Across fast-moving corporate landscapes, the most effective legal leaders are those who pair technical excellence with judgment, empathy, and the ability to steer complex organisations through risk without losing sight of people. Nadia Serry embodies that model. Today, as General Counsel of EII Capital P.S.C and Corporate Board Secretary across multiple portfolio entities, she integrates board governance, contract severity, and dispute strategy with a calm, solutions-first approach.
Her path from Alexandria to Paris to Dubai; from litigation prep to risk and compliance; from private practice to in-house leadership, reveals a professional who learns fast, adapts constantly, and leads with both precision and perspective.
General Counsel to a Holding Group and Its Portfolio
Nadia Serry serves as General Counsel of EII Capital P.S.C and its portfolio companies, a role she has held for close to three years. She oversees the holding company and three additional portfolio entities, including MBS (Memaar Building Systems), among the world’s largest manufacturers of pre-engineered steel building materials, where she supports an operation of roughly 700–800 employees.
The remit is intense and hands-on: reviewing commercial contracts, issuing legal opinions to the business, running board and corporate secretarial affairs, and ensuring governance hygiene across commodities. She also serves as Corporate Board Secretary at EII and two other companies, anchoring the cadence of board documentation and decision-making.
Governance, Judgment, and Pace
Describing the day-to-day as ‘very intense’, she balances volume and velocity with structure: contracts and legal opinions must move at the speed of operations, while board matters demand rigour, record integrity, and clear communication. The result is a dual mindset, where she is expected to be both an operator and an advisor, and where she is expected to be right, timely, and practical.
It’s a posture refined by her prior years in private practice and risk/compliance roles, and it informs the way she frames options for senior management: legally sound, commercially aware, and calibrated to development.
Five Years in Risk & Compliance at a Major Prestigious Regional Law Firm
Before moving in-house, Nadia Serry spent nearly five years with Al Tamimi & Co as a risk and compliance lawyer—an experience that sharpened her skills in handling complex, high-stakes matters. The firm’s fast-paced and professional environment gave her exposure to diverse jurisdictions and regulatory challenges, equipping her with the resilience and adaptability that continue to define her leadership style today. The pandemic years further tested her ability to balance professional intensity with personal responsibilities, as she successfully managed a heavy caseload while raising her young son as a single mother in Dubai—an achievement she values as both a professional milestone and a personal triumph.
Learning the Market in a Boutique Law Firm
Nadia’s first legal role in Dubai was with HAS Law Firm , a local firm that later grew into a large, reputable practice. In that ‘small family’ environment, she touched a bit of everything, exactly the kind of breadth that accelerates learning in a new jurisdiction.
The experience grounded her in court practice, client service, and the day-to-day realities of the UAE legal ecosystem; she remains on good terms with former colleagues and considers that initial year both formative and fondly remembered.
One Year in PR to Test a Different Muscle
Between Egypt and Dubai, Nadia Serry took a purposeful detour from the legal path, spending a year as PR Manager with the San Giovanni hospitality and tourism group in Egypt. The role brought her into the world of high-profile events, VIP hosting, and brand representation—work she found both enjoyable and refreshingly hassle-free.
Yet, as rewarding as the experience was, it also clarified where her long-term identity lay. While she valued the exposure to a dynamic, customer-facing industry, she found herself missing the intellectual rigor and structured problem-solving rhythm of the law. That realization became pivotal: the detour reinforced her passion for the legal profession and propelled her return with renewed clarity and conviction.
Law, Diplomacy, and a Philosophy of Freedom
Nadia Serry spent three years in a diplomatic post in Paris, serving as Legal Coordinator at the Bureau of the Attaché Militaire and pursuing advanced legal study, completing the first year and an additional semester of a Master 1 in Private International Law.
She describes the period of living in Paris as living inside a ‘piece of art,’ where standards are high and the social fabric prizes freedom as sacred and untouchable, as long as one does not harm others. Paris shaped her eye for quality and her respect for principled autonomy, lessons she carries into boardrooms and negotiations today.
Alexandria, Courtrooms, and the First Lessons of Practice
Nadia Serry graduated from the Faculty of Law, Alexandria University, and began her career as a junior lawyer at Nadoury & Nahas , a reputable Law Firm in Alexandria. Those first years, going to court, learning the craft, and understanding the procedure, were her grounding in the realities of practice.
Marriage and motherhood followed; then Paris, then Egypt again, and ultimately Dubai, where the in-house chapter would begin. Each move sharpened different capabilities: legal analysis, cultural intelligence, and the poise to reset and excel in new contexts.
Soft Skills as Hard Advantages
‘Brilliant’ legal analysis alone is not enough, Nadia Serry argues. Without emotional intelligence, respect, and the ability to work effectively within teams and with senior colleagues, even a technically strong lawyer will struggle to succeed.
She prizes self-awareness, knowing her strengths and areas for improvement, as well as respect for every role in the organisation, from the office assistant to the CEO. Additionally, she values cultural openness, which includes having lunch with colleagues from diverse backgrounds, listening, and building trust across differences. In her view, these “soft” skills are the hard edges of long-term success.
Decision-Making, Dissent, and Accountability
Nadia Serry believes that a lawyer’s role is not about saying what leaders want to hear, but about saying what they need to hear. That means owning the legal view—even when it is unpopular. Her job, as she frames it, is to map the risks, lay out the options, and document the reasoning.
Ultimately, management chooses the path forward. But by ensuring that choice is fully informed, and by dissenting respectfully when necessary, she safeguards both credibility and the institution itself. For Nadia, courage and accountability go hand in hand.
Why Mediation Comes First
Nadia Serry is a strong advocate of mediation as the default route for corporate disputes. Taking matters straight to court may be the easiest reflex for counsel, but litigation consumes time and money, legal fees, court fees, and opportunity costs, even when you win.
Her strategy is to exhaust efforts to reach a compromise where neither side loses everything and both can meet halfway. She acknowledges the limits, where a counterparty aggressively breaches or refuses to engage, litigation is necessary. But most of the time, she aims for a negotiated resolution, even when discussions can take six to eight months. The objective is outcome over drama.
A Professional Goal
With mediation now central to corporate legal strategy, Nadia Serry is committed to deepening her training and becoming an accredited mediator. She sees mediation as a discipline that sharpens the tools for unlocking deadlocks, reading counterparties, and identifying the subtle “keys” that move people. For her, it is never about surrender—it is about structured problem-solving that preserves relationships and protects value
Pressure, Parenting, and Professionalism
The pandemic was a defining test. Nadia Serry managed ‘a lot of work, a lot of pressure’ during the crisis years while parenting as a single mother in Dubai, before her son later went to live with his father in Egypt.
She calls that period exhausting yet formative, marked by long days, constant responsiveness, and a determination to keep moving forward. Emerging from the period and stepping into the EII Capital role felt like a private victory, proof of resilience translated into a new responsibility.
From 12-Hour Days to Sustainable High Performance
After seasons of 12-hour stretches and ‘work, work balance,’ Nadia Serry is intentional about achieving a healthy work-life balance. Official hours guide the week with flexibility when needed, and she sustains energy through yoga, meditation, and reading.
She is travelling more and deliberately cultivating openness to positivity. “At this time of my life, I am just open to everything the universe can give me. These practices aren’t perks; they are foundations for clear judgment and steadiness at work.”
Finding Beauty and Balance in Everything
Nadia’s outlook is disarmingly simple yet demanding: “See the beauty in everything.” Beauty in pain, in loss, in closed doors. Rejection as redirection toward better places and better opportunities.
She advises maintaining your balance, just like in yoga: adjust your posture, breathe, and hold. That framing, curious, forward-looking, and disciplined, helps her metabolise setbacks and stay constructive in the face of uncertainty.
A Global Comfort Zone
Having lived in Egypt, France, and the UAE, Nadia Serry is comfortable across cultures and climates. She jokingly adds that she prefers warm weather to cold, after discovering that French winters were simply not for her.She loves Egypt’s layered history, with Alexandria close to her heart and encourages anyone who hasn’t been to visit Cairo’s pyramids and beyond.
These details are not trivia; they are part of an outlook that values context, takes genuine interest in people, and sees every setting as a chance to learn.
Calm, Clarity, and Courtesy
Colleagues often encounter Nadia Serry in high-stakes scenarios, board cycles, contract deadlines, and disputes on the brink of resolution. What they tend to remember is the calm: the steady tone, the courteous handling of disagreements, and a methodical approach to breaking big problems into solvable parts.
She maintains firm boundaries on substance, but never at the expense of respect, a value she considers non-negotiable for everyone in the hierarchy.
Why the In-House Seat Fits
After the breadth of private practice and the intensity of risk or compliance, the in-house vantage point aligns with how Nadia likes to work: proximity to operations, ownership of outcomes, and the chance to shape governance and culture, not just documents.
At EII Capital and across its portfolio, including industrial manufacturing at scale, the legal function isn’t a back office; it is a business enabler that must anticipate issues, clarify expectations, and keep leaders aligned. She thrives in that intersection.
Nadia’s Principles in Practice
When a decision is on the table, Nadia runs a consistent playbook –
- Clarify the objective (what outcome truly matters to the company).
- Map the risks and timelines (what it costs to pursue each path).
- Escalate dissent respectfully (say when the legal view diverges).
- Document and move (once management decides, execute cleanly).
It sounds simple because it is. The discipline lies in doing it every time, under pressure, and without letting personalities eclipse principles.
Lessons Carried Forward
From a boutique law firm to blue-chip practice; from embassy corridors to factory floors; from the courtroom rhythm to boardroom cadence, Nadia has distilled a few durable lessons:
- Respect compounds. Treating every role with dignity strengthens culture and speeds work.
- Self-knowledge scales. Know your strengths and gaps; grow deliberately.
- Mediation saves value. The court has its place; compromise often preserves more.
- Balance sustains excellence. The work is better when the person is steady.
The Road Ahead
Professionally, Nadia plans to formalise her mediation expertise and continue building governance systems that enable executive teams to make decisions more efficiently with fewer surprises. Personally, she is investing in health, learning, travel, and presence, the ingredients that keep her centred and curious.
She’s candid that balance isn’t always available; sometimes life gives you one option, and it’s “work & work.” The point, she believes, is to learn from each season, keep perspective, and be ready when the next door opens.
Closing Perspective
Nadia Serry’s story is not linear; it’s layered, with moves across countries and industries, a pandemic stress test, and a set of convictions honed by real constraints.
What emerges is a counsel that handles complexity without drama, pushes for negotiated outcomes without naivety, and demands that how people are treated matters as much as what gets decided. That combination of hard law, soft skills, and steady values explains why she is trusted in rooms where the stakes are high and the answers are rarely binary.
