Sarah Derouiche

Commercial, Corporate & Real Estate

• Provide legal guidance and advice to key stakeholders within the Quik team (grocery e-commerce) in matters such as assessing and mitigating risks in business processes and decision-making.
• Draft and review legal documents, including bespoke agreements, commercial contracts, NDAs, supply agreements, commercial leases, fit-out contracts and others.
• Lead negotiations with third parties, collaborating alongside the legal team and internal stakeholders. Provide key legal advice and strategic options to safeguard Careem's interests during negotiations.
• Work closely with external law firms to provide essential support and advice for specific projects.
• Understand, interpret, and apply relevant regulations, current or proposed, that impact the Careem Quik business in the MENA region.
• Set up new entities to support the growth of Quik in Dubai, and engage in negotiations with local licensing authorities to obtain the necessary licenses and permits for its expansion.
• Support the government relations team in their communication with government authorities and regulators in the MENA region.
• Assist the business team in launching new sites in existing markets across the Careem network.
• Conduct legal research tasks.
• Manage and update the Quik legal team's precedent/template agreement library.
• Design legal training materials and facilitate training for the commercial team.

Real Estate

• Managed residential and commercial real estate cases, overseeing tasks from initial checks to post-completion for properties ranging from £60,000 to over £1,000,000.
• Drafted and advised on commercial leases, service charge, tenancy, and debt-settlement agreements.

Litigation

• Handled litigation claims, including possession, forfeiture, repossession, rent arrears recovery, disputes, and squatter eviction.
• Prepared court documents, witness statements, hearing bundles, and evidence.
• Negotiated favourable settlements.

Immigration

• Managed various UK immigration cases, including Leave to Remain, Spouse and Visitor visas, EU pre-settled and settled status, and deportation appeals.
• Provided initial advice, drafted legal opinions, and conducted research on legislative updates.
• Analysed legislation to strategise successful appeals and represented clients in court.

• Working as a paralegal and handling own caseload of immigration files
• Assisting senior lawyers with family and commercial cases
• Attending to clients, taking instructions and preparing cases
• Managing general immigration applications from initiation to completion