Cut Above for Legal Practice
A law firm running matters across onshore UAE, DIFC and ADGM: corporate and M&A, commercial contracts, litigation and arbitration, employment, real estate, debt recovery, IP, wills, regulatory work and general counsel retainers, billed hourly, as a fixed fee or on retainer.
What the system calls things
| Cut Above calls it | You call it | |
|---|---|---|
| Lead | → | Enquiry |
| Opportunity | → | Matter opportunity |
| Engagement | → | Matter |
| Milestone | → | Phase |
| Invoice | → | Bill |
| Proposal | → | Fee proposal |
Your pipeline
The work you do
Every job is one of these, and each carries its own defaults and paperwork.
Plans that build themselves
Company formation (free zone)
Day 0 is the signed engagement letter. Offsets assume a mainstream free zone with no special approvals; add days for activities needing external clearance.
4 phases, 7 tasks created for you.
Commercial litigation, first instance
Day 0 is instruction. Onshore courts run on a memoranda exchange with Arabic filings; the court sets each hearing date, so re-date these phases as directions are issued. Expert appointment by the court is common and adds months.
4 phases, 7 tasks created for you.
Corporate secretarial, annual cycle
Day 0 is the start of the client's licence year. Runs on a retainer; the renewal window is the part that must not slip.
3 phases, 5 tasks created for you.
Share purchase, buy side
Day 0 is the signed term sheet. Diligence, SPA negotiation, conditions precedent and completion at the licensing authority or registrar. Timings assume a private UAE target with no regulatory approval; add the approval's own window if one applies.
4 phases, 9 tasks created for you.
Commercial contract, draft and negotiate
Day 0 is instructions received. A distribution, services, franchise or supply agreement drafted for the client and negotiated to signature. Fixed fee for a defined number of negotiation rounds.
3 phases, 5 tasks created for you.
Arbitration, DIAC / DIFC-LCIA
Day 0 is the request for arbitration. Coarse by design, the tribunal fixes the procedural timetable at the first case management conference, and every phase should be re-dated from Procedural Order No. 1.
5 phases, 10 tasks created for you.
Employment dispute, MOHRE to labour court
Day 0 is instructions. A labour complaint goes to MOHRE (or the free zone authority) for mediation before it may be referred to the labour court; the court process is fast by UAE standards.
3 phases, 7 tasks created for you.
Debt recovery, demand to enforcement
Day 0 is instructions with the invoices and contract. Legal notice, then payment order or claim, then execution against bank accounts, vehicles or property. Fixed fee per phase; execution costs are disbursements.
4 phases, 8 tasks created for you.
Rental dispute, Rental Dispute Centre
Day 0 is instructions. Landlord or tenant claims in Dubai go to the RDC: conciliation first, then a first-instance judgment, with tight windows for appeal. Requires a valid Ejari.
3 phases, 5 tasks created for you.
Trademark registration (UAE)
Day 0 is the mark and classes agreed. Search, filing with the Ministry of Economy, examination, publication and opposition period, then registration. Government fees per class are disbursements.
4 phases, 6 tasks created for you.
DIFC will, draft and register
Day 0 is instructions. A will for a non-Muslim with UAE assets, drafted and registered with the DIFC Courts Wills Service so the estate passes by the testator's wishes rather than by default rules.
3 phases, 4 tasks created for you.
Real estate conveyancing, Dubai
Day 0 is the signed MOU (Form F). Due diligence on title, NOC from the developer, mortgage discharge where applicable, and transfer at the Dubai Land Department trustee office.
3 phases, 6 tasks created for you.
Regulatory licence application (DFSA / FSRA / VARA)
Day 0 is the engagement letter. A financial-services or virtual-asset licence in DIFC, ADGM or Dubai: business plan, regulatory business plan, policies, fit-and-proper for individuals, then the regulator's review. The regulator's clock is the long one.
5 phases, 7 tasks created for you.
Legal opinion
Day 0 is instructions. A written opinion on a defined question of UAE, DIFC or ADGM law, with reasoning and reliance terms. Fixed fee per opinion.
3 phases, 4 tasks created for you.
General counsel retainer, month
Day 0 is the first of the month. Day-to-day legal support for a client without an in-house lawyer: contract reviews, employment questions, board matters. Hours tracked against the retainer allowance; excess billed hourly.
3 phases, 4 tasks created for you.
Enforcement of a foreign judgment or award
Day 0 is the certified judgment or award received. Recognition through the DIFC or onshore courts, then execution. Attestation and legal translation of the foreign documents come first.
4 phases, 6 tasks created for you.
Things it watches
- Limitation or filing deadline approaching
- High-value matter needs partner review
- Matter dormant for three weeks
- Hourly matter approaching its estimate
- Bill overdue, chase before it ages further
- Enquiry stalled before conflict check
- New enquiry, conflict check today
- Matter instructed, open the file properly
- Task past due on a matter
- Bill paid: reconcile the matter
- Limitation date in 60 days
- Limitation date in 14 days
- Hearing or deadline in a week
- KYC review due
- Power of attorney expiring
Where this fits, and where it does not
A good fit, and one rename does most of the work: a law firm's matter is Cut Above's engagement, with the same lifecycle and the same time and billing. The real difference comes before the work starts. No matter opens until a conflict check clears and KYC is on file, and the pack handles that with pipeline stages and fields rather than anything new.