Expertise

Zekal joined Stewarts as a paralegal in the Clinical Negligence team. During her time in the team she assisted on a number of high-value catastrophic injury and illness claims arising from a failure to appropriately diagnose, treat and care for serious conditions involving brain, spinal cord and birth injuries.

Zekal has experience drafting legal documents, attending hearings and client meetings, instructing counsel, issuing claims, preparing urgent interim payment applications and completing disclosure exercises. Before joining Stewarts, Zekal previously worked as a costs draftsperson and drafted and negotiated inter partes costs bills in family, housing, employment and immigration claims. Zekal is fluent in Kurdish (Sorani).

Career

Zekal studied Law at the University of Leicester and completed her Legal Practice Course at the University of Law in Birmingham. She previously worked as a serious injury paralegal at Irwin Mitchell, where she gained experience in domestic accident/illness claims under the Ministry of Justice portal and international claims under the Package Travel regulations. Zekal started working at Stewarts in April 2023 and commenced her training contract in October 2024.

Personal

Zekal is a huge film and theatre fan and loves nothing more than marvelling at all that London’s West End has to offer. She also enjoys travelling and immersing herself into different cultures and cuisines as much as possible, and delights in recreating these dishes for her loved ones.