Hafsa Zayyan is a senior associate in Quinn Emanuel’s London office. She joined the firm in 2016. Her practice focuses on international arbitration and cross-border, complex litigation. She has experience of representing clients in arbitrations under the ICC, UNCITRAL, LCIA, ICSID, SIAC, DIFC-LCIA and GCCCAC Rules, as well as ad-hoc arbitrations. She regularly advises on complex commercial disputes, often with a civil fraud or asset-tracing angle and has represented high-net worth individuals as well as multinational corporations across a range of sectors including natural resources, energy and telecommunications. Hafsa’s work is multi-jurisdictional and she has particular experience in Africa, the CIS and the Middle East. Prior to joining the firm, Hafsa trained at a large international law firm in London, spending six months in Singapore.
Hafsa read law at the University of Cambridge and graduated with a first class degree in 2012. She went on to pursue a masters at the University of Oxford, completing the B.C.L. in 2013, where she specialised in international dispute resolution and conflicts of laws. She has had significant exposure to investor-state disputes and other public international law matters.
Hafsa is recognized as a key lawyer in the Legal 500 UK 2025 Edition for her work in "Crime, Fraud and licensing - Fraud: Civil", "International Arbitration", and "Public International Law" practice areas. She has been ranked as a “Rising Star, Up-and-Coming Women in UK Legal Industry” (2024) by Law.com.
- University of Oxford
(B.C.L., 2013) - University of Cambridge
(B.A., First Class, 2012)
- Solicitor, England & Wales
- Urdu
- Hindi
- Spanish
- Ranked by Legal 500 UK as a Key Lawyer in Crime, Fraud and licensing - Fraud: Civil, 2020, 2025
- Ranked by Legal 500 UK as a Key Lawyer in International Arbitration , 2025
- Ranked by Legal 500 UK as a Key Lawyer in Public International Law, 2025
- Ranked by Rising Stars, Up-and-Coming Women in UK Legal Industry, 2024
Observance of obligations, in The Investment Treaty Arbitration Review (4th Edition) (ed. Barton Legum), The Law Reviews (2019) (with Anthony Sinclair)
Burden and Standard of Proof at the Jurisdictional Stage, in Arbitration Under International Investment Agreements: A Guide to the Key Issues (2nd Edition) (ed. Katia Yannaca-Small), OUP, Jul. 2018 (with Baiju S Vasani, Timothy L Foden)