Hussein D. Gulam, FCIArb

Background

Gulam is a dual-qualified lawyer licensed in Uganda and New York. He represents clients in all forms of corporate and commercial litigation and arbitration.

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, CIArb, and an Expert on Lexis Nexis’ Panel of Arbitration Experts.

He holds a Master of Laws (LLM) degree in International Litigation and Arbitration from New York University and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from Makerere University.

He has appeared on behalf of the Central Bank of Uganda, the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and ABSA Bank among other clients.

Gulam’s dispute resolution philosophy emphasizes detailed preparation and strategy, adaptability, and centering clients’ economic and other objectives.

Membership in Professional Societies

Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, CIArb

New York State Bar Association, NYSBA

Uganda Law Society, ULS

East Africa Law Society, EALS

Professional Qualifications

2025       LLM, Master of Laws, New York University, US

2021       Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice, Law Development Center, Uganda

2020       LLB, Bachelor of Laws, Makerere University, Uganda

Career Summary

Aug 2021 - Date                   Associate, MMAKS Advocates, Kampala

Nov 2025 - Date                   Expert, Lexis Nexis Panel of Arbitration Experts

Apr - Sep 2023                     Consultant, Uganda Law Society

Feb - Jun 2021                      Consultant, East Africa Law Society

Dec 2020 - Apr 2021           Clerk, Supreme Court of Uganda and Court of Appeal of Seychelles

Awards and Accolades

• Hauser Global Scholar, New York University, ’25
• Attorney General’s Award, Law Development Center, 2021

Areas of Expertise

• Commercial and Investment Treaty Arbitration
• Corporate and commercial litigation
• Alternative dispute resolution
• Conflict of laws/Private International Law

Language

• English
• Swahili
• Luganda
• Lusoga

Top Matters

Dispute Resolution

• Acted for the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa Ltd, a development finance institution owned by the Government of the Republic of South Africa, in a string of post-arbitral proceedings relating to the recognition and enforcement in Uganda of a $156m New York Convention Award against AYA Investments (U) Ltd, the proprietor of the Pearl of Africa Hotel, Kampala. The resisted recognition and enforcement proceedings involved intricate questions of arbitrability, alleged inability to participate in the arbitral proceedings, allegations of bias, appealability of the Uganda High Court’s orders on recognition and enforcement, and other issues all of which were resolved in favour of the client in multiple rulings that improved Uganda’s outlook on the arbitration friendliness scale.
• Acted for Canaf Group Inc., a Canadian listed (TSX) mining firm, against the Government of Uganda in proceedings for the setting aside of an arbitral award on the basis that the arbitrator exceeded his mandate by resolving the dispute on a question not submitted to him by the parties.
• Acted for the Central Bank of Uganda in defence of a $3m breach of statutory duty claim concerning a public procurement process filed by C&S Upholstery Limited.
• Acted for the German Development Agency, GIZ, in defence of a breach of contract claim, securing dismissal of the proceedings based on mandatory choice of forum and law clauses.
• Part of a team acting in a class action lawsuit on behalf of over 1,236 claimants against the Government of Uganda for the recovery of unpaid terminal benefits arising from the Government’s restructuring of the Uganda National Roads Authority apparatus.
• Part of a team acting for the United Nations Federal Credit Union in various loan recovery actions.
• Part of a team challenging in judicial review the legality of the freezing of a corporate client’s bank account on legally unfounded suspiscion of money laundering.
• Acted for a Ugandan hotelier in proceedings to set aside an arbitral award involving a contractor, on the basis of lapse of the arbitrator’s mandate by effluxion of time prior to the rendering of the award.
• Acted for a Uganda Government parastatal in proceedings to set aside an arbitral award on the basis of breach of public policy, the arbitrator having upheld a contractual modification made in breach of mandatory public procurement law.