HKA promotes Hilal Itani, Igor Corelj and Nader Emile to partner in Middle East
Global consulting firm HKA has appointed seven new partners worldwide, with three members of the new leadership cohort based in the Middle East.
Hilal Itani and Nader Emile have both been appointed a partner in Saudi Arabia, while Igor Corelj is based in the UAE. All three are members of the firm’s Construction, Claims & Expert practice, which advises clients across the full spectrum of construction disputes – a service which is in high demand amid the region’s massive construction drive and challenges with overruns.
A civil engineer with nearly 25 years of experience in the construction and engineering industry, Hilal Itani has extensive experience in contract management, including tendering, cost control, pre- and post-contract tasks, and claims preparation. He has managed large-scale projects across various sectors in the Middle East and Asia.
Itani specialises in identifying and quantifying delays and their broader impacts on project delivery and financial performance. He has provided expert opinion on disputed matters regarding termination, extension of time, and concurrent and culpable delays for various developments.
Igor Corelj is a structural engineer and a Chartered Quantity Surveyor with over 18 years of experience in the international construction industry. He has acted as a quantum expert on seventeen occasions (of which he testified four times in arbitration) and has assisted on more than 25 complex engineering and construction arbitration matters, including attendance at multiple hearings.
Corelj’s experience includes on-site contracting, commercial management of large infrastructure projects at the head office level, and consultancy services at all stages and aspects of the project lifecycle. He has been working in the Middle East since 2009 and with HKA in 2021.
Nader Emile is a legally qualified civil engineer with nearly 25 years of construction and engineering industry experience. He is an RICS-accredited expert Witness and has been recognized as a Construction Expert by the Lexology Index.
Emile has extensive experience in project management, programming and analysis of extension of time claims. He is currently providing claims consulting and delay expert services, including planning advice, forensic delay analysis and arbitration support on a wide range of projects for several clients in the Middle East and North Africa. He also has served as an independent delay expert and has acted as an expert witness providing oral testimony in formal proceedings.
Commenting on the appointments, Renny Borhan, Chief Executive Officer of HKA, said: “Our newly promoted colleagues have demonstrated exceptional performance and represent our high-performing and collaborative culture.”
“They have also consistently delivered outstanding client service, ensuring that we meet and exceed our clients’ expectations. Their dedication to understanding and addressing client needs has been instrumental in building strong, lasting relationships and driving our success. We congratulate them on their achievement and thanking them for their continued hard work and support.”
In the Middle East, HKA operates with six offices. The firm was last year named a leading consulting firm in the region for project management and business forensics, as well as in the construction sector.
