Bio

Hanaa Al Sharief is a partner in our Halifax office with a practice focused on Canadian immigration, and estates and trusts. She is bilingual in Arabic and English with expertise in cross-cultural communications. Throughout her more than 12 years of experience working in Canada and internationally, Hanaa has helped individuals and corporations tackle business, commercial, construction, immigration and employment related issues. Hanaa delivers cost-effective and strategic advice to clients in all areas of Canadian business and personal immigration law. She helps corporate clients with the transfer and recruitment of foreign workers to Canada under federal and provincial immigration programs, and with compliance reviews and inspection audits. Hanaa also helps individuals and their families develop immigration strategies to obtain temporary and permanent residence status in Canada. She regularly supports clients with the preparation and submission of applications for temporary resident visas, study permits, work permits, permanent residence through express entry or provincial nominee programs, and citizenship. As the first female Muslim lawyer in Nova Scotia, and one of the very few lawyers offering legal services in Arabic in Atlantic Canada, Hanaa has a personal understanding of the complexities and religious obligations that Muslim clients face with wills and estate and tax planning. She has spent many years learning Islamic inheritance laws, consulting with religious advisors and legal professionals in Canada and in international jurisdictions. Her goal is to ensure domestic and international clients will benefit from religiously sensitive legal advice in the provision of Islamic estate and tax planning services, including sharia compliant wills. Hanaa collaborates with our leading estates and trusts practitioners, who have extensive knowledge and experience advising on simple and complex international estates and tax structures. Hanaa is recognized among her colleagues for strong initiative, superior legal writing and advocacy skills, and attention to detail with a natural intuition for client relationship. While at law School, Hanaa represented Dalhousie University in the Gale Cup Moot. Additionally, while completing her masters in law at Berkley, University of California, she won the best oral advocate award in her section. Beyond her practice, Hanaa loves helping her community navigate the legal system. She enjoys travelling and spending quality time with her family and friends.