Sarah Malik is an award-winning lawyer who founded SOL International Ltd, a boutique legal consultancy registered at the ADGM in 2018. Sarah achieved ‘Litigator of the Year’ (2022) at the first GCC Women in Law Awards and received an honourable mention as ‘Law Firm Leader of the Year’ category at the same awards. In March 2022, SOL was named by Legal 500 EMEA as ‘A Firm to Watch in Dispute Resolution: Arbitration and International Litigation’. In 2023 Sarah was listed as a ‘Leading Practitioner’ in The Arbitration Powerlist: Middle East Legal 500 EMEA.

In March 2023, Sarah was appointed to the Inaugural Advisory Committee for the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) and the Advisory Board for ThoughtsLeaders4 FIRE Middle East Summit 2023. She was also appointed to the DIFC Users Committee and the Advisory Board for Juris Centre for Excellence in Legal Education and Training at Middlesex University, Dubai.

Sarah is a member of the SIAC Users Council in the Middle East and is one of 20 appointed on the Lagos Panel of Arbitration Neutrals. Sarah is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and accepts appointments to sit as an Arbitrator.

Sarah undertakes international commercial arbitrations as Counsel (DIAC, ADCCAC, DIFC-LCIA, ICC) and practices commercial litigation at the DIFC and ADGM Courts. She deals with a varied arbitration caseload from construction through to international commercial arbitrations and has enjoyed successful awards in multi-million value.

Sarah partners with numerous academies worldwide including AIAC, AIFC, ADJD and DIFC to provide best practice and training on arbitration. She is regularly invited to speak at conferences within the UAE, GCC and internationally for various organisations including the ICC, CIArb and at the IBA.
In March 2024, Sarah moderated a panel at Paris Arbitration Week on ‘All About Arbitration Clauses: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’.

In March 2024, Sarah spoke at the inaugural Global Arbitration Review Live at Riyadh International Disputes Week on a panel titled ‘The Knowns and Unknowns: Expectations from the Courts’.

In March 2024, Sarah moderated an AI in Arbitration panel during Riyadh international Disputes Week titled ‘AI is Here, Now What?’ hosted by Jus Mundi.
In March 2024, Sarah moderated a Mock Arbitration Proceeding with LexisNexis and M&Co Legal during Riyadh International Disputes Week.
In December 2023, Sarah moderated and spoke on a panel titled ‘Developments in International Arbitration’ in Qatar and Bahrain as part of an annual update that she carries out internationally featuring Gary Born. 

In November 2023, as part of Dubai Arbitration Week, Sarah organised and moderated in a live Mock Arbitration Proceeding titled ‘Behind the Scenes 3.0’ and moderated a panel discussion on ‘Metaverse Litigation: The New Age of Disputes in a Virtual World’ organised by ThoughtsLeaders4. 
In October 2023, Sarah spoke on four different panels at the IBA Conference 2023 in Paris.

Sarah spoke in Algiers in October 2023 at the Algiers Inaugural Arbitration Day 2023 on ‘Arbitration in Technology Disputes’.

Sarah jointly organised the Kuwait Arbitration Day 2023 in September 2023 and moderated a panel titled ‘Arbitration and ADR in the Middle East: Exploring Benefits and Recent Developments’. 

She spoke in Kenya at the CIArb 7th International Arbitration Conference in July 2023: A New Era of Dispute Resolution in Africa on the topic ‘Keeping up with the moving face of technology in Arbitration: The Metaverse, AI, Blockchain and Fintech’.

In June 2023, Sarah was part of a panel in respect of equal representation in arbitration at the ‘Arbitration Pledge: Diversity and Inclusion in the KSA’.
In May 2023, Sarah spoke at the inaugural CIArb Qatar Conference and AGM on ‘The Use of AI in Arbitration’.

In May 2023, Sarah co-hosted and moderated an event at London International Disputes Week 2023 on the topic ‘Bridging the Gap: UK and UAE’. 
In November 2022, Sarah spoke at the Young IBA on ‘The Changing Landscape in Arbitration: New Trends – How The Metaverse Fits Into Arbitration.’
In November 2022 Sarah partnered with the SCCA in Riyadh for an Inaugural Dispute Resolution forum titled ‘Updates on Developments in International Arbitration with Gary Born’ wherein she held a fireside chat with Gary discussing Vision 2030 Saudi and how alternative dispute resolution fits in.
In May 2022 Sarah organised, co-hosted, and spoke at an Inaugural Arbitration Summit in Lahore, Pakistan. The Summit was attended by eminent local and international lawyers and distinguished members of the judiciary and received credible international coverage.

In addition to practice, Sarah is appointed as a visiting lecturer on the LLM programme at Middlesex University, Dubai, in International Commercial Litigation and Arbitration and for the DIFC Academy in relation to DIFC and UAE Arbitration Law. She has sat as an arbitrator at the Vis Pre-Moot conducted in 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively.

Sarah has authored a text on a ‘A Guide to GCC Arbitration’ and is currently involved in writing a book on ‘Arbitration in the Arab World’.