Debt collection services
Debts across borders, recovered through our associate network in India, Turkey, Canada and beyond.
We recover debts owed to UAE businesses by debtors abroad, and debts owed by UAE debtors to foreign creditors. Through our associate law firms and correspondents we pursue the debtor where the assets are, and enforce UAE judgments and foreign judgments in either direction.
The UAE is a trading nation, and a large share of its receivables cross a border. A Dubai distributor is owed money by a customer in India; a Turkish exporter has shipped goods to a buyer in Sharjah who has not paid; a Canadian company holds a UAE judgment against a debtor who has moved home. Each of these requires knowledge of two legal systems, the treaties between them, and the practical question of where the debtor's assets are. The UAE has judicial cooperation treaties with many countries, and its courts enforce foreign judgments on conditions of reciprocity, while UAE judgments are enforceable abroad under the same treaties.
The Debt Collection Department of Khalifa Al Sada Advocates & Legal Consultants handles international collection through our associate network. We have built relationships over the years with law firms in India, Turkey, Canada and other countries, so that a debt can be pursued in the debtor's own jurisdiction by lawyers we know and trust.
We assist:
Our desks for Russian, Indian and Turkish clients handle these files in the client's own language.
For debts owed abroad we start with an amicable stage run from Dubai in the debtor's language, using the demand letters and negotiation that resolve most files. Where legal action is required we instruct our associate firm or correspondent in the debtor's country, brief them with an organised file, and manage the case from Dubai so that you have one point of contact and one report. We advise on whether to sue in the UAE and enforce abroad, or to sue directly in the debtor's country, based on the treaties, the cost and the location of the assets.
For debts owed by UAE debtors to foreign creditors we act as the UAE counsel: we trace the debtor and its assets through the commercial and property registers, pursue amicable settlement, and file payment orders or claims before the UAE courts. We handle the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards in the UAE under the Civil Procedure Law and the New York Convention, and the enforcement of UAE judgments abroad, including the legalisation and translation of the documents the foreign court will require. Throughout we keep the process cost-effective, and we tell you early if the debtor has no assets worth the chase.
Cross-border recovery fails when nobody owns the file. We own it. Our department manages the foreign lawyers, the translations, the legalisations and the timelines, and reports to you in one place. Our own advocates enforce in the UAE courts, and our associate firms are chosen for their track record, not from a directory.
We work in Arabic and English, and through our desks in Russian, Hindi and Turkish.
We identify where the debtor and its assets are, which treaties apply and where action is most effective.
We demand and negotiate from Dubai, in the debtor's language.
We file in the UAE or instruct our associate firm abroad, and manage the case from one point.
We enforce the judgment or award where the assets are, and remit the recovery to you.
Yes, subject to the treaty and the procedure of the foreign court. Our associate firms in both countries handle the recognition. Time and cost vary by country.
Yes, by application to the UAE court under the Civil Procedure Law, provided the foreign court had jurisdiction, the judgment is final and there is reciprocity. Arbitral awards are enforced under the New York Convention.
It depends on where the assets are, the treaties and the cost. Often it is faster to sue where the assets are. We advise before any claim is filed.
Yes. We work with correspondents in most trading countries and select them for each file.
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