Hafsa Zayyan is a Partner in Quinn Emanuel’s London office. Her practice focuses on international arbitration and cross-border, complex litigation. She has experience 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. She also has significant experience in investment treaty disputes and public international law matters.
Hafsa has been recognized as a Key Lawyer in the Legal 500 UK 2025 Edition for her work in the "Crime, Fraud and licensing - Fraud: Civil" and "Public International Law" practice areas and was ranked as a Leading Associate in "International Arbitration". Client testimonials highlight her exceptional capabilities, with remarks such as she is a "clear (and very quick) thinker and very good communicator, excellent drafting skills and fast-developing advocate skills - she is the full package". She has been praised for producing “outstandingly impressive work” and “operat[ing] seamlessly as a team”. In 2024, she was recognised as a 2024 Rising Star by Law.com in its list of the UK’s Best Up and Coming Female Lawyers aged under 40.
- Acting for Process & Industrial Developments Limited in Nigeria v P&ID (one of the Lawyer’s Top 20 cases of 2023) before the English High Court in respect of a challenge by Nigeria to an arbitral award worth approximately USD 11 billion on the basis of allegations of fraud and corruption
- Acting for the Republic of Azerbaijan in UNCITRAL arbitration proceedings in a dispute under the Iran-Azerbaijan bilateral investment treaty worth USD1 billion
- Acting for a Saudi shareholder in a media company in a DIFC-LCIA arbitration worth USD 180m concerning a shareholders’ dispute
- Acting for a UAE-based healthcare company in an LCIA Arbitration worth USD520m against a significant state-owned bank and involving complex legal allegations under several different laws
- Acting for a Swiss-based oil refining company in complex fraud claims worth a combined USD1.7 billion against a large CIS-region state-owned bank
- Advising an international oil company on its high-value dispute with a Middle Eastern State
- Acting for a Zambian energy company in an LCIA arbitration worth a combined USD260 million concerning debt claims and contingent payments
- Acting for a mining company in LCIA arbitration proceedings in a post-M&A dispute worth USD141m involving allegations of fraud arising out of the sale of its interests in a West African State
- Acting for a multinational telecommunications company in a post-M&A termination dispute worth USD200m arising out of the sale of its interests in a West African State
- Acting for a Middle Eastern mineral extraction company in a contract dispute with a Zambian businessman in an LCIA arbitration worth USD50 million
- Representing Avonwick Holdings in complex fraud and conspiracy proceedings worth USD200m before the English High Court (Avonwick and ors v Shlosberg and ors)
- University of Oxford
(B.C.L., 2013) - University of Cambridge
(B.A., First Class, 2012)
- Solicitor, England & Wales
- Urdu
- Hindi
- Herbert Smith Freehills
- Trainee, 2014-2016
- 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
- What End Users Want from Arbitration Today, in the European Arbitration Review 2023
- 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)