Billion-dollar deals. One lawyer.
When a contract goes wrong on the other side of the world, I am the lawyer you call.
Satellite, aviation and media contracts, from a lawyer with more than 20 years of multi-million and multi-billion-dollar deals.
Formerly at Qatar Airways · Al Jazeera · Orbit (now OSN) · Charles Russell
Deals I have done
Proof, not adjectives.
Inmarsat: multi-billion-dollar
Qatar Airways' first-in-class, multi-year in-flight Wi-Fi satellite connectivity agreement. I negotiated and drafted it.
Thales: $230 million
Qatar Airways' in-flight entertainment upgrade, my last deal at the airline.
Hamad International Airport: QAR 1.3 billion
A facilities management agreement with FMM for Qatar's national airport.
Barclays Center
A multi-million-dollar three-way sponsorship between Qatar Airways, JetBlue and the Barclays Center.
Nilesat: $50 million
A satellite capacity agreement between Orbit and Nilesat, negotiated in Cairo in 2007. At Orbit I also closed channel deals with Eutelsat, Sony and the Hollywood and British studios.
Al Jazeera
I joined as the Arab Spring began. Satellite capacity, licensing and talent agreements, the legal affairs of more than 120 bureaus worldwide, and internal investigations with HR and finance.
Also: helped build Qatar Airways' award-winning compliance program; a US company's acquisition of a company in Bahrain; advice to the chairman of a national airline. I also represent international clients in New York contract disputes.
Problems I have solved
When it went wrong, they called me.
A satellite deal against the clock, in Cairo
The problemNoorsat needed a multimillion-dollar space capacity contract with Nilesat, and time was short.
What I didI flew to Cairo with Noorsat's CEO, Omar Shoter, and we negotiated, drafted and finalized the contract in a few days.
The resultThe contract was signed on time.
A newsroom in more than 120 bureaus, during the Arab Spring
The problemI joined Al Jazeera just as the Arab Spring began, and its bureaus around the world needed legal answers fast.
What I didI handled tricky HR, governance and commercial matters across multiple jurisdictions, and led extremely sensitive internal investigations into very serious matters.
The resultI get things done quickly and efficiently, and I make the hard calls.
Wi-Fi at 40,000 feet, for an entire fleet
The problemQatar Airways wanted in-flight Wi-Fi across its fleet, through a multi-year satellite connectivity agreement with Inmarsat.
What I didI negotiated and drafted the agreement.
The resultA first-in-class, multi-billion-dollar, multi-year deal.
Three parties, one sponsorship, no friction
The problemQatar Airways, JetBlue and the Barclays Center each wanted something different from one sponsorship.
What I didI negotiated a three-way agreement and put every party's wish list into one contract.
The resultEveryone got what they asked for, without friction.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
What I do
Contracts, compliance and investigations in more than 30 jurisdictions.
Satellite and space
Capacity, connectivity and licensing agreements. I have negotiated with Inmarsat, Thales, Nilesat and Eutelsat, and I studied space law in London.
Aviation
Sponsorship, services, facilities and supplier contracts. I spent almost three years as a senior lawyer at Qatar Airways, and, while at Charles Russell, six months on secondment to the Contracts Department at Gulf Air, Bahrain's national airline.
Technology, media and telecoms
Channel, content, talent and technology agreements, from Al Jazeera to Hollywood. While at Charles Russell, I spent six months on secondment to Bahrain's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).
Licensing and IP
Trademark, content and data licenses. I managed Orbit's trademark portfolio and sat on its anti-piracy team, and I handled licensing and IP at Al Jazeera.
Data privacy
Data processing agreements and privacy terms for technology and media businesses. I spent six months handling the data processing agreements of a Fortune 500 technology company, standing in for its regular counsel.
Compliance and investigations
Compliance programs and high-stakes internal investigations. I led investigations at Al Jazeera with HR and finance, and I hold an LL.M. in Corruption, Law and Governance.
Doing business in the Middle East
Fifteen years in the Gulf. I know how deals are made there, and how they go wrong.
When you hire me, you get me. Not a junior associate. I read every clause, I negotiate every point, and I answer my own telephone.
About me
Sonya Shaykhoun, Esq.
I am a New York attorney, admitted in 2008, and a corporate and commercial lawyer by training. After high school at The Dalton School in Manhattan, and a final semester at St. Stephen's School in Rome, Italy, I embarked on my international career. My first legal role, in 2004, was as a technology lawyer for Orbit, a pay-satellite television company then in Bahrain and now OSN in Dubai. I went on to Charles Russell in Bahrain, where I was seconded for six months each to Bahrain's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) and to the Contracts Department at Gulf Air, Bahrain's national airline, so I have sat on the regulator's side of the table and inside an airline. From there I joined Al Jazeera Media Network, just as the Arab Spring began, and then Qatar Airways, and I founded my own practice in New York in 2019.
I hold two LL.M.s: one in Corporate and Commercial Law from SOAS, University of London, and one in Corruption, Law and Governance from the University of Sussex. I speak Arabic and French.
I am also the founder of Girl with a Car – Roving Butlers™, an attorney-led concierge for busy people in New York and the Hamptons. When a problem is part legal and part practical, Girl with a Car can handle the practical side.
- ADMITTEDNew York, 2008 (Registration No. 4633293)
Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, 2024 - EDUCATIONLL.M. in Corporate and Commercial Law, SOAS, University of London
LL.M. in Corruption, Law and Governance, University of Sussex
BA in Arabic and Law, SOAS
MA (Hons), University of St Andrews
Space law certificate, London Institute of Space Policy and Law
St. Stephen's School, Rome
The Dalton School, New York - LANGUAGESEnglish, Arabic and French
- MEMBERNew York City Bar Association
Writing and teaching
Every clause has a price.
The Commercially Savvy Lawyer
My newsletter on negotiating and drafting contracts that make money instead of losing it.
Chaos Navigator
My weekly LinkedIn newsletter on steering through legal, business and life storms, from the Gulf to New York.
Contract Negotiation and Drafting Bootcamp
My course on Maven, where I teach lawyers and businesspeople to negotiate and draft contracts.
Published on satellites and space
- The United Arab Emirates: MENA's Space Pioneers Via Satellite, 2015
- The Role of Satellites in Saving the World from Global Warming Via Satellite, 2014
- Pan-Arab Space Agency: Pipe Dream or Real Possibility? Via Satellite, 2014
- Open Skies: The Laws and Regulations Guiding Middle East Satellite Broadcasting Mondaq, 2010
- Brave New World: The Satellite Industry in the Middle East and North Africa Mondaq / Legal 500, 2010
- Satellite Law in the 21st Century My blog, 2011 to 2015
What clients say
“I really like your style of work, this is very clear.”
Cora Cheung, C Advisory, Singapore
Contact
If you have a contract on your desk, write to me.
I reply to every inquiry within one business day.