Sarha Rasheed

Sarha Rasheed is actively contributing to the development of Pakistan’s Alternative Dispute Resolution landscape through her work in institutional design, legal reform, and capacity building. With over a decade of legal experience and an LL.M. in Business Law from the University of Southern California, she has dedicated her career to building sustainable, accessible, and high-impact ADR infrastructure in Pakistan and beyond.

Sarha is the youngest female arbitrator in Pakistan to preside over a multinational commercial case— a milestone in a field historically dominated by retired male judges. Her work sits at the intersection of legal innovation, institutional reform, and social impact, with a particular focus on bridging the gap between formal justice and accessible dispute resolution.

As the Co-founder/Company Secretary/Senior Manager of the Musaliha International Center for Arbitration and Dispute Resolution (MICADR), she was appointed by the Legal Aid Society to conceptualize, launch, and lead Pakistan’s first ADR center officially recognized by the Sindh High Court and the Federal Ministry of Law & Justice. Under her leadership, MICADR has:

• Drafted and implemented Institutional Arbitration Rules and Mediation Rules aligned with international best practices, reviewed by Supreme Court justices and global ADR professionals.
• Introduced hybrid resolution frameworks, including Pakistan’s first Arb-Med-Arb and Med-Arb protocols for commercial and contractual disputes.
• Administered over 200 commercial disputes, achieving a 78% settlement rate, and set a precedent for institutional arbitration in Pakistan’s private sector.
• Developed court-annexed mediation systems in partnership with the judiciary, leading to over 2,900 cases being diverted to ADR by the courts.
• Trained more than 1,000 lawyers and 302 judges — including District & Sessions Judges— on mediation, ADR referral, and negotiation strategies.
• Launched the Mediation Advocacy Training Program, equipping legal practitioners with tools to effectively represent clients in mediation sessions.
• Designed MICADR’s Accredited Mediator Training Program, which has received recognition from the International Mediation Institute (IMI), and co-authored a comprehensive Mediation Training Handbook.
• Built strategic collaborations with bar associations, corporate legal departments, law firms, chambers of commerce, and civil society, helping expand MICADR’s reach across Pakistan’s legal and business sectors.

Sarha has also contributed to policy reform and legislative advisory, including the review and development of provincial ADR laws in Sindh, Islamabad, and Gilgit Baltistan. She has helped shape guidelines for ADR referral mechanisms and advocated for enforcement reforms critical to
the success of arbitration in emerging jurisdictions.

Internationally, she has represented Pakistan at prestigious ADR forums:

• Uzbek Arbitration Week (2023) – Panelist on cross-border institutional ADR cooperation.
• Regional ADR Symposium in Colombo (2024) – Speaker alongside Supreme Court judges on arbitration law reform and regional harmonization.
• Beyond the Gavel (2024, Karachi) – Moderator on commercial ADR strategies for private sector stakeholders.

As a CEDR-Certified Master Trainer in Mediation, Sarha has introduced internationally recognized training standards in Pakistan and continues to expand her work into new jurisdictions, especially within the Global South. Her leadership also reflects a deep commitment to gender equity. In a country where structural barriers severely limit women’s leadership in the legal profession, Sarha has emerged as a visible and committed advocate. She actively organizes mentorship programs, inclusive training pipelines, and awareness campaigns to ensure greater participation of women in dispute resolution, legal reform, and judicial development.
Currently, Sarha is focused on expanding MICADR’s partnerships across Europe and Asia, with a vision to transform the center into a regional hub for arbitration and mediation. Her long-term mission is to institutionalize ADR not just as a mechanism for efficiency, but as a tool for justice, equity, and economic progress in underrepresented regions.