Arbor Law Appoints Legalencia to Lead Transformation Process

Sahar Farooqi is the Managing Partner of Arbor Law, appointed in 2026 to lead the firm’s next phase of growth. He brings to the role a rare combination of legal practice, firm leadership and strategic transformation experience, having spent the past decade working at the intersection of law, business development and organisational change across some of the legal sector’s most ambitious environments. Sahar joined Arbor Law in September 2025 as Chief Transformation Officer, working closely with the founding partners on a strategic transformation programme ahead of his appointment as Managing Partner. In that role, he was responsible for refining the firm’s positioning, clarifying its growth strategy and building the operational platform to support the next stage of Arbor’s development. As Managing Partner, his focus is on execution: driving commercial performance, expanding the client base, growing the team and delivering on the firm’s ambition to demonstrate that there is a better way to provide legal services at the highest level. Leadership and strategy Sahar’s career has been defined by his ability to build and lead ambitious legal businesses through periods of significant change. He is the founder and CEO of Legalencia, a change management consultancy advising law firms, in-house teams and professional services businesses on operational, cultural, technological and strategic transformation. He continues in that role alongside his responsibilities at Arbor Law. Prior to founding Legalencia, Sahar served as Transformation Officer at Harneys, the global offshore law firm, reporting directly to the global managing partner on a mandate spanning international strategy, operations, growth, culture and communications. Before that, he was a partner at DAC Beachcroft, where, for the second time in his career, he co-founded an in-house advocacy business in 8DB. For nearly 7 years previously, whilst at DWF, he shouldered similar positions, whilst also training pupil barristers, and developing client relationships in multiple jurisdictions. He has also served as an elected member of the Bar Council of England and Wales, representing barristers nationally and giving a voice to issues of equality, diversity and inclusion and access to the profession. Legal background Sahar practiced as a barrister for over a decade with extensive experience in complex commercial litigation and high-value international disputes. His practice spanned large-scale domestic and cross-border commercial matters, international arbitration across leading institutional rules, and disputes in the energy, aviation and international cargo transportation sectors, with particular experience in Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore and the UAE. That grounding in serious, high-stakes legal work informs the judgement and rigour he brings to leading Arbor Law. Behind the managing partner Outside work, Sahar’s priorities are clear if characteristically wide-ranging: family comes first, followed by an – in his own words – “unhealthy array of sports, the full extremities of culinary intricacy, and a genuine, considered love of language in whatever form it takes”. A prolific writer and podcast guest, with nearly 50 thousand followers on LinkedIn, Sahar is somebody who has developed an audible, and respected voice, at the vanguard of a changing industry.