Clear counsel when the stakes are real.
SALAW Associates advises companies, institutions and private clients across fourteen practice areas — with the candour to tell you where you actually stand, and the preparation to act on it.
The firm in brief
- 22 years
- In continuous practice
- 14
- Practice areas under one roof
- 2,400+
- Matters concluded
- < 1 day
- To acknowledge an enquiry
Corporate · Disputes · Private Client · Regulatory
A practice built on judgement, not volume.
SALAW Associates was founded in 2004 on a straightforward proposition: that mid-market businesses and private clients were being served either expensively or badly, and rarely well. Two decades on, the firm has forty legal professionals across four practice groups, and the proposition has not changed.
What clients tend to notice first is the candour. We give a written assessment of the position before any work begins — what your case is worth, what it will cost, and where it is weak. An encouraging opinion that changes eight months later serves nobody, and we would rather lose the instruction than give one.
What they notice second is that the practice areas are not separate businesses. Most serious matters cross lines: a shareholder dispute has a tax dimension, a restructuring has a regulatory one. Ours are in one building, coordinated by one accountable partner, so you receive a single position rather than four separate opinions.
Business & Commercial
Advice for companies at every stage — incorporation, capital, contracts, property and people.
Disputes & Advocacy
Contentious work across civil, criminal and arbitral forums, led by preparation rather than posture.
Personal & Private Client
Matters that affect families and individuals directly, handled discreetly and without escalation.
Regulatory & Advisory
Continuing counsel on tax, compliance, intellectual property and the questions that arrive without warning.
Where clients most often need us.
Five of our fourteen practice areas account for the majority of instructions. Each is led by a partner who has handled your situation before, in this forum.
Corporate & Business Law
Formation, governance, investment and exit — the legal spine of a company through every stage of its life.
Discuss your caseCivil Litigation
Preparation-led advocacy in commercial, contractual and property disputes, at trial and on appeal.
Discuss your caseCriminal Law
Defence at every stage — investigation, bail, trial and appeal — with particular depth in white-collar matters.
Discuss your caseFamily Law
Divorce, custody, guardianship, maintenance and succession, handled with discretion and without escalation.
Discuss your caseProperty & Real Estate Law
Title, transactions, development and possession — for owners, developers, landlords and lenders.
Discuss your caseNot listed here
Nine further practice areas, from immigration to compliance.
22+
Years in practice
Founded 2004
2,400+
Matters concluded
Across all practice groups
1,100+
Clients advised
Companies, institutions and individuals
14
Practice areas
Under one coordinated team
Eight things clients say make the difference.
None of them are unusual claims for a law firm to make. What matters is whether they are operating commitments or marketing copy — so each one below is written as something you can hold us to.
Experienced legal professionals
Partners average nineteen years in practice. The person advising you has handled your situation before, in this forum, and knows how it tends to resolve.
A client-focused approach
We ask what outcome you actually need before proposing how to reach it. Occasionally the answer is that you do not need a lawyer, and we say so.
Depth across fourteen practice areas
Most serious matters cross practice lines. Ours are in one building, so the tax, employment and regulatory dimensions are handled together rather than in sequence.
Strategies built for your facts
No template approaches. Each matter starts with a written assessment of the position, the realistic options, and what each would cost and take.
Confidentiality by design
Access-controlled files, restricted internal circulation on sensitive matters, and encryption in transit and at rest as standard.
Professional representation
Court and tribunal advocacy by lawyers who appear regularly, not by counsel meeting your file for the first time the week before a hearing.
Transparent communication
Written engagement terms before work begins, cost updates before estimates are exceeded, and a scheduled update even in the weeks when nothing happens.
Results-oriented, honestly framed
We measure ourselves on outcomes achieved and matters resolved early. We do not promise results, because no lawyer honestly can.
You will know who is running your matter.
Every file has one named partner or senior associate who owns it. Work is delegated where that is efficient; responsibility is not.
Founding Partner
Sarah Aleem
Corporate transactions, governance and investment
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Managing Partner
Daniyal Rashid
Commercial litigation and international arbitration
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Partner
Mariam Farooq
Family law, succession and private client
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Partner
Omar Siddiqui
Criminal defence and white-collar investigations
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What clients say when the matter is over.
“We came to SALAW mid-way through a funding round that had stalled over warranty language. Sarah rewrote the position in two days and got both sides to a signature. What stayed with me was that she told us plainly which of our asks were not worth fighting for.”
“Daniyal took over a case another firm had run for two years. Within a month we had a document schedule that actually made sense, and within four we had a settlement well above what we had been told to expect. The difference was preparation, not theatrics.”
“Mariam handled my divorce and custody arrangement over eleven months. She never once let it become a fight for its own sake, and my children were protected from all of it. I have recommended her to three people since.”
“The investigation was opened on a Thursday afternoon. Omar was in the room with us on Friday morning with a clear picture of exposure and a plan. Nine months later the matter closed with no charge. I do not think that happens without early intervention.”
“Elena walked us away from a site we badly wanted because the approvals chain did not close. It cost us a quarter. Eighteen months later that project is in litigation between other parties and we are not in it.”
“We restructured three departments with Aisha guiding the process end to end. Every consultation step was documented, every conversation scripted properly. There were no claims. For a change of that size, that is the whole measure of success.”
Notes from the practice.
Written by the lawyers doing the work, about the problems that recur. No newsletters, no summaries of legislation you can read yourself.
Served with proceedings: the first seventy-two hours
What you do in the first three days after being served shapes the cost, duration and often the outcome of the entire matter. Most of it is not legal work.
Why restructurings generate claims — and how to run one that does not
The legal test for a fair redundancy is not demanding. Employers lose these cases on process, and almost always on documentation created after the decision rather than before it.
What a standard title search will not tell you
Registry searches confirm what is recorded. A meaningful share of property disputes arise from interests that were never recorded at all.
Tell us what has happened. We will tell you where you stand.
A short conversation is usually enough to establish whether you have a matter worth pursuing, what it would involve, and what it would cost. If you do not need a lawyer, we will say so.
- Direct line
- +1 (212) 555-0142
- Response time
- Every enquiry acknowledged within one business day.