Author: CIO Times

Mohamed Abu El-Makarem is the Managing Director & Chairman of Handle, the powerhouse of law and capital. His career began at the frontlines of international negotiation, from military command missions to the United Nations and the European Union, before converging into a new model of executive-driven advisory in the UAE.

From Crisis Rooms to Boardrooms, Leading the Powerhouse of Law & Capital

The Shift Mandate
From sovereign funds to international institutions, Mohamed Abu El-Makarem built his career in capital strategies, preparing for the moment where advisory would have to be redefined.

By-the-Numbers Sidebar

• $38bn+ capital structured and deployed
• 900+ commercial disputes resolved
• 50+ board-level mandates executed
• 20 years of sustained high-volume performance

From Military Negotiation to Commercial Mandates, A Career Defined

Mohamed began his career as a Contracts Negotiation and Liaison of the United States Central Command contingency during the Bright Star military exercise in 2005-2006. For his contribution to the success of the Coalition and Joint Forces Land Component Mission, he was awarded the Certificate of Achievement by Lieutenant General R. Steven Whitcomb, Commanding General, USARCENT.

He later served with the African Union – United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur, where he was awarded the UNAMID Medal in recognition of duties in the service of peace. These experiences demanded decisiveness under pressure and integrity in environments where hesitation could not be afforded.

“My career began where hesitation was fatal. It taught me that precision and credibility are the only currencies that matter under pressure.”

European Union Leadership: From Command Rooms to Regional Programmes

Mohamed advanced into European Union leadership, first as Executive Manager of the Euromed PPRD South II programme, directing civil protection, resilience, and crisis management initiatives across the Mediterranean. His work placed him at the center of command operations during natural and man-made crises, where decisions had to withstand scrutiny across multiple governments.

His performance led to recognition within the EU framework, and he was subsequently appointed Executive Manager of the South Mediterranean Regional Office. There, he oversaw multi-country programmes, coordinated regional policy implementation, and built collaborative frameworks for risk preparedness and crisis response.

“In the EU, I learned that negotiation is not dialogue, it is architecture. It is the scaffolding that holds nations steady when crisis strikes.”

From Institutions to the Powerhouse Model

Following his leadership with international programmes, Mohamed made a decisive shift, bringing the discipline of public mandates into the private business world. Where once he mediated under military pressure and institutional complexity, today he commands the negotiation room between investors, boards, and stakeholders.

This evolution gave birth to his vision for Handle, an advisory model built not on fragmentation but on convergence. Law, capital, and strategy would no longer operate in silos. They would be delivered together, as one mandate, inside the institution, with full accountability for outcomes.

“Advisory without execution is theatre. My principle is simple: if I take the mandate, I take the result.”

Why the UAE Became the Proving Ground

Mohamed chose the UAE as the marketplace for his model. Nowhere else do global capital, legal complexity, and entrepreneurial ambition converge with the same intensity. It is a market that rewards discipline, demands precision, and punishes hesitation.

Here, his model of executive-driven advisory found its natural home. Businesses needed more than consultants, private capital needed more than fund managers, and family enterprises needed more than succession lawyers. They needed one powerhouse capable of protecting rights, deploying capital, and scaling strategy without fragmentation.

“The UAE rewards foresight backed by execution. That is why my model belongs here.”

Advising Families Where Legacy Meets Strategy

Family enterprises represent some of the most complex and defining mandates in the UAE. Mohamed applies the same rigor he once used in command centers to help families balance governance, succession, and capital deployment. For him, advisory is not only about protecting assets, but about preserving unity across generations.

He frames family business advisory as engineered continuity. Instead of separating legal, financial, and strategic advice, Mohamed integrates them into a single framework that anticipates generational change, manages governance risks, and aligns ambition with long-term capital structures.

“The most valuable inheritance is certainty. With it, wealth becomes continuity, not conflict.”

Harnessing Technology to Safeguard Continuity

Mohamed sees technology not as disruption but as a force multiplier for advisory. From digital governance systems to AI-driven risk analysis, he integrates tools that enable leaders to act with speed and confidence. For him, technology must simplify decisions, not complicate them.

Looking ahead, he believes the future of advisory in the UAE will be defined by how effectively firms combine human judgment with digital infrastructure. This balance, in his view, is what ensures strategies remain adaptable, transparent, and resilient in the face of volatility.

“Technology has value only when it makes decisions faster, sharper, and more accountable.”

Turning Crises Into Mandates of Discipline

For Mohamed, challenges have always been real-time tests. From negotiating with the United States Central Command to coordinating EU crisis responses, his career was built on situations where hesitation was not an option. Each challenge reinforced the same lesson: when discipline is absent, outcomes collapse.

At Handle, he frames client challenges in the same way. Whether guiding billion-dirham deals or resolving disputes above AED 100M, he sees each mandate not only as a transaction but as a test of execution. Advisory is not measured by plans delivered, but by results secured.

“Every crisis I faced proved one truth: discipline is the strategy that sustains outcomes under any pressure.”

Building the Standard for Executive-Driven Advisory

Mohamed’s legacy is not only the recognition earned in his early career, but the model he has built for the future. Through Handle, he has converged law, capital, and strategy into a single powerhouse of execution, setting a new benchmark for advisory in the UAE. His vision is structural change: one mandate, full accountability, measurable results.

Looking ahead, his goal is for Handle to be the reference point for executive-driven advisory in the region. For Mohamed, the work is not about volume but about impact, clients who lead, institutions that endure, and outcomes that shape markets.

“My ambition is not to grow bigger, but to grow sharper. Depth creates impact, and impact builds legacy.”

Emerging Trends in UAE Family Enterprises

Mohamed observes that family businesses in the UAE are evolving at unprecedented speed. A new generation of leaders is reshaping governance with venture-capital style investments, cross-border continuity planning, and technology-driven oversight. Families are no longer content with static structures, they demand agility, foresight, and resilience.

For Mohamed, this shift is both a challenge and an opportunity. Advisory must now anticipate risks across jurisdictions, while also enabling families to seize opportunities in digital transformation and international capital markets. The mandate is no longer just preservation, but positioning families as active players in global growth.

“The next generation of UAE families is not inheriting the future, they are engineering it.”

What Comes Next for Handle

Looking forward, Mohamed’s vision for Handle is deliberate: depth over volume. The firm will not pursue size for its own sake, but focus on mandates where its integrated model of law, capital, and strategy can deliver measurable impact. In his view, clients do not need another advisor, they need an institution built to lead execution when outcomes are non-negotiable.

The next chapter is about scale with selectivity. Handle will continue to expand its influence in the UAE and beyond, while holding firm to its DNA as the powerhouse of law and capital.

Signature Quotes

• “Leadership is proven when complexity becomes structure, and structure becomes execution.”
• “Passion is not solving problems, it is building institutions that outlive their founders.”

Restructuring a Multi-Nation Programme

One of Mohamed’s most memorable challenges came during his leadership of the Euromed PPRD South II programme. Faced with overlapping mandates, fragmented governance, and multi-country coordination, the programme risked stalling at a critical moment.

Mohamed responded by restructuring its framework, aligning decision-making across governments, and installing operational certainty in the command centers. What had seemed unmanageable was transformed into a functioning platform for cross-border crisis management.

“Complexity is mastered when accountability is enforced. That is how resilient systems are built.”

Quiet Certainty in Leadership

Asked about the legacy he hopes to leave, Mohamed frames it not in terms of titles or transactions, but of trust. His career has been defined by being the one trusted when it mattered most, whether in military negotiations, UN peacekeeping, EU crisis rooms, or billion-dirham boardrooms.

For him, leadership is about structure in complexity and conviction in execution. It is about designing strategies that outlive their architects and leaving behind institutions stronger than they were found.

“Legacy is not measured in years served, but in the certainty you give others when the pressure is greatest.”

The Architect of Growth

Dettelbach is quick to credit CV3’s rise to its operational and sales excellence. Yet beneath that success also lies a legal framework intentionally built for growth.

From the start, CV3 executed a national licensing strategy across 47 states, embedded state-compliant loan documentation, implemented robust data privacy safeguards, and established strong vendor and contract management systems. Compliance training and escalation protocols were not add-ons—they were embedded into the company’s DNA from day one.

“The goal isn’t to eliminate risk—it’s to understand the business’s objectives, then recommend pathways that reduce risk while still achieving those objectives,” he explains.

This perspective allows CV3 to pursue growth with confidence. The legal frameworks do not slow the company down; they accelerate it by providing clarity and guardrails. The result is a lender capable of expanding nationally, launching new products, and integrating subsidiaries without compromising compliance.

Compliance Rooted in Culture

CV3’s distinction in the marketplace lies not only in its product mix—bridge loans, rental financing, and ground-up construction loans—but also in its culture. The company’s five core values—Act with Honor, Be a Great Partner, Communicate Clearly, Create Smiles, and Simplify—are embedded in how business is conducted.

For Dettelbach, these values are inseparable from legal leadership. His team does not sit apart as auditors of last resort. Instead, they are collaborators—working daily with Sales, Finance, Operations, and Product Development. They review disclosures, negotiate vendor contracts, advise on securitization, and consult on state-specific lending rules.

“Legal is not siloed here,” he emphasizes. “Our job is to partner, not police.”

This integration ensures compliance is woven into decisions from the beginning. It creates both transparency and speed, reducing risk while keeping momentum strong.

For CV3, the general counsel’s office is a catalyst for growth, aligning legal rigor with business vision to unlock opportunities that others might see only as obstacles. Alan Dettelbach’s career illustrates how the role of general counsel has evolved. No longer limited to litigation management or contract review, today’s corporate counsel must be strategists who operate at the intersection of law, business, and technology.

At CV3, Dettelbach demonstrates how these disciplines converge. By embedding legal strategy and compliance management into sales, marketing and operations, he has harnessed technology to reduce friction and elevated the legal function into a driver of growth. His leadership reflects a clear and compelling insight: ambitious strategies may stall under the weight of risk, but they accelerate when risk is managed intelligently and aligned with business objectives.

“The best legal strategy isn’t what you say no to—it’s what you help make possible, responsibly,” he says.

It’s a philosophy honed through a career spanning private practice, more than a decade leading a company outside the legal field, and senior counsel roles at both established institutions and startups. This cross-disciplinary journey gave him a unique perspective: law is not merely about minimizing liability, but about enabling velocity without sacrificing integrity.

At CV3, that vision has already reshaped how the business scales. In just two years, the company has already achieved nearly $3 billion in funding—a feat rarely reached in private lending—with Dettelbach’s influence evident across the legal and operational architecture that supports such rapid growth.

Where Law Meets Innovation

Launching financial products in private lending requires careful navigation of complexity. Every offering—whether bridge financing or construction loans—must account for licensing, lien protections, insurance, zoning, draw mechanics, and servicing implications.

Dettelbach views these intricacies not as obstacles but as opportunities for innovation. By considering the entire loan lifecycle, his team ensures CV3’s products are market-ready and resilient to regulatory change.

One persistent misconception he encounters is the belief that private lending operates in a “gray area.” In reality, reputable lenders face strict oversight in areas such as disclosures, privacy, fair lending, and servicing standards. Dettelbach addresses this by proactively educating clients, brokers, and employees, reinforcing CV3’s reputation for transparency and trustworthiness.

This proactive approach has been essential to scaling the company quickly while maintaining credibility with both regulators and borrowers.

Technology as the Cornerstone of Trust

“In today’s world, technology is critical not only for legal compliance but all operational functions,” Dettelbach notes.

At CV3, technology underpins the company’s ability to move fast while remaining accountable. The organization leverages e-signature platforms, contract management systems, compliance dashboards, and AI-driven risk assessments to enhance accuracy, auditability, and transparency.

A standout example is ServEase, CV3’s in-house servicing platform. Purpose-built to streamline borrower communications, ServEase embeds compliance requirements directly into its workflows. What might otherwise require manual oversight becomes automated, reducing error and reinforcing consistency.

By aligning technology with legal strategy, CV3 achieves both speed and predictability. Borrowers benefit from efficient service, investors gain confidence in compliance, and the company sustains growth without sacrificing safeguards.

The Discipline of Foresight

While the regulatory environment for business-purpose lenders remains relatively steady, Dettelbach is preparing CV3 for shifts already visible on the horizon:

• Increased state-level scrutiny of non-bank lenders.
• Expansion of UDAAP enforcement (unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices).
• Proliferation of state data protection laws.
• Rising ESG disclosure pressures in capital markets.

“We strive to anticipate and be proactive, not react,” he says. “Flexibility and situational awareness are what keep us ahead.”

Continuing education, industry conferences, and partnerships with outside counsel all keep CV3 plugged into emerging trends. Internally, Dettelbach encourages intellectual curiosity—asking not only what the law requires but why the business pursues certain strategies. This foresight enables the legal team to spot misalignments early and recommend adjustments before issues surface.

Vertical Integration as a Competitive Edge

Perhaps the clearest example of Dettelbach’s foresight is CV3’s vertical integration. In less than two years, the company has launched three subsidiaries: TitleWorx™ (title operations), ServEase™ (loan servicing), and ValuationNEXUS™ (appraisal management).

These ventures are not ancillary—they are strategic. Together, they create an ecosystem that improves efficiency, reduces reliance on third parties, and strengthens compliance.

Dettelbach’s role is to provide the legal scaffolding for these businesses, ensuring they can scale nationally while remaining aligned with regulatory standards. His approach is characteristically modest: “The legal team stands at the side of these blossoming businesses. Our job is to lend support, while keeping the spotlight on outward-facing, revenue-generating operations.”

It is an approach that defines his leadership—present, essential, yet deliberately unobtrusive.

The New Counsel Paradigm

When asked for the words he lives by, Dettelbach offers: “The journey is the destination.”

For him, success is not a fixed point but a process—an ongoing effort to partner, listen, and respect those around him. “Every day is an opportunity for greatness,” he says. “Nobody can do it alone. It’s the process of working toward the goal that matters.”

This mindset permeates his leadership. Respect, he believes, is never demanded but earned. The act of striving, adjusting, and collaborating is itself the measure of success.

That philosophy is visible in CV3’s rise. The company’s achievements reflect the combined power of vision, culture, and execution. And at the center of its legal and strategic architecture stands a leader who embodies both foresight and humility.

A Vanguard for the Future of Lending

Alan Dettelbach’s story is that of a strategic leader shaping a multi-billion-dollar lender with foresight, technological acumen, and cultural alignment.

By reframing legal leadership as a growth enabler, building scalable frameworks, and integrating compliance into every layer of operations, he has helped transform CV3 into a national force in private lending.

As the industry faces new scrutiny, evolving regulations, and technological disruption, Dettelbach’s philosophy—anticipate rather than react, enable rather than obstruct—offers a blueprint for sustainable growth.

His guiding mantra remains as true in law as it is in life: success is not about being right; it’s about getting it right. That difference is what makes him a legal vanguard and a strategic architect of CV3’s future.

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