I've Been Served With a Court Claim — or My Company Is Being Sued

Several documents look alike and are not. A Dubai settlement invitation: many Dubai claims must go to the Centre for Amicable Settlement of Disputes before a court case can be registered. It is not a judgment, but a settlement signed there ends the dispute and becomes enforceable once endorsed (Dubai Law No. (9) of 2025, Art. 23) — never sign it unread. A statement of claim and hearing notice: the claim is registered with the court's Case Management Office and the defence period in Step 2 is running.

A payment order: a court order for a money debt, made on the creditor's documents through a shorter procedure and challenged within short time limits of its own; a court can also move a qualifying ordinary claim into that track. See our guide on payment orders. A cheque execution file: a bounced cheque is being enforced through the civil execution process (see our bounced-cheque page) — you are already at the enforcement stage.

An attachment, freezing or travel-ban order made without hearing you: some defendants learn of a claim only this way (Step 6). A DIFC Courts or ADGM Courts claim form: common-law procedure with its own acknowledgment and defence periods, set out above.

Not court claims, or not this page: a lawyer's demand letter (no court timetable runs yet), a police summons (see our page on a police complaint against you), and claims from a landlord, an employee or a business partner, which have their own pages.

Service no longer means only paper at your door. The Civil Procedure Law — Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022 — lists recorded calls, SMS, email, fax and "any other means of modern technology" first, then service in person, at home, on your agent, at an elected address or at work (Art. 9). Refusal counts as service, and if service proves impossible the court can order listing on its website or publication in a daily newspaper. A company is served at its head office on its legal representative or a partner (Art. 10).

Time starts when an email or SMS is sent, not read; on receipt or refusal for personal delivery; and, for a defendant abroad served through the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 21 working days after the foreign state's diplomatic mission in the UAE is served (Art. 11). The day of service is not counted (Art. 12).

The general rule: a defence memorandum and documents, electronically or on paper, within ten working days of notification (Art. 48(2)); appearance within ten working days, reducible to three in case of necessity, or 24 hours or less in urgent cases (Art. 46). Pages saying "three days before the hearing" describe the old rule.

Defective service can be raised, but the point is lost if not taken properly, and courts usually adjourn for proper service rather than end the case (Arts. 14 and 56). LEXNOVA never computes a deadline — a lawyer does, from the service record. LEXNOVA is not a law firm, but you can tell LEXNOVA Legal Connect what you received and explore potentially suitable lawyers who defend claims.

If you are an individual: onshore, you can appear yourself or through a lawyer, or a relative or in-law up to the fourth degree (Civil Procedure Law, Art. 52; Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2022 on the legal profession, Art. 8). Legal consultants cannot conduct court cases. The lawyer must be licensed to appear before the court concerned — Dubai and Abu Dhabi may regulate the profession locally — and acts under a notarised power of attorney.

If a company has been sued: it acts through a lawyer, or an employee holding a notarised proxy issued by its legal representative, subject to further conditions (Art. 52). Confirm now who the legal representative is under the licence and constitutional documents, and that they can sign quickly. If a foreign parent's UAE branch or subsidiary is sued, check exactly which entity is named.

If you are outside the UAE: a power of attorney signed abroad must go through the attestation chain first — see our guide on the document attestation chain, and start on day one. Onshore courts work in Arabic (English can be authorised in some specialised circuits, Art. 5), and documents in other languages need certified translation.

Build the file now: contract, invoices, delivery records, correspondence, proof of payments, settlement history and, for a company, its licence. Ask your broker whether any insurance policy expects notice of a claim.

Order matters. Pleas of lack of local jurisdiction, of the same dispute pending elsewhere, of nullity not relating to public order and other procedural pleas must be raised together, before any defence on the merits (Art. 86), and are lost if not put before the Case Management Office (Art. 45(8)). Lack of jurisdiction by type of claim is different: the court raises it itself, at any stage (Art. 87).

Arbitration and forum clauses: under Federal Law No. 6 of 2018 on Arbitration, the court dismisses a claim covered by an arbitration agreement if the defendant asks before any plea on the merits (Art. 8). Raise a DIFC or ADGM jurisdiction clause against an onshore claim, or the reverse, just as fast (see our guide on which court has jurisdiction, including DIFC Courts vs Dubai Courts). A Dubai claim that skipped the Centre is sent to it rather than registered (Dubai Law No. (9) of 2025, Art. 28): a delay, not the end of the claim.

Limitation: claims between merchants over commercial obligations are barred five years after the obligation fell due (Commercial Transactions Law, Federal Decree-Law No. 50 of 2022, Art. 92). The new Civil Transactions Law, Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025, in force since 1 June 2026 and repealing the 1985 code, applies its limitation rules to periods still running on that date (Arts. 6 and 7); your lawyer confirms other periods — see our guide on the new Civil Transactions Law.

The wrong defendant: check whether the company or its manager, a branch or its parent, or a guarantor is named. A claim against the wrong person may fail on that ground — if the point is taken, with the documents.

The claim is for money you don't owe: the defence memorandum explains why — no contract or liability, non-delivery, defects, an invoice never accepted, the wrong party — with documents. The amount is inflated or not yet due: a defence can accept part and dispute the rest, such as instalments not yet payable or charges the contract does not allow. An admission is evidence, so agree the wording with your lawyer before paying or writing anything.

You have paid, or they owe you: incidental requests — set-off, damages for harm caused by the claim, and requests that defeat, restrict or are closely connected to it — are allowed (Art. 101), but not after pleadings close (Art. 102). The conditions for set-off itself sit in the Civil Transactions Law. In the DIFC Courts, a counterclaim normally forms one document with the defence.

A document or signature is disputed: challenge it in the defence; a forgery complaint is a separate criminal track (see our guide on filing a criminal complaint). The supervising judge can assign an expert (Art. 45(4)); experts before the federal courts must be registered under Federal Decree-Law No. 21 of 2022, while Dubai and Abu Dhabi regulate their own. Engage with the expert's process — the report can shape the judgment. The Case Management Office runs this whole pre-trial stage, including the exchange of memoranda and expert reports.

A creditor can ask the court to attach assets as a precaution before judgment, and it can be done without first hearing you. The law then requires the creditor to take further steps within a fixed time, and you can challenge the order; a lawyer checks the order and the deadline. Urgent requests before the Case Management Office are decided within three working days (Art. 45(7)), and DIFC freezing orders can be made without notice for good reason. If your account is frozen, see our frozen-bank-account page.

Travel bans: our travel-ban page separates a court-ordered ban made in connection with a case from the civil-debt ban that follows an unpaid judgment. A lawyer checks any ban against the order itself. A civil-debt ban is lifted by resolving, settling or successfully challenging the debt or judgment behind it — not through immigration authorities.

Silence does not stop the case. An absent defendant's case is decided and the judgment treated as given in absence (Art. 55), and once notified you must follow hearing dates yourself (Art. 57). Appearing through a lawyer, filing a power of attorney or defence, or attending before the expert makes the case proceed as if you were present (Art. 54). Do not assume an onshore route exists to reopen an absence judgment; in the DIFC and ADGM Courts, missed deadlines can bring default judgment.

After judgment, execution runs in a separate file (see our guide on enforcing a judgment). If a company cannot pay its debts, speak to a restructuring and insolvency lawyer early.

Settlement is possible at any stage. A conciliation recorded by the supervising judge has the force of a writ of execution (Art. 45(4)); so does a court-ratified mediation settlement, and courts can refer cases to mediation at any stage (Federal Decree-Law No. 40 of 2023). A payment plan should say what happens to the case, any attachment and any travel ban.

Onshore appeals: a first-instance judgment is final where the claim's value does not exceed AED 50,000 (Art. 29(1)(b)). Otherwise, as the UAE Government portal states the general rule, an appeal lies to the Court of Appeal within 30 days of the judgment, or 10 days in urgent matters; exceptions exist, so a lawyer confirms your date. Since 1 January 2026 the appeal statement goes to the appeal court's case management office and must state the judgment, its date, the grounds and the requests, or be inadmissible (Federal Decree-Law No. 22 of 2025). Cassation is open where the claim's value exceeds AED 500,000, within a short, fixed period.

An appeal does not automatically stop enforcement in every case — ask about a stay the day judgment is given. DIFC appeals need permission, sought first from the court that decided the case; the appellant's notice is due within 21 days of the decision unless that court directs otherwise, the test is a real prospect of success or another compelling reason, and there is no automatic stay. ADGM appeals also need permission, decided by the Court of Appeal.

LEXNOVA is not a law firm and does not act in the case, but LEXNOVA Legal Connect can help you explore potentially suitable litigation and debt-defence lawyers.