No. of offices 3 total Founder Malik R. Dahlan | Headquarters Doha | |
Major practice areas Corporate, Transnational investment, Sovereign affairs, International policy matters | ||
Institution Quraysh for Law & Policy, also known as iQ, is a transnational law firm, and think-tank with offices in Doha, Jeddah, and London. The institution's primary area of focus is the Arab World, in particular the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council. It advises regional, and international corporations operating in the region, in addition to policy work with national governments, sovereign entities, and international non-governmental organisations.
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iQ is affiliated with the Washington, D.C.-based global law firm Covington & Burling LLP, with both firms providing legal and consulting services jointly to clients in the Middle East and the wider Arab World.
History
The institution was established by Malik R. Dahlan in 2006 with the stated goal of providing an integrated and comprehensive transnational consulting capacity by coupling the provision of legal advice and services with policy expertise. Dahlan himself is a multi-jurisdictional qualified attorney, with qualifications from Jordan, and the United States of America. He also undertook a Doctorate in Public Policy in Egypt. After working in both the corporate and policy sectors in the Gulf, and the U.S.A., including the Brookings Institution, Dahlan founded iQ in Doha, Qatar.
The institution expanded rapidly, opening further offices in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and London, United Kingdom, and establishing an International Advisory Board of renowned figures from law, policy matters, and academia. These include Lord Woolf of Barnes, formerly Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, and Ahmed Zaki Yamani, formerly Saudi Arabian Minister for Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and a key figure within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). iQ also established a body of International Experts to work on specific legal and policy matters as and when required.
Subsequent to the establishment of its strategic alliance with Covington & Burling, both firms now occupy the same office premises in London for work on joint representative matters.
Policy work in the Gulf
In May 2009, iQ organised the inaugural Qatar Law Forum of Global Leaders in Law in Doha, in concert with the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Lord Woolf, and Sir William Blair, a prominent High Court Judge in England and Wales, and expert on Islamic finance, served as the Law Forum's Co-Conveners.
iQ was also involved in the creation of the Civil and Commercial Court, and Regulatory Tribunal of the Qatar Financial Centre, twin judicial bodies which represent the first institutional synthesis of shari'ah, common law, and civil law.
Plans for establishing further offices in Saudi Arabia were announced by iQ in February 2011.