Samar Masood is a Partner at ABS & Co and heads the firm’s Corporate, Technology, and Intellectual Property Practice. Recognised as one of Pakistan’s leading corporate and technology lawyers, she is ranked by Legal 500 Asia Pacific as a “Next Generation Partner” in Corporate & Commercial and as a Recommended Lawyer for Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT). She is also ranked by Chambers and Partners for Intellectual Property, where clients commend her strategic clarity, structured analysis, and ability to advise global technology platforms on complex cross-border issues. Her recognition across these directories reflects her leadership in high-value M&A, technology regulation, and the wider digital economy.

Samar has over a decade of experience advising domestic and international clients on mergers and acquisitions, corporate structuring, shareholder governance, joint ventures, and complex commercial transactions. She regularly advises on high-value local and cross-border mandates involving Daewoo Group, Siemens, TMC, US Group, Jazz, Orient Group, and other major conglomerates. Her practice includes handling intricate shareholder matters, exit structures, restructurings, and offshore holding arrangements across multiple jurisdictions. Her broader corporate advisory also spans competition/antitrust, tax, employment, and governance.

She is deeply embedded in the technology and fintech ecosystem and is a trusted advisor to major global and regional platforms, including Alibaba, AliExpress, Google (including Google APAC teams), Nintendo, Glock, Yango, and other digital businesses. Her work involves advising on platform regulation, digital payments, BNPL frameworks, alternative credit scoring, e-commerce compliance, data protection, cybersecurity, content regulation, and AI-enabled products. She frequently engages with SECP, SBP, PTA, PEMRA, ECAC and other regulators on fintech frameworks, digital-economy policy, licensing regimes, cross-border payment structures, and regulatory reform.

Her intellectual property practice covers trademarks, copyrights, brand protection, digital content, and technology transfer. She played a key role in advising the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan on protecting Basmati as a Geographical Indication in the EU. Earlier, she advised the Electronic Certification Accreditation Council on reforms to the Electronic Transactions Ordinance 2002 and drafted regulations relating to crypto apparatus, accreditation service providers, PKI, and cybersecurity standards.

Samar has and continue to advise clients which sectors span technology, fintech, power, construction, logistics, manufacturing, e-commerce, and financial services, including Quaid-e-Azam Thermal Power, Punjab Thermal Power, PSDF, Prosper Technologies, Tez Financial Services, OrientSwiss, ZoodPay, and several public-sector authorities.

In addition to practice, Samar has taught Intellectual Property Law and Technology & the Law at the Sheikh Ahmad Hassan School of Law at LUMS. She has contributed to national policy efforts, including a study commissioned by IGNITE (Ministry of IT) on Pakistan’s startup and freelancing ecosystem.

She is a Certified Director from the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance and serves on the Boards of Engro Corporation Limited, GoldFin Limited, Stylers International, the Karachi Education Initiative, and PostEx Financial Services.

Samar holds an LLM from the University of Chicago and read law at SOAS, University of London. Before joining ABS & Co, she worked at Chima & Ibrahim, where she was part of the team that advised on the landmark Warid–Mobilink merger.

In her free time, she loves planning, organising, and systemising everything around her, and whenever she is not lawyering, she cherishes being a full-time mother.