Claudia El Hage

Claudia El Hage is the founding and managing partner of al Marri & el Hage Law Office, a Doha-based practice recognised as International Arbitration Law Firm of the Year in Qatar at the Corporate INTL Global Awards 2025. The award reflects both the firm's standing in the Qatari market and El Hage's own reputation as one of the region's leading practitioners in construction and international arbitration.

El Hage leads a firm that combines local knowledge with international business experience, drawing on a team of specialised lawyers and a network that extends beyond Qatar to Beirut and Paris. The practice has built its reputation over more than two decades, and it presents itself as a firm grounded in the values of ethics, trust and transparency. As managing partner, El Hage is responsible both for the strategic direction of the practice and for its most significant contentious matters, and she is the driving force behind its recognition in the field of international arbitration.

Her particular distinction lies in construction and international commercial arbitration. She has been described by Who's Who Legal as a go-to lawyer for high-value Middle Eastern construction disputes and recognised as a global construction law leader, while Chambers and Partners has noted her strong reputation for litigation before the Qatari courts, characterising her as responsive and highly regarded. Construction disputes in the Gulf are frequently large, technically complex and international in character, involving employers, contractors and consultants from multiple jurisdictions. Resolving them demands a command of both the applicable law and the specialised procedures of international arbitration, together with the ability to marshal expert evidence and manage lengthy proceedings. It is in precisely this arena that El Hage has made her mark.

The firm's practice extends across the areas that matter most to businesses operating in Qatar. Alongside litigation, alternative dispute resolution and legal consultancy, it advises on construction and real estate development, mergers and acquisitions and initial public offerings, and banking and finance. This breadth allows the firm to support clients not only when disputes arise but throughout the life of their projects and transactions, from structuring and financing through to delivery and, where necessary, the resolution of disagreements. For clients in the construction and real estate sectors in particular, the combination of transactional and contentious capability is especially valuable.

El Hage's practice is defined by a close, service-oriented relationship with clients. The firm reports having served a large base of satisfied clients over its more than twenty years of operation, an indicator of the trust it has earned in a competitive market. Qatar's sustained programme of infrastructure and real estate development has generated significant demand for lawyers able to advise on major projects and to represent parties in the disputes that inevitably accompany construction on this scale, and El Hage's firm has positioned itself at the centre of this activity.

The recognition of al Marri & el Hage Law Office as International Arbitration Law Firm of the Year in Qatar at the Corporate INTL Global Awards 2025 affirms El Hage's leadership and the firm's reputation in one of the most demanding areas of legal practice. For clients facing high-value construction and commercial disputes in Qatar and the wider region, she offers a rare combination of internationally recognised expertise, local depth and a genuinely client-focused approach.