Nooree Moola

Nooree Moola is an English and Australian-qualified partner in the Dubai office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She heads Gibson Dunn’s disputes team in the UAE and is a member of the firm’s International Arbitration, White Collar Defence & Investigations, Enforcement of Judgments and Arbitral Awards, and Litigation practice groups. She has practiced in the Middle East region for more than a decade, as well as in London and Australia.

Nooree specialises in international arbitration and complex commercial litigation, regulatory investigations and complex advisory matters. She has been instructed on multiple landmark commercial disputes before the DIFC Court, creating new law in the process. She recently led an extensive reform of the ADGM Court Rules, Regulations and Practice Directions, introducing a new Division of the ADGM Courts and a Fast Track in the ADGM’s Civil and Commercial Division for the first time.

In addition to her work as counsel, Nooree sits as an arbitrator in arbitrations under all the major institutional rules, including the LCIA and DIAC. She is a member of the DIFC Court Rules Drafting Committee and is appointed to the United Nations Global Arbitration Counsel List.

Nooree is recognized by Chambers Legal as being “extremely bright, energetic, client-focused, hungry to win and tactical”. She is named on Legal 500’s Arbitration Powerlist for the Middle East Region. In 2025, she led her team to win Law.com’s prestigious “Middle East Arbitration Team of the Year”, Clients describe her as “very client-focused, commercial and pragmatic”, “very articulate and cool under pressure”, and “a tenacious and persuasive lawyer” who “quickly cuts through the noise to hone in on what is important”.

Nooree regularly represents clients in relation to shareholder disputes, investment disputes, M&A disputes, infrastructure and energy disputes, and matters involving fraud, anti-corruption and white collar crime. She has broad experience, including domestic and transnational litigation at the interlocutory, trial and appellate levels, before the DIFC Courts, ADGM Courts, the High Court of England & Wales, the English Court of Appeal, the Federal Court of Australia, the Supreme Court of Victoria, the Supreme Court of Queensland and the High Court of Australia. She has also acted on multiple campaigns for the enforcement of ultra-high-value arbitral awards across jurisdictions, against sovereign and private entities. She has acted for a broad range of clients including international oil companies, multinational corporations, banks, investment firms and sovereign governments.

Nooree also handles major cross-border investigations in the fields of bribery and corruption, fraud, sanctions, and money laundering.

Recent work includes:

Arbitration

• Representing the majority investors in a Middle Eastern oil and gas joint venture in multiple high-value LCIA arbitrations seated in London, with claims in excess of US$ 2 billion;
• On behalf of minority shareholders in an Iraqi telecommunications joint venture in a high-value, DIFC-seated LCIA Arbitration, securing an award of US$ 1.65 billion, the highest-value award in a DIFC-seated arbitration to date;
• Defending a sovereign state in a US$ 3 billion Singapore-seated commercial and investment dispute relating to a key piece of railway infrastructure, and securing a dismissal of nearly all claims whilst successfully prosecuting counterclaims; and
• Representing a sovereign state in an LCIA arbitration relating to a multi-billion-dollar container terminal and related infrastructure, involving allegations of bribery and State expropriation.

Litigation

• Acting in the first ever state immunity case to be heard by the DIFC Courts or Dubai courts, creating new law in the process;
• Drafting an extensive reform of the ADGM Court Rules and Court Regulations, to introduce a Fast Track in the ADGM Court’s Civil & Commercial Division and a new, bespoke Real Property Division;
• DIFC Court derivative proceedings against the directors of a holding company alleging breaches of fiduciary duty (such as self-dealing and conflicts of interest) and directors’ duties; and
• ADGM Court litigation against an investment manager, with allegations of breaches of the FSRA Rules and ADGM Companies Law, mismanagement and breach of various torts.

Investigations and complex compliance advisory

• Advising an oil major on an investigation into alleged improper payments made to a Lebanese consultant in connection with operations in Abu Dhabi and the broader GCC; and
• Advising a major European investment bank in connection with multi-jurisdictional investigations relating to alleged manipulation of LIBOR and other benchmark rates and foreign exchange rates.

Enforcement and arbitration-related litigation

• Acting for a Middle-Eastern investor in the enforcement in London, New York, the DIFC, the Netherlands and Switzerland of a multi-billion dollar LCIA arbitral award against a foreign government entity;
• Seeking an injunction in aid of arbitration before the DIFC Courts, to restrain a security holder from enforcing a share pledge whilst arbitration was underway;
• Obtaining worldwide disclosure orders from the DIFC Court in connection with the enforcement of an arbitral award; and
• Representing a multi-national company in relation to a jurisdiction challenge in support of an arbitration agreement.

In addition to her client work, Nooree is also active in the dispute resolution community in Dubai, and attends all of the major think-tanks and conferences. She is a member of ArbitralWomen, YIAC, Young ICCA, the Green Pledge and the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge. Nooree speaks at international conferences, and has lectured and published on a number of topics, including delivering training on international arbitration and state immunity to the staff of the Office of the Solicitor General of an Asian country.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Nooree trained and practiced as a solicitor in a top-tier international law firm in Melbourne, Australia. She was admitted as a solicitor in Australia in November 2009.

During her studies, Nooree was awarded a Dean’s Academic Excellence Award for having the highest finishing grade in both her Law and Applied Science (Genetic Engineering/Medical Biotechnology) degrees. She also received Dean’s Commendations for Excellent Academic Achievement each year between 2005 and 2008. Ms. Moola was also awarded the LESANZ Academic Achievement Award as top student in the course of her LL.M., completed at the University of Queensland.

Nooree also serves as Director on the Board of Pack for a Purpose, a s 501(3)(c) non-profit organization which encourages travellers to use extra luggage space to deliver supplies (from books to medical tools) to community-based programmes around the world. It supports more than 450 community projects in 66 countries across the world, with a key focus on education, health and child welfare.

Capabilities

• International Arbitration
• Judgment and Arbitral Award Enforcement
• Life Sciences
• Litigation
• Transnational Litigation
• White Collar Defense and Investigations

Credentials

Education:

• University of Queensland - 2012 Master of Laws (LL.M.)
• The College of Law, Australia - 2009 Diploma in Legal Practice
• Queensland University of Technology - 2008 LL.B. (Hons)
• Queensland University of Technology - 2007 Bachelor of Applied Science

Admissions:

• Australia - Victorian Legal Services Board
• England & Wales - Solicitor