Meet Our Team

Zaki Anarwala, Esq.
500 Lake Cook Road, Suite 350
Deerfield, Illinois 60015
+1-312-929-8334
zaki.anarwala@zmalegal.com
LinkedIn | Twitter

Zaki Anarwala, CEO/Partner

Zaki M. Anarwala, the founder and principal attorney of ZMA Legal, is on the cutting-edge of business, real estate, and estate planning law. Just like many of our clients, Mr. Anarwala is an entrepreneur and enjoys helping businesses grow and succeed.

After graduating from Northwestern University, he attended Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association & American Bar Association.

Mr. Anarwala has received the recognition of his peers throughout his legal career, including being listed as a Top Rated Business & Corporate Attorney in Illinois Super Lawyers (by Thomson Reuters) in 2019, 2020 and 2021, a recognition given to no more than 5 percent of attorneys in Illinois.
Mr. Anarwala is also conversational in Hindi, Urdu & Gujarati.

Sarah Iftekhar, Esq.

500 Lake Cook Road, Suite 350
Deerfield, Illinois 60015
+1-312-929-8334
sarah.iftekhar@zmalegal.com
LinkedIn 

Sarah Iftekhar, COO/Partner

Sarah Iftekhar is a partner at ZMA Legal.  Her areas of practice include mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and federal securities law matters.  Ms. Iftekhar also routinely advises non-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Prior to joining ZMA Legal, Ms. Iftekhar was an associate in Sidley Austin LLP’s corporate group and in Cooley LLP’s public companies group, where she advised various public and privately held companies and their boards of directors in general corporate and transactional matters. Prior to law school, Ms. Iftekhar co-founded a digital marketing company and worked in digital and database marketing for six years. 

Representative transactions/engagements include:* 

  • Cabela’s Incorporated in connection with its $5 billion sale to Bass Pro Group and the related $2 billion sale of its credit card portfolio
  • Multi-Color Corporation in connection with its $2 billion sale to an affiliate of Platinum Equity LLC 
  • Duke Energy in connection with its acquisition of Piedmont Natural Gas, valued at more than $1 billion
  • Elaine Wynn in connection with her proxy contest against Wynn Resorts Limited
  • United Airlines in various corporate governance and securities matters
  • Aon Corporation in connection with various acquisitions
  • Nordstrom family proposed take private of Nordstrom

*prior to joining ZMA Legal

Ms. Iftekhar received her B.S. from Northwestern University in 2005 and her J.D. from The University of Chicago in 2014. She is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association & the American Bar Association. 

Ms. Iftekhar is conversational in Urdu, Spanish and Punjabi. 

Hiba Hassan

500 Lake Cook Road, Suite 350
Deerfield, Illinois 60015
847-220-7563
hiba.hassan@zmalegal.com
LinkedIn 

Hiba Hassan, Law Clerk

Hiba is a Law Clerk at ZMA Legal. She holds an LLM degree from Harvard Law School (2022) and earned her undergraduate law degree from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (2019). Before joining ZMA Legal, Hiba practiced commercial litigation for two years at one of Pakistan’s leading law firms, where she gained experience in complex corporate, commercial and regulatory matters. She has also advised companies on compliance with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) rules and regulations on matters concerning licensing requirements and represented securities brokerage firms at regulatory hearings before the SECP. Hiba is a member of the Sindh Bar Council, and her admission to the New York State Bar is pending.
 

Sara Sohail
500 Lake Cook Road, Suite 350
Deerfield, Illinois 60015
847-241-3394
LinkedIn

Sara Sohail, Law Clerk

Sara is a Law Clerk at ZMA Legal. She earned her LL.M. degree from Georgetown University in 2023, specializing in International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution. Sara’s academic background includes an undergraduate degree in law from the University of London in 2019. Before joining ZMA Legal, Sara dedicated three years to actively practicing civil and corporate commercial litigation and transactional law at one of Pakistan’s leading law firms. Her experience extends to handling complex corporate and commercial matters with proficiency. Committed to legal education, Sara served as a professor of Contract Law at a prestigious law university in Pakistan, reflecting her passion for contributing to developing legal knowledge. She has regularly advised and defended multinational corporations and financial institutions, ensuring compliance with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) rules and regulations. She has successfully represented brokerage firms in hearings before the SECP. In addition, Sara has worked as a Judicial Fellow with the New York State Supreme Court, assisting the court in legal matters by conducting legal research and drafting memoranda and judicial decisions in civil cases. Currently a member of the Sindh Bar Council, Sara is pending admission to the New York State Bar.