Ahmed M. Salman Dawood is the Founder and Managing Partner of Bayt al-Hikmah Legal Services and Consulting. A member
of the Iraqi Bar Association, Dawood specializes in commercial and financial affairs related to Iraq, particularly trade and foreign
investment, privatization, public procurement, licensing, and contracting. His clients have included major international
companies, major investment funds and companies, International financial organization and institution and the World
Bank/IFC, for which he coordinated the Iraq Doing Business Report in 2010.
Dawood started his legal career working for companies in Iraq's private sector. In 2003 he joined the Office of the General
Counsel in the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) where he played a crucial role in ensuring that CPA orders meshed with
Iraq's laws and ministries. While at the CPA, Dawood helped draft over 100 orders and regulations. He then worked for the
Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, Barham Salih, as an Attorney and Senior Executive Secretary, providing legal advice on issues
ranging from commercial and fiscal law to the impact of international law on the interim Iraqi government.
He next served the Iraqi government as the Legal Adviser and Chief of Staff to the Minister of Planning and Development,
where he provided crucial input to many of Iraq's laws, including the contractor classification system, food basket monetization
system, and the state-owned enterprises revitalization law. Dawood then returned to the Deputy Prime Minister's office as the
Chief of Staff. He then joined the private sector in US and became a legal adviser for Grant Thornton LLP GPS, before founding
Bayt al-Hikmah law firm in Baghdad-Iraq.
While working for the Deputy Prime Minister, he spearheaded efforts to create the Housing Fund Law, which provided more
than $200 million of assistance and helped thousands of Iraqis rebuild their homes. He was also a driving force behind Iraq's
micro-credit lending program. In addition, Dawood helped prepare Iraq's national development strategy and the International
Compact with Iraq (ICI), overseeing the technical publication of the ICI 2007 Mid-Year Progress Report.
Dawood then returned to the private sector in 2008 as the Senior Iraqi Attorney and a Senior Manager for the Global Public
Sector of Grant Thornton LLP. At Grant Thornton, Dawood facilitated reforms of Iraqi procurement laws and financial
management law, assisted in the privatization of state-owned-enterprises, and promoted foreign direct investment. He also
ensured investments totally hundreds of millions of dollars, including a dam in Mosul and a Boeing contract, complied with
Iraqi procurement law.
Mr. Dawood holds a Masters in Commercial Law from Iraq and a Master of Laws in International Legal Studies from American
University Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Dawood's law firm, BHC Iraqi Legal Services and Consulting, offers a variety of consulting services for both small and
large-scale projects. Its practice is designed to address everything from major strategic issues to more basic problems affecting
everyday business practices in Iraq. BHC's attorneys have years of experience in Iraqi courts, navigating everything from simple
business registrations to detailed contracts worth billions of dollars.
Mr.Dawood prepared and submitted expert opinions on Iraqi law matters to certain UK judicial courts and tribunals.
