London Notary Sheikh Najam, European Attorney, Appointed Vice President for Notarial Affairs at Justinian Lawyers
- S Najam
- 22 hours ago
- 4 min read
Sheikh Najam TEP, a City of London Notary Public, European Attorney and member of the Association of European Attorneys (AEA), and STEP private wealth and international tax lawyer, has been appointed Vice President for Notarial Affairs and Advisory Board Member of Justinian Lawyers, the international network of independent law firms operating under the AEA and headquartered in Berlin. The appointment recognises his standing in cross-border notarial practice and extends his advisory reach across Justinian's global membership.
About the Appointment
Justinian Lawyers, operated under the Association of European Attorneys (AEA), maintains an international advisory board made up of senior practitioners from jurisdictions including the United States, Italy, India, Bhutan, Portugal, Morocco, Mexico, Lebanon, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Ghana, Spain, Colombia, China and Germany, each holding responsibility for a specific area of law. Sheikh Najam now holds the Notarial Affairs portfolio for the United Kingdom, sitting alongside vice presidents covering banking and finance, corporate law and M&A, international trade, technology law, real estate, and criminal law, among other disciplines.
The role positions Sheikh Najam as a point of reference within the network for notarisation, legalisation and authentication matters affecting clients transacting across borders — an area that sits at the intersection of his notarial practice and his broader work in international tax and private wealth structuring.
Why This Matters for Clients
Justinian Lawyers' network gives member firms and their clients access to vetted legal contacts in dozens of jurisdictions, which is particularly relevant for:
International families and individuals who need documents notarised in England and Wales for use abroad — powers of attorney, declarations, property transactions and estate documents among them
Corporate clients executing cross-border transactions that require notarised corporate resolutions, certified copies, or apostilled documents recognised in multiple jurisdictions
Referring lawyers overseas seeking a London-based notary whose acts carry the evidential standing required for use in foreign courts, registries and government bodies
As a Notary Public appointed by the Court of Faculties and regulated through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sheikh Najam's notarial acts carry recognised international evidential weight — a foundation that underpins his new advisory role. His standing as a European Attorney through AEA membership further reinforces his ability to advise on matters spanning both the common-law and civil-law traditions.
Notaries Do Far More Than Notarise Documents
Outside the profession, "notary" is often assumed to mean someone who simply witnesses a signature. In practice, both in England and Wales and across continental Europe, the role is considerably broader — and the differences between the two traditions matter for anyone dealing with cross-border legal or financial affairs.
In England and Wales, notaries are specialist lawyers trained in English common law, European civil law and international law — a deliberately broad legal education that reflects the cross-border nature of the work. Appointed by the Court of Faculties and regulated by the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, their statutory functions include drawing, attesting, verifying, certifying and authenticating documents; verifying facts and events; noting and certifying transactions; and administering oaths, affidavits and statutory declarations. Critically, a notarial act is treated in law as the notary's own independent act — not merely a service performed on a party's behalf — which is what gives it recognised evidential weight internationally.
Many English notaries, including those also qualified as Attorneys, combine this with general legal advisory work outside litigation: property transactions, wills, estate administration, corporate matters, and cross-border tax and succession planning.
In continental Europe, the civil-law ("Latin") notary is structurally different again. Rather than authenticating a document a lawyer has already drafted, the civil-law notary drafts the substantive legal instrument itself — the deed of sale, the company's articles, the will — so that the notarial act is the transaction. Civil-law notaries hold exclusive competence over certain transactions (in most European jurisdictions, a property transfer or company incorporation is not legally valid until executed before a notary), perform a quasi-judicial gatekeeping function checking the legality of the transaction before it can take effect, and maintain the official archive of the deed as the enduring public record.
Understanding both models is central to advising clients moving assets, property or succession matters between England and civil-law jurisdictions — precisely the cross-border expertise reflected in Sheikh Najam's role at Justinian Lawyers and his standing as both a Notary Public and a European Attorney.
Sheikh Najam's Practice at a Glance
Sheikh Najam TEP, MA (Tax Law), practises from Fox Court, 14 Gray's Inn Road, Holborn, London, across four core service areas:
International Corporate Tax & Structuring — advising corporate clients on multi-jurisdictional tax planning and structuring
Private Wealth & Succession Planning — supporting high-net-worth individuals and families with estate and succession planning
Notarial & Cross-Border Legal Services — notarisation, legalisation and authentication of documents for use internationally
Dispute Prevention & Resolution — advising on the avoidance and resolution of cross-border and tax-related disputes
His credentials include Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP) status through STEP, an MA in Tax Law from the University of London with a focus on UK, EU and international tax law, appointment as a City of London Notary Public, and membership of the Association of European Attorneys (AEA) as a European Attorney.
Get in Touch
Clients or fellow practitioners with cross-border notarial, tax or private wealth matters can reach Sheikh Najam directly:
Phone: +44 (0) 20 3488 4195
Book a consultation: calendly.com/attorney-sheikhnajam
Contact form: sheikhnajam.com/contact-8
About the Author
Sheikh Najam TEP, MA (Tax Law) is a City of London Notary Public, European Attorney and STEP international tax and private wealth lawyer practising from Fox Court, 14 Gray's Inn Road, Holborn, London WC1X 8HN. He advises private clients and corporates on international tax structuring, succession planning, notarial and cross-border legal matters, and dispute prevention and resolution. He is a member of STEP and the Association of European Attorneys (AEA), and serves as Vice President for Notarial Affairs on the international advisory board of Justinian Lawyers.
Comments