Hamada D. Zahawi

Authored for Print issue Vol 69.2 Shifting Sands published in 2015-16

Hamada Dara Zahawi is an international attorney-advisor with the Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) in the Office of the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Mr. Zahawi works primarily on commercial legal reform and economic development in Iraq, Afghanistan, and countries in the Arabian Peninsula, including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates. Prior to joining CLDP, Mr. Zahawi was in private practice with a focus on project finance, international commercial law, and Islamic/Middle East finance. Mr. Zahawi earned his JD at the University of California-Berkeley Law, where he co-founded the Berkeley Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Law and served on the editorial board of the California Law Review. Mr. Zahawi also holds a master’s (M.Phil) in international relations from the University of Cambridge, where his studies focused on modern Middle East economic, legal, and social affairs. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of California-Los Angeles. Mr. Zahawi is fluent in Arabic and conversational in Spanish.