situation becomes a crisis.
Founders
Diverse experience.
Shared vision.
Julia Zagonek
Co-FounderJulia is an English solicitor-advocate and internationally recognised disputes lawyer with more than 25 years of experience, including 15 years as a partner at White & Case, where she led its CIS disputes team. She has represented states, leading global corporations, financial institutions and private clients in complex, high-value disputes arising from investments, M&A transactions, joint ventures, partnerships and shareholder relationships, including matters involving allegations of fraud and money laundering. Her practice encompasses international commercial and investment arbitration and English court proceedings. As both advocate and arbitrator, Julia combines deep disputes expertise with the strategic judgement required to navigate matters where substantial assets, reputations and long-term business interests are at stake.
Nik Kutnaks
Co-FounderNik is an English qualified lawyer with two decades of experience advising corporates, boards and shareholders. He practised at a prominent U.S. law firm before spending nearly a decade as a senior executive at a multi-billion-dollar international metals and mining group, where he was principal adviser to the Chairman and, ultimately, Chairman of the Executive Committee. He led a number of notable M&A transactions and restructurings and delivered large-scale corporate governance reforms. Having advised boards as counsel and served as an executive he brings a business as well as a legal reading of the challenges his clients face. Nik's practice is focused on Private Wealth, Investments and Special Situations.
Contact
Get in touch with us.
Telephone
+971 50 967 2259
Email
info@alyff.com
Location
Office 2, Pixel Tower 6
Abu Dhabi Global Market
Abu Dhabi, UAE