Nooree Moola

Nooree Moola heads Gibson Dunn's disputes team in the UAE, practising in International Arbitration, Litigation, Enforcement of Judgments and Awards, and Investigations.

She has practised in the Middle East for more than a decade, as well as in London and Australia. She is qualified in England and Australia.

Nooree's practice focuses on the most complex and high-stakes commercial disputes in arbitration and litigation. She acts in M&A, shareholder, investment, and energy disputes, and in matters involving fraud, anti-corruption and white-collar crime. She is known for running litigation in multiple jurisdictions simultaneously, with expertise before the DIFC Courts, the ADGM Courts, the English courts, and the Australian State and Federal courts. She has also led multiple campaigns to enforce ultra-high-value arbitral awards across jurisdictions, against both sovereign and private entities. Her clients include States, multinational corporations, international oil companies, and investment firms.

Nooree has been instructed on multiple landmark commercial disputes before the DIFC Courts, 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, for the first time, a Fast Track in the ADGM's Civil and Commercial Division. She was recently appointed by the Chief Justice of the DIFC Courts to the Court's Professional & Disciplinary Ethics Committee, having previously served on the DIFC Court Rules Drafting Committee.

She has acted as counsel in more than 50 arbitrations, and sits as arbitrator under all the major institutional rules, with regular appointments in DIAC and LCIA arbitrations.

Chambers recognises Nooree 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 and on LawDragon’s Top 500 Global Litigators. In 2025, she led her team to Law.com's “Middle East Arbitration Team of the Year” award, and was noted for being “extremely rigorous and effective, handling very high-value and important cases with great aplomb”, and for “fiercely and fearlessly advocat[ing] her clients' cause”.

Clients describe her as being "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”

 

 

Representative work

Arbitration

• Securing an award of US$ 2.43 billion for Crescent Petroleum in its high-profile claims against the National Iranian Oil Company, in an ad hoc, London-seated arbitration administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, for the total failure to deliver gas under a 50-year gas sales agreement;
• Securing an award of US$ 1.65 billion for minority shareholders in an Iraqi telecommunications joint venture in a DIFC-seated LCIA arbitration—the highest-value award in a DIFC-seated arbitration to date;
• Representing the majority shareholders in a Middle Eastern oil and gas joint venture, and securing the complete dismissal of a US$ 3 billion claim brought by minority shareholders seeking to compulsorily forfeit the majority's shareholding, in a London-seated LCIA arbitration; and
• Defending the Republic of the Philippines in a US$ 3 billion Singapore-seated commercial and investment arbitration administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, concerning a key piece of railway infrastructure, securing dismissal of nearly all claims while successfully prosecuting counterclaims.

Litigation

• Acting in the first state immunity case ever heard by the DIFC Courts or the Dubai courts, creating new law in the process;
• Drafting an extensive reform of the ADGM Court Rules and Court Regulations, introducing 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 and directors' duties, including self-dealing and conflicts of interest; and
• ADGM Court litigation against an investment manager, involving allegations of breaches of the FSRA Rules and ADGM Companies Law, mismanagement, and various torts.

Enforcement and arbitration-related litigation

• Conducting a global campaign to enforce a US$ 2.4 billion LCIA arbitral award against a foreign government entity, with strategic litigation in London, New York, the DIFC, the Netherlands and Switzerland;
• Seeking an injunction in aid of arbitration before the DIFC Courts, to restrain a security holder from enforcing a share pledge while the arbitration was underway;
• Seeking anti-suit injunctions in the English High Court to enforce a London-seated arbitration agreement; and
• Obtaining worldwide disclosure orders from the DIFC Courts in connection with the enforcement of an arbitral award.

Investigations and complex compliance advisory

• Advising an oil major on an investigation into alleged improper payments to a Lebanese consultant in connection with operations in the UAE and the wider GCC;
• Representing the Chairman of the Board of Binance in connection with the US DOJ and SEC monitorship of its Board; and
• Advising a State oil company on an urgent and sensitive investigation into wrongdoing by a senior executive, carrying criminal and regulatory consequences.

Alongside her client work, Nooree regularly speaks at and hosts international arbitration conferences and events. She has lectured and published on a range of topics, and has authored chapters on international financial crime and on energy arbitration. She lectures at NYU Abu Dhabi and has guest lectured at Columbia University in New York. She has also delivered international arbitration and state immunity training to the Solicitor General's and Attorney General's Offices of multiple sovereign States.

Before joining Gibson Dunn, Nooree trained and practised as a solicitor at a top-tier international law firm in Melbourne, Australia.

During her studies, Nooree received Dean's Academic Excellence Awards for the highest finishing grade in both her Law and her Applied Science (Genetic Engineering/Medical Biotechnology) degrees, and Dean's Commendations for Excellent Academic Achievement in each year from 2005 to 2008. She was awarded the LESANZ Academic Achievement Award as top student in her LL.M. at the University of Queensland.

Nooree also serves as a Director on the Board of Pack for a Purpose, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organisation that encourages travellers to use spare luggage space to deliver supplies—from books to medical equipment—to community-based programmes around the world. It supports more than 450 community projects in 66 countries, with a 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
• United Arab Emirates - DIFC Courts Part I & II