The legal sector has mostly been and is still considered a male-dominated industry. However, the gender gap has started disappearing over the years, with women gradually leading and excelling at various higher positions in the industry. Throughout her professional experience of more than 22 years in the legal industry, Bojana Radocaj Ubovic has held various leadership positions, such as civil judge, risk manager (banking), and general manager, before delving deep into arbitration. A twist in her career caused her to find her way to the Middle East, where she is currently working as the managing director and co-partner of the Doha-based construction consultancy company Khiebra LLC. In an exclusive interview with Women Entrepreneur, Bojana discusses the expertise and key specialization areas of Khiebra, the wide range of roles she is currently playing at the organization, and much more:

Introduce us to Khiebra. Tell us about its key areas of specialization.

Khiebra is a Qatar-based construction consultancy company specializing in contractual, claims, formal disputes, and commercial matters, primarily supporting main contractors and trade subcontractors. As an experienced claims consultancy, we handle a wide range of contractual issues on behalf of our clients, such as claims avoidance & management, claims drafting & defense, including but not limited to termination, disruption, time extension, additional payment, and variations-based claims. Once engaged at the initial project stage, we thoroughly vet the contract document before signing by our clients and try to negotiate away particularly onerous or unfair clauses, if any, through formal discussions and communications with the employers.

Our input at the earliest possible stage can greatly assist in preventing disputes after the project commences, as both our clients and their employers can proceed with much greater clarity and certainty once those grey areas of uncertainty are removed or clarified and mutually accepted, let alone the fact that properly negotiated contract terms and conditions can save a lot of money for our client during the execution of the project. Once the project starts on the ground, we support our client, often on a monthly retainer basis, through various letter writing and the provision of detailed contractual and commercial advice. Our efforts ensure that our clients are fairly compensated for any additional work that may arise or delays they encounter. We ensure that they are not exposed to delay penalties when their scope of work incurs delay. We also assist with contractual challenges to any financial back-charges they receive from the employers and try to have such claims canceled if there are contractual grounds for doing so.

Tell us about the various responsibilities you shoulder as the MD of Khiebra. What are your current priorities in terms of driving growth for the company?

As the MD of the firm, apart from managing various client issues on a day-to-day basis with the Khiebra team, I am also involved in business development matters. I am also involved in various regulatory obligations of the firm, which are company insurance, annual audited accounts, and compliance with other administrative directives of the QFC company regulatory authority. One of our top business priorities is to continue providing quality services tailored to the specific needs of our clients. We at Khiebra don’t believe in boundaries or limitations of any kind. One of our goals is to spread contractual awareness among contractors, making them realize that outsourcing contractual services has numerous advantages as it allows them to focus on their vital company processes and core business activities.

"When You Leverage Yourself With Integrity, Roadblocks Become Just Minor Bumps That Are Easy To Overcome"

Throw light on the most critical challenges you encounter in your role as an attorney. What strategies do you leverage to overcome the roadblocks?

Having spent more than 22 years in the legal industry, I have encountered many challenges throughout the whole journey. A high level of pressure comes along with the responsibility that a judge’s position brings. Not settling for less-than-quality performance, puts additional pressure. Profiling myself as a knowledgeable, reliable, and unbiased professional, helped me to gain the trust of all participants in the process. When it comes to private business, the very beginning of the entrepreneurial journey while dealing with the red tape and gender gaps was the most challenging stage. However, I have never sacrificed quality over quantity. Delayed payments are also a challenge that almost every company in the Middle East encounters. Overcoming these issues is possible only by ensuring that you have a strong contract, endless patience, and creativity that enables you to create a way out of the situation.

How do you foresee the corporate law landscape evolving in Qatar going forward? Which industry trends will create the most significant impact going forward?

While still in its infancy in the Gulf region, the large number of high-value disputes that traditionally happen in this region is attractive to the ‘dispute funding’ industry, making it an attractive proposition for such financial entities, who will fund all stages of formal disputes at their own full risk. On the other side, we see a move in the direction of dispute avoidance through Qatar’s international convention ratification related to dispute mediation and employer efforts to look in the mirror in terms of their procurement strategies. We anticipate that design & build contractual arrangements will increase, whereby the contractors will assume full control of the detailed project design, a function that has traditionally remained in the employer's remit and is the cause of innumerable project delays and related claims.

Bojana Radocaj Ubovic, Co-Partner & Md, Khiebra Llc

An accomplished legal professional with more than 22 years in the legal industry, Bojana Radocaj Ubovic has held various leadership positions, such as civil judge, risk manager, and general manager throughout her career. She is currently working as the managing director and co-partner of the Doha-based construction consultancy company Khiebra.

Educational Qualification:

• LLM (Master of Laws)-2001

• Ph.D. student (Arbitration)-2022

• Bar Exam-2004

• Judge’s Exam (Civil Judge)-2018

• Licensed Mediator & Bankruptcy Mediator-2020 & 2022

• Certified Construction Claims Specialist-2020

Awards and Recognitions won so far:

• GJUA (Gender Justice Uncovered Awards) May 2013

• Author’s work "Responsibility of a Guarantee Fund" published in the Bulletin of the Council of Europe in January 2016