Dena H. Elkhatib

She is a transactional banking lawyer with over 23 years of experience with a specialty in high value transactions in the finance and aviation sectors. Her recent focus includes aircraft portfolio acquisition/sales, finance/operating leases, debt financing, and restructuring.

She has jurisdictional experience within both the Middle East and the United States working directly with CEOs, CFOs, and COOs of organizations as well as experience in leading diverse teams to close high-stake congruent projects with airlines, aircraft leasing entities, OEMs and other transactional partners.

She is highly skilled in negotiating and executing complex cross-border commercial transactions. She has extensive expertise in crisis management, crisis communication, and helping businesses recover during challenging times.

Dena is experienced in working with start-up organizations, as well as seasoned entities improving their business processes, resulting in enhanced productivity and business profitability.

Prior to entering the legal field, she consulted in a number of industries allowing her to balance her commercial astuteness with her legal knowledge, resulting in an impressive track record of achieving and exceeding business and financial objectives, developing training programs and assisting lawyers in navigating transactional hurdles.

She has written several articles and a book, which were published internationally.

She has participated in several industry events, including speaking in 2021 at the AirFinance Journal North America conference. When not focused on aviation or banking law, Dena sits as Secretary of the Board of Directors of AmidEast, a non-profit organization engaged in international education, training, and development activities in the Middle East and North Africa.

Dena H. Elkhatib holds an bachelor of arts in finance and marketing from Loyola University of Chicago, a Juris Doctorate and a Certificate in International Business & Trade Law from University of Illinois Chicago John Marshall Law School, and a Master in Public Administration and a Certificate in Management, Leadership and Decision Sciences from Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government.