Lamiaa Youssef

Lamiaa spearheads the firm’s digital transformation efforts and innovation.

Lamiaa has over fifteen years of experience in various roles in the legal industry.  Her practice spans practicing corporate law, employment law, M&As, oil & gas, dispute settlement, NGOs, knowledge management and legal automation.

Lamiaa practiced corporate law in Ibrachy & Dermarkar Law Firm for several years.  During this period, she provided legal consultations on general corporate, labour advice, banking regulations, capital market regulations, oil and gas, and general contract law; carried out due diligence exercises; advised on mergers and acquisitions; and participated in various arbitration procedures.

Lamiaa then went on to set up in Sharkawy & Sarhan the first and only legal aid department in an Egyptian law firm, which provides legal aid advice to various international and local NGOs and social entrepreneurs, as well as carry out public interest research.

During the past five years, she had been working in LegalTech and legal automation and has set up a start-up company specialized in providing online legal services and automated services to legal teams and professionals.  She currently heads the firm’s efforts in digital transformation and continues to practice law in several practice areas, including employment law and general corporate.

• Acting for STMicroelectronics, a global leader in electronics and semiconductors serving customers across the spectrum of electronic applications, on the Egyptian law aspects of its acquisition of Canada-based tech developer Riot Micro. Riot Micro is a developer of wireless chips that are meant to build smart objects in the internet of things (IoT). 
• EGP90 million equity investment by a Saudi nutrition group in a Borg-El-Arab-based plastic company resulting in 85% ownership by the Saudi group.  Role:  Lead and conduct due diligence exercise and drafting report; drafting documents, including preliminary memorandum of understanding, shareholders agreement and escrow agreement; conclude the transfer of title of shares; pledge the remaining shares; provide legal consultations on various issues, with a focus on regulatory issues, including percentage of foreign ownership of banks and exchange controls.
• Various complaints by minority shareholders against the Korean majority holder of the shares of an Egyptian electronic investment company for objections on the change of the cost analysis of the company.  Role:  representing the Korean company in a request by the minority to the General Authority for Foreign Affairs for investigation of company; representing the Korean shareholder in a nullity claim raised by the minority in the Capital Markets Authority; representing the Korean shareholder in a nullity law suit raised in court on the same matter.  Additionally, representing the majority Korean shareholder in the negotiation with the National Bank of Egypt for evaluation of the fair share price of the company as well as the mediation between the majority and minority shareholders for amicable settlement.
• US$12 million equity investment by a Saudi economic and development group in a company owning a major investment hospital.  Role:  Advise on Egyptian Law issues pertaining to subscription in capital increase, foreign ownership and tax advice; lead and conduct due diligence exercise and drafting report; implementation of subscription in capital increase; reviewing the memorandum of understanding and researching issues regarding control by the investor of major decisions and appointments in the company as well as issues relating to implementation of Islamic banking on company financing.

• Banking
• M&A
• Private equity
• Project development
• Project finance

• Energy
• Media
• Mining
• Natural resources
• Oil and gas
• Tech and telecoms
• Transport

• The Egyptian bar Association

• The Egyptian bar Association

• LL.M, International & Comparative Law, American University in Cairo, 2012.
• LL.B,Faculty of Law, Cairo University, English Section, qualified in 2000.