PDF of Title Page and TOC

Foreword

Preface

Chapter 1 - TO ARBITRATE OR NOT TO ARBITRATE: THE MENA’S TAKE ON ARBITRABILITY
Karim J. Nassif and Farah El Hajj Purice         

Chapter 2 - ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS
Karim A. Youssef       

Chapter 3 - INSTITUTIONAL V. AD HOC ARBITRATION
Omar Aljazy       

Chapter 4 - ARBITRAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE MENA REGION: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS
Jacob Grierson and Sara Koleilat-Aranjo       

Chapter 5 - THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ARBITRAL TRIBUNAL
Roland Ziadé       

Chapter 6 - THE TRIBUNAL’S POWERS AND DUTIES
Alain Farhad and Gerard Moore     

Chapter 7 - PARALLEL PROCEEDINGS AND INTERVENTION BY NATIONAL COURTS
Essam Al Tamimi, Hassan Arab, and Sara Koleilat-Aranjo 

Chapter 8 - EVIDENCE GATHERING AND DOCUMENT PRODUCTION IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA (MENA) REGION
Jalal El Ahdab    

Chapter 9 - CONFIDENTIALITY AND PRIVILEGE IN THE MENA REGION – A SURVEY OF REGIONAL RULES AND RECENT TRENDS
Reza Mohtashami and Matei Purice     

Chapter 10 - THE ROLE OF FACT WITNESS EVIDENCE IN INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION
Raëd Mounir Fathallah and Suhaib Al-Ali    

Chapter 11 - THE ROLE OF THE EXPERT WITNESS
Michael Tonkin    

Chapter 12 - THE ROLE OF LEGAL EXPERT WITNESS EVIDENCE
Ali Al Hashimi and John McGowan    

Chapter 13 - THE CONDUCT OF THE HEARING
Fathi Kemicha and Gordon Blanke    

Chapter 14 - ADVOCATES AND ADVOCACY
Philip Punwar    

Chapter 15 - RECOGNITION, ENFORCEMENT, AND NULLIFICATION OF AWARDS
Soraya Corm-Bakhos     

Chapter 16 - FORCE MAJEURE AND UNFORESEEN EVENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
Samaa A.F. Haridi and Zeina Obeid  

Chapter 17 - PUBLIC POLICY
Martin Lau and Faris Elias Nasrallah  

Chapter 18 - FEES AND COSTS IN INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION
Nadia Darwazeh and Dany Khayat  

Chapter 19 - AWARDS, ORDERS AND DELIBERATIONS
Anne K. Hoffmann    

Chapter 20 - CONCILIATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Nasser Ali Khasawneh, Hani Kurdi, Maria Mazzawi, Mostafa Ihab, Omid Mousavi, Liesje Korff, and Mariam Anis  

Chapter 21 - FREE ZONE ARBITRATION IN THE MENA: THE UAE EXAMPLE 
Gordon Blanke    

Chapter 22 - ARBITRATION IN BANKING AND FINANCIAL DISPUTES DECONSTRUCTED
Georges Affaki and Soraya Corm-Bakhos  

Chapter 23 - CONSTRUCTION ARBITRATION
Aisha Nadar and Ahmed Ibrahim     

Chapter 24 - OIL AND GAS DISPUTES IN THE MENA REGION
A. Timothy Martin    

Chapter 25 - MARITIME ARBITRATION 
Jonathan S. Lux and Alec J. Emmerson    

Chapter 26 - INVESTMENT ARBITRATION IN THE MENA: AN INTRODUCTION 
Gordon Blanke     

Chapter 27 - WOMEN IN INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION IN THE MENA REGION 
Jacomijn van Haersolte-van Hof    

Chapter 28 - DIVERSITY IN INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION IN THE MENA
Ziva Filipic and Mirèze Philippe  

Chapter 29 - OUTLOOK INTO THE FUTURE
Ibrahim Fadlallah     

Chapter 30 - EPILOGUE: THE VIRTUOUS ARBITRATOR       
Alexis Mourre 

EDITORS

Dr. Gordon Blanke is Founding Principal of Blanke Arbitration Dubai/London/Paris. Before establishing his own firm, Dr. Blanke was a Partner of International Commercial and Investment Arbitration with DWF (Middle East) LLP in the DIFC, Dubai. Prior to joining DWF, he was Counsel and Sector Leader of International Arbitration in Baker & McKenzie.Habib Al Mulla’s Dubai and Abu Dhabi offices. Dr. Blanke has wide-ranging experience in all types of international commercial and investment arbitration in both the common and civil law legal systems, having acted as advising counsel and arbitrator under most leading institutional arbitration rules (ICC, LCIA, DIFC-LCIA, DIAC, ADCCAC, GCC, JAMS, SCC, etc.) and in ad hoc (incl. GAFTA and LMAA) arbitrations seated in the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia held for a variety of industry sectors, including aviation, private equity, banking and finance, construction/real estate, commodities, hospitality, travel/leisure, cosmetics, IT, telecoms, oil & gas, shipping etc. Dr. Blanke has also been appointed to the CIETAC, ADGM, ADCCAC, and CRCICA Panel of Arbitrators and is member of the DIFCC-Arb Working Group.

Dr. Blanke has sat as Chairman, Sole Arbitrator and Co-arbitrator in over 80 ICC, SCC, DIFC-LCIA, DIAC, ADCCAC, AjCCCA and ad hoc arbitrations, including international commercial, construction, real estate, corporate and other disputes of varying sizes, governed by English, Italian, Swedish and UAE (including DIFC) law and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in London, England.

In the 2014 and 2015 editions of The Legal 500, Dr. Blanke is recommended for international arbitration in the UAE and is praised as “very professional” in The Legal 500 2016 edition. He is recommended, including for construction arbitration, in The Legal 500 EMEA 2019 edition. Dr. Blanke is listed as a leading arbitration specialist in Who’s Who Legal 2016 and Who’s Who Arbitration – Future Leaders 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 and in Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration 2021 and as a Global Leader in Who’s Who Legal 2022 and 2023. The 2022 and 2023 editions of Chambers of Partners Global lists Dr. Blanke as one of the Most in Demand Arbitrators in the UAE. Dr. Blanke has been included in the Legal 500’s Arbitration Powerlist: Middle East 2023. Dr. Blanke is further known for his expertise in international antitrust arbitration, having been an active member of the former ICC Task Force for Arbitrating Competition Law Issues.

Dr. Blanke graduated in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and holds an LL.M in European Litigation from the University of Luxembourg and the University Robert Schuman, Strasbourg. He also holds an MPhil in Advanced International Studies from the Diplomatic Academy Vienna, Austria, and attended the ENA, France, as an élève étranger. He was awarded a doctorate by the Law Faculty of the University of Groningen, The Netherlands.

Dr. Blanke speaks regularly on international arbitration and has published over 200 books and articles on international arbitration, including seminal works on arbitration and dispute resolution in the Middle East, such as—apart from the instant publication—Comparison of Gulf International Arbitration Rules (together with Dr. H. Al Mulla & K. Nassif), Juris Publishing (2010); Comparison of MENA International Arbitration Rules (together with Dr. H. Al Mulla & K. Nassif), Juris Publishing (2011); Commentary on the UAE Arbitration Chapter, Thomson Reuters/Sweet & Maxwell (2017); Dispute Resolution in the Gulf: GCC Approaches and Egyptian Influences (ed. together with S. Akhtar), LexisNexis (2018); and A Guide to Arbitration in the UAE (together with H. Arab, A. Farhad, M. Hussain, and P. Punwar), ICC Publishing (2020). Most recently, Dr. Blanke published a leading authoritative text on arbitration in the UAE, Blanke on UAE Arbitration Legislation and Rules, Thomson Reuters/Sweet & Maxwell (2021). Dr. Blanke is on the editorial board of a number of leading arbitration journals, including Arbitration, the journal of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Journal of Law in the Middle East (JLME) published by LexisNexis. 

Dr. Blanke has held teaching positions in international arbitration at the University of Southampton, England, and is an approved tutor of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London/Dubai. He also teaches courses on arbitration at the Dubai Legal Affairs Department (DLAD) and the International Dispute Resolution Institute (IDRI), Nigeria. More recently, Dr. Blanke has been appointed to teach a course on International Energy Dispute Resolution as part of the LL.M in Business Law at the Dubai campus of the Université Saint Joseph (USJ).

Professor Nayla Comair-Obeid PhD, C.Arb, 3VB is the Founding Partner of Obeid Law Firm. She heads the firm’s dispute resolution practice and is a dual-qualified lawyer admitted to both the Beirut and Paris Bars. Author of The Law of Business Contracts in the Middle East, Prof. Comair-Obeid publishes prolifically and is regularly invited to lecture at world-renowned academic institutions where her articles and scholarly publications are often cited as reference works. She is also a Professor of Law at the Lebanese University and has lectured for the CIArb Flagship Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration at Oxford University.

Throughout her career, Professor Comair-Obeid has held, and continues to hold, pre-eminent positions in many of the major international legal institutions. At present, she is a member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Executive Board; companion of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb); member of China’s international commercial expert committee of the Supreme People’s Court; member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA); council member of the Institute of World Business Law of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris; and Trustee of the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA). She also sits on the ICSID panel of arbitrators and conciliators and has served as President of the CIArb in 2017 and Commissioner at the United Nations Compensation Commission in Geneva from 2002 to 2005.

A specialist in international business law and Islamic and Middle Eastern legislation, Professor Comair-Obeid regularly serves as counsel or arbitrator in complex international arbitrations conducted in Arabic, French or English, both ad hoc and under a variety of international arbitration rules. Professor Comair-Obeid is also often called upon as a legal expert on various aspects of Lebanese law and Middle Eastern legislations in foreign courts and arbitral proceedings.

Prof. Comair-Obeid has been actively involved in more than 100 domestic and international arbitrations as party-appointed arbitrator, chairperson, sole arbitrator, counsel, and expert in various parts of the world in ad hoc arbitrations and under the Rules of the ICSID, ICC, LCIA, SIAC, DIAC, CRCICA, BCDR, DIFCLCIA, UNCITRAL, etc.

Professor Comair-Obeid is referred to as “pre-eminent in her field” and a “leading authority in international arbitration” by international legal publications.

Soraya Corm-Bakhos is Counsel at Watson Farley & Williams (Middle East) LLP in Dubai. Soraya Corm-Bakhos is a highly experienced arbitration practitioner with 15 years’ experience in the UAE. Prior to joining Watson Farley & Williams (Middle East) LLP, she practiced in the Dispute Resolution teams of Baker McKenzie Habib Al Mulla and DWF (Middle East) LLP. She has wide-ranging experience in all types of international commercial arbitrations, having acted as advising counsel under major institutional arbitration rules (including ICC, LCIA, SCC, CRCICA, former DIFC-LCIA and DIAC) and ad hoc in arbitrations seated in Europe and the Middle East in relation to a wide variety of industry sectors, including real estate/construction, banking and finance, oil & gas and energy disputes.

Mrs. Corm-Bakhos also regularly sits as arbitrator (sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator and chair) in arbitrations mainly related to real estate, sale and purchase disputes and commercial disputes. 

Mrs. Corm-Bakhos has authored several publications in the field of arbitration and more specifically in relation to Middle Eastern arbitration related topics. She is fluent in French, English and Arabic.

Mrs. Corm-Bakhos was admitted to the Paris Bar in 2003 and holds a Masters in Private Law and a DEA in Private International Law and International Trade Law from Assas University in Paris, France. 

Mrs. Corm-Bakhos is recognized by The Legal 500 as “exceptionally hard-working, bright, and will go the extra mile to ensure the best possible service for their clients.” She has also been included in the Legal 500’s Arbitration Powerlist: Middle East 2023. 

 

 
CONTRIBUTORS

Professor Georges Affaki is a Professor of Law at the University of Paris II and an Avocat admitted to practice before the Court of Appeal of Paris, France. He is a Chartered Arbitrator, a member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration and of the ICSID Panels of Arbitrators and Mediators. He served as chairman, panel and sole arbitrator in investment and in international commercial arbitral proceedings under the rules of the leading institutions.

Prof. Affaki is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Fellow of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA). He is consistently ranked by Euromoney in the Guide to the World’s Leading Experts in Commercial Arbitration and is listed by Chambers both amongst France’s Most in Demand Arbitrators and for his expertise in financial regulation and litigation.

He is the Chairman of ICC France Banking Commission and chairs the Legal Committee of the ICC Banking Commission that he founded. Professor Affaki is a member of the Board of Governors of the UNIDROIT Foundation and a Council member of the ICC Institute. He led or participated in several law reforms in transition economies. In 2019, Prof. Affaki was nominated Foreign Trade Counselor of France by Ministerial Decree.

Prof. Affaki co-chaired the ICC Task Force on Financial Institutions and International Arbitration. He also chaired the French Arbitration Committee working group on Arbitration in Banking and Financial Matters. He acted as Rapporteur for the International Law Association Resolution on international jurisdiction over foreign bank branches, and chaired a Paris Europlace working group on Islamic Finance which issued a report titled Applicable Law and Dispute Resolution in Islamic Finance.

He is the author or editor of several books, including “Trade Finance”, ITC Publishing; “Cross-border insolvency and conflicts of jurisdictions”, Bruylant; “Increasing Access to Credit – Reforming Secured Transaction Law”, ITC Publ.; “The Guide to ICC Uniform Rules for Demand Guarantees” (with Sir Roy Goode), ICC Publ. No. 702; “Jurisdictional Choices” (with Horacio Grigera Naon), ICC Publ. No. 755, and over 80 articles and case notes on international arbitration and litigation, international banking, economic sanctions, cross-border insolvency, and Islamic finance.

Prof. Affaki is fluent in Arabic, English and French.

He holds trustee positions in a number of non-profit organisations and is actively engaged in community projects. He was awarded the European Prize for Interdisciplinary Research.

A list of Prof. Affaki’s representative arbitrator, counsel and expert appointments are available at www.affaki.fr.

Suhaib Al-Ali is a Senior Associate at Bredin Prat is a member of the firm’s International Arbitration team. He specialises in international arbitration and handles both commercial and investment matters. He has represented corporate clients and sovereign States in all types of matters in sectors such as real estate, oil & gas, retail and financial institutions and in various regions, including the Middle East.

Prior to returning to Bredin Prat, Suhaib was an associate at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP in Paris. He previously worked with our firm from 2011 to 2013, and also worked as a refugee counsellor at the United Nations Commission for Refugees in Beirut, Lebanon.

He is admitted to the New York Bar (2011) and the Paris Bar (2020) and is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School (L.L.M, 2011) and the King’s College London and Université Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne (L.L.B., with French Law, June 2009, Hons.).

Ali Al Hashimi is the Regional Managing Partner of Global Advocacy and Legal Counsel. Has over 23 years of experience of civil and commercial dispute resolution in the UAE. Ali has a deep understanding of the financial markets and sectors in the Gulf region and how the interplay of global financial markets can affect business transactions in the UAE. His extensive experience includes advising local, regional, and international clients on a range of banking, Islamic finance, securities, construction, real estate and corporate matters.

Ali is licensed to appear before all Courts of the UAE, including the Federal Supreme Court and the DIFC Courts and possesses a superior knowledge of the civil, shari’a and common law systems.

Dr. Omar Aljazy holds a PhD in International Commercial Arbitration Law from the University of Kent at Canterbury in the United Kingdom (1999), on MA in International and Comparative Business Law from London Guildhall University (1994) and a BA in Law from the University of Jordan (1992).

Dr. Aljazy is the Managing Partner of Aljazy & Co. (Advocates & Legal Consultants) which is a leading Jordanian law firm. He is an International Business Lawyer and has extensive experience in corporate transactions and arbitration law, as well as international transactions including but not limited to; hotels developments; intellectual property; construction disputes; energy, shipping and maritime issues; competition and antitrust matters.

He has participated in the drafting of various Jordanian laws and regulations in conformity with the international conventions that Jordan has ratified including but not limited to Maritime Law and Companies Law. He is a listed arbitrator with many prominent arbitral institutes worldwide, and he is a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration.

Dr. Aljazy published various articles in several reputable journals and periodicals on different arbitration topics, including but not limited to: arbitration in Jordan, enforcement of arbitral awards, investment arbitration, arbitration in Islam and harmonization of the Arab Arbitration Laws.

Dr. Aljazy was appointed by Jordan as member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague. Also, in 2014 he was elected as the President of the Jordanian Arbitrators’ Association. Dr. Aljazy has received Eisenhower Fellowship in its Single Region Program for the year 2005. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Amman Arab University.

Dr. Aljazy is a member of Jordan Bar Association. He was also a member of the Jordanian Royal Committee to Modernize Political System in 2021. His Majesty King Abdullah II commended his efforts and contribution to the committee, as Dr. Aljazy was awarded Centenary Medallion of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Additionally, Dr. Aljazy was a member of the National Dialogue Committee in 2011, engaged in political reforms and a number of constitutional amendments.

In 2022 His Majesty King Felipe VI of Spain awarded Dr. Aljazy the Order of Merit (Officer Cross) for his tremendous efforts in enhancing the Jordanian Spanish ties at all aspects. Also in 2022, he participated in multi workshops that were conducted under the Royal Patronage that generated the Jordan Economic Vision of 2033.

Mariam Anis is a Trainee Solicitor at Eversheds Sutherland, Dubai. She completed her LLB at Queen Mary University of London.

Dr. Hassan Arab is a leading dispute resolution Expert in the UAE and the wider Middle East with full rights of audience before all courts in the UAE. He regularly sits as an arbitrator and advises on arbitration-related issues. Dr. Arab has extensive experience in providing expert opinions on the UAE laws before arbitration tribunals and foreign courts. He has spent his career building one of the strongest litigation teams in the Middle East which Legal 500 has recognized as “having a great reputation for local court work with a number of really good practitioners”. Chambers Global has recognized him as an Eminent Practitioner for Dispute Resolution in the UAE.

Dr. Arab obtained his PhD in Law from the University of Essex in UK and his doctoral thesis is titled “Critical Study of the Concept of International Arbitration in the UAE: Identifying Problems Affecting the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign and International Arbitral Awards”.

Dr. Arab is the Chair the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) - UAE Commission on Arbitration & ADR and a Member of the DIAC Board of Trustees. He is also a Member of the DIFC Court User’s Committee, Member of the future Arbitration Court of the Casablanca International Mediation & Arbitration Centre (CIMAC) and Board Advisor of Delos Dispute Resolution.

He has authored several publications on arbitration and dispute resolution, including a book on the Civil Procedures Law in the UAE and the Summaries of UAE Courts’ Decisions on Arbitration. Dr Arab is a regular presenter at conferences and seminars speaking on the many aspects of litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution in the Middle East.

Essam Al Tamimi, LL, M is the Chairman of the largest law firm in the Middle East, Al Tamimi & Company and currently holds the position of Senior Partner at the firm. Essam has over 34 years of experience in litigation and arbitration in the UAE and the GCC countries covering almost all fields of law, both private and public law, including matters relating to corporate and commercial law, banking and financial law, real estate and property law, across several industries and sectors.

Essam has assisted federal and local governments in drafting laws and regulations relating to the Telecommunications Law Authority, Dubai Internet and Media City, assisted in the privatisation of Abu Dhabi’s water and electricity and played a major role in drafting the ADWEA laws and regulations. He has supported the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry in drafting the Federal Industrial Law and implementing regulations, contributed to the drafting of the relevant laws for establishing several Free Zones in the UAE and assisted the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority in drafting a number of laws and regulations.

Essam’s primary focus consists of acting as a counsel and an arbitrator at a number of disputes regionally and internationally. He is actively involved in the development of arbitration laws and for the training and development of arbitration across the region.

Essam also currently sits on a number of boards and advisory councils. He has authored several books and articles, and has received Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding contribution to the Gulf legal market as well as received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Chamber & Partners in 2019.

Nadia Darwazeh is Head of Arbitration of Clyde & Co Paris. Nadia has over twenty years of experience acting as counsel and sitting as arbitrator in commercial and investor-state arbitrations covering numerous applicable laws and seats of arbitration.

Nadia’s experience spans the commercial spectrum, with particular focus on M&A, construction, telecoms, pharmaceuticals, energy and natural resources. She regularly handles disputes arising out of joint-venture, shareholder and distribution agreements, as well as investment treaties.

Before joining Clyde & Co, Nadia practised in the International Arbitration Groups of leading international law firms based in Paris, Frankfurt and London. She also spent five years in Shanghai, where her practice focused on acting as counsel in disputes under the major regional arbitration rules including SIAC, HKIAC and CIETAC. Nadia also has deep ICC expertise, having led the Europe, Middle-East, Africa team at the ICC for a period of three years, during which she oversaw more than 400 ICC arbitrations. Clients have described Nadia as an “excellent lawyer with a pragmatic and commercial approach, a strategic thinker and a very strong cross-examiner” (Chambers Global) and have praised her “remarkable intelligence and dynamism” (Who’s Who Legal). She has also been selected by Legal 500 as one of the thirteen leading Next Generation Lawyers in France.

Nadia is a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR Task Force entitled “Addressing Issues of Corruption in International Arbitration” and is one of three members of the German Arbitration Institute (DIS) Appointing Committee.

Nadia is dual-qualified in England & Wales (Solicitor-Advocate) and Germany (Rechtsanwältin). She earned her LLM in International Public Law from the University of Cambridge and her LLB from the University of Warwick. She conducts arbitrations in French, German and English and speaks Mandarin Chinese and Dutch. Nadia is a German and Dutch national.

Dr. Jalal El Ahdab is a Partner at Bird & Bird, in the Dispute Resolution Group in Paris. He is the Head of their Arbitration department in France and a member of the Dispute Resolution practice in the UAE, where he offers the firm’s clients his longstanding and cross-border expertise in managing international disputes and arbitrations.

Jalal’s practice covers international business law, notably in Europe, Africa and the MENA region, focusing on international disputes and foreign investments. Having acted as a counsel, arbitrator and expert in approximately 160 cases, he has in-depth experience in managing complex disputes involving shareholders’ rights, suits against States, class actions, breach of negotiations and bank guarantees. Jalal’s sector experience includes work for our high-profile clients in commodities trade, telecoms, ports, airports, construction, life sciences, sports and more.

In addition to being a regular speaker at international arbitration conferences, Jalal is also the author of numerous articles in the professional legal journals and the co-author of “Arbitration with the Arab Countries” (published by Kluwer in 2011), and is managing editor of the International Journal of Arab Arbitration (available on Kluweronline.com). In 2021, he co-authored a book on Arbitration Law in France with Professor Daniel Mainguy and published by LexisNexis.

Jalal was Lebanon’s UNCITRAL representative until 2018, member of the International Court of Arbitration of the ICC and chair of the IBA Regional Forum. He also chairs the European Branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators as well as the CIMAC Court in Casablanca and is a member of the VIAC Advisory Board in Vienna. He has taught at Sorbonne University, Science-Po Paris and HEC.

Jalal is qualified to practice in Beirut, Paris and New York, and is equally fluent in Arabic, English and French.

Farah El Hajj Purice’s practice mostly focuses on arbitration, domestic and international, ad hoc and institutional and entails representing regional and international clients before the Dubai International Arbitration Center, the Dubai International Financial Center Courts, the London Court of International Arbitration, the Abu Dhabi Commercial Conciliation & Arbitration Center, the Beirut Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the ICC International Court of Arbitration. Farah assisted in an investment treaty arbitration against the Republic of Lebanon before the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes on behalf of the Claimant; and was involved in an investment treaty arbitration against the United Arab Emirates.

The disputes in which she acted as counsel, arbitrator, or intervened as secretary to the Arbitral Tribunal were seated in different jurisdictions such as in London, Paris, Dubai, Muscat, Riyadh, and Beirut and were governed by equally diversified substantive laws such as those of the United Kingdom, France, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabic, the Sultanate of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Syria, and Lebanon.

Farah El Hajj Purice holds a Bachelor of Law Degree from the Saint Joseph University and a Master’s Degree in Local and International Business Law from the Filière Francophone de Droit.

She pleads and can perfectly handle legal work in Arabic, French and English and has knowledge in Spanish and Romanian.

Alec J. Emmerson is a well-known International Arbitrator based in Dubai.  He is a member of the UAE ICC Arbitration and ADR Commission (and past vice chairman). He was a member of the LCIA Court and a Trustee and Chief Executive of DIFC Arbitration Institute from 2016 to 2021.

Alec spent 40 years with Clyde & Co as an associate and partner in England for six years, Managing Partner in Hong Kong for almost 13 years, International Partner in London for three years, and finally 18 years in Dubai, for the first half as head of the firm’s MENA Dispute Resolution practice and then as a part-time consultant and member of the firm’s global arbitration executive whilst also conducting his independent practice as an arbitrator.

Although qualified as an English Solicitor, Alec has valuable experience of working for most of his career in dispute resolution in Asia and the Middle East.  He is therefore very familiar with different cultural approaches as well as with both civil and common law systems.

As a lawyer he handled shipping and marine insurance & energy arbitration and litigation, general commercial and insurance disputes (including commodities), insolvency and commercial frauds.  Since moving to the UAE his work also encompassed shareholder disputes, joint ventures, M&A disputes distributorship, investment, telecoms and construction/infrastructure.

He acted as party counsel for claimants or respondents in hundreds of institutional and ad hoc arbitrations for more than 30 years, involving shipping and ship building, insurance, international trade, energy, commercial contracts, agency & distributorships, joint ventures, investments, real estate, telecommunications and infrastructure.

Since 2008 he has sat as an arbitrator in more than 220 arbitrations under ADCCAC, DIAC, DIFC-LCIA, EMAC, GCCCAC, ICC, LCIA, LMAA and SIAC rules as well as in UNCITRAL and other ad hoc arbitrations.

He authored many articles for trade publications and client updates.  Has appeared on business radio and T.V. programmes as an arbitration and regional legal expert. Alec speaks at many international trade, legal and arbitration conferences on diverse topics.

Author of Lexis Nexis Users’ Guide to ADCCAC Rules 2014 and DIFC-LCIA Arbitration Centre Rules (2016).

He is listed as a leading individual for arbitration from 2009 to date.  Chambers Global have described Alec as “disputes czar…” and “the godfather of litigation”.  Legal 500 described him as “incredibly knowledgeable”; Newton Arbitration as “the dean of arbitration”.

He is recognized in Who’s Who Legal for arbitration, mediation, transport and insurance/reinsurance and as a highly recommended individual for the UAE in PLC Which Lawyer in the field of Dispute Resolution.  He features on the GAR Arbitrator Research Tool (ART) and is platinum ranked on the Newton Arbitration platform.

Professor Ibrahim Fadlallah is Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Paris X. He has acted as arbitrator or counsel in numerous arbitration proceedings, ad hoc and under the Rules of the ICC, ICSID, the French Arbitration Association, and the European Development Fund. He is a former member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration and a member of the Council of the ICC Institute of World Business Law. He is also a Founding Member of the Euro-Arab Forum on Arbitration and a member of the International Law Institute.

Alain Farhad is a Partner in Mayer Brown’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice and Head of the dispute resolution practice in the United Arab Emirates.

He acts as legal counsel or as an arbitrator in international arbitration proceedings arising out of commercial contracts, construction projects or investment protection treaties.

He has experience in resolving disputes relating to many different business sectors, with a focus on the oil and gas, infrastructure, trading and real estate industries. He has also represented a number of governments, as well as state-owned entities in commercial or investment treaty disputes. Alain has been based in Dubai since January 2011. Prior to relocating to the Middle East, he practised international arbitration in Paris. He is a French qualified Avocat à la Cour and a member of the New York Bar. He holds law degrees from Paris Sorbonne University and Cornell Law School.

Alain has been appointed to serve as a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR. He is also a member of the Steering Committee of the ICC UAE Arbitration Commission. He is regularly invited to speak at a variety of international arbitration conferences globally.

He is fluent in English, French and Farsi.

He joined Mayer Brown in 2019.

Dr. Raëd Mounir Fathallah is a Partner in Bredin Prat’s international arbitration group. He focuses his practice on acting as counsel and arbitrator in high-stake commercial and investor-State arbitrations.

Over the past 25 years, he has been involved in more than 200 cases under the major institutional rules (including ICSID, LCIA, ICC, OHADA CRCICA, BCDR, DIAC, DIFC-LCIA and UNCITRAL) and involving a broad range of jurisdictions and applicable substantive laws and spanning a variety of industries including construction, oil and gas, energy, mining, banking, arts, hospitality and leisure, luxury, aviation and telecom.

Raëd is also ranked amongst the most sought after international arbitrators and has served in more than 80 arbitrations (as President or Sole Arbitrator in the vast majority of those cases) under the major institutional rules and involving claims often exceeding USD 1 billion.

Raëd is currently a Vice President of the London Court of International Arbitration and a member of several panels of arbitrators and boards of trustee of arbitration institutions, including as a Member of the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators and Conciliators and the ICC Commission on Arbitration.

Raëd is regularly invited to speak at leading arbitration conferences across the world and teaches courses on various subjects of international arbitration at the University of Paris II – Panthéon-Assas as well as the School of Law of Sciences Po Paris.

A Lebanese, Canadian and French national, Raëd is admitted to practice as a Solicitor in England & Wales as well as Avocat à la cour in France and Avocat in Québec, Canada. He holds a Licence en Droit Civil from the University of Ottawa (L.L.L.), a Master of Comparative Jurisprudence (M.C.J.) from New York University School of Law and Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil) in Law from the University of Oxford.

Ziva Filipic is the Managing Counsel of the ICC International Court of Arbitration. Živa oversees and coordinates the work of the ICC Court Secretariat’s case management teams in Paris, New York and Hong Kong, and soon also in Sao Paolo and Singapore.

She previously acted as Counsel in charge of the case management team dealing predominantly with cases from the Eastern Mediterranean and the Gulf regions, which followed her work in the Eastern European and North American ICC case management teams.

Prior to joining ICC, she worked as a clerk at the Ljubljana district court, as legal assistant to Professor Martin Hunter at Essex Court Chambers in London, as an associate in the Banking and Finance team at Schoenherr Rechtsanwälte Attorneys at Law in Vienna, and as legal counsel at the Bank of Slovenia. She is a qualified Slovenian lawyer and holds an L.L.M. in International Business and Commercial Law from King’s College London (KCL). She was a member of the first KCL’s team for the VIS Moot and KCL team’s main coach during the oral rounds in 2010, which the team won.

She is fluent in English, Italian, Spanish and French, and also speaks German, Croatian and Serbian.

Jacob Grierson represents clients from numerous countries in a broad range of international arbitrations, including disputes arising out of the oil and gas, construction, pharmaceutical, telecom and internet industries. Jacob has represented clients in matters involving joint venture disputes, post-merger and acquisition disputes, licensing disputes and distribution and franchising disputes, among others. He has handled arbitrations in all of the major places of arbitration, although predominantly in London and Paris. Jacob has also represented clients in arbitration-related proceedings (including annulment applications) before the English and French courts.

Jacob has extensive experience in arbitrations under the rules of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center (HKIAC), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), as well as in investment arbitrations, including those under the rules of the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), and in ad hoc arbitrations.

Additionally, Jacob is a Center for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR)-qualified mediator, with a focus on helping clients achieve amicable settlements of disputes either before or during arbitrations. He has also acted as sole arbitrator, president and co-arbitrator in a number of ICC arbitrations in London and in Paris, including a treaty-based arbitration.

Prior to joining ASAFO & CO., Jacob practiced at leading US firms, including McDermott Will & Emery, and before that at the prestigious One Essex Court Chambers of Lord Grabiner QC in London from 1994 to 2001.

He is a Board member of the Arbitration Academy, a Vice-President of the recently launched Casablanca International Mediation and Arbitration Center (CIMAC) and a member of the Steering Committee of the Practitioners’ Group of the Mauritius International Arbitration Centre (MIAC).

He has co-authored articles and handbooks on arbitration, including Arbitrating under the 2012 ICC Rules: An Introductory User’s Guide, published by Kluwer Law International, and is a visiting professor (chargé de cours) at the College of Europe in Bruges, the University of Versailles, the University of Paris-Assas and the University of Paris Est-Créteil.

Samaa Haridi is a Partner in the International Arbitration Group of King & Spalding. Ms. Haridi has significant experience representing corporations and financial institutions from various parts of the world, and represents parties in international commercial and investment arbitration proceedings under the arbitration rules of all the major arbitral institutions. Ms. Haridi also frequently sits as an arbitrator in international commercial and investment disputes.

Ms. Haridi has been ranked by clients and peers in Chambers USA and Chambers Global for International Arbitration. She has been singled out by clients for her “brilliant,” “no-nonsense and impressive” approach, and regularly handles commercial and investor-state arbitrations involving the Middle East. Sources also acknowledge her as being “hard-working and very entrepreneurial,” as well as a “unique practitioner with unique skills” who delivers “clear and intelligent arguments.” She is also recognized by The Legal 500, and by Who’s Who Legal: Global Elite Thought Leaders – Arbitration 2023.

She is currently serving as an officer in a number of arbitral organizations, including as Vice President of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, Member of ICCA’s Governing Board and Advisory Board Member of the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA). Ms. Haridi also is a frequent speaker at conferences around the globe.

Ms. Haridi holds a Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies in Private International Law and International Business Transactions from the University of Paris I (Sorbonne); and an LL.M. in Comparative Law from the University of San Diego School of Law, where she was a Sorbonne Scholar. Ms. Haridi is a member of the bars of New York, California, and England & Wales. She is fluent in French and Arabic and is also conversant in Spanish.

Anne K. Hoffmann is an internationally recognized Arbitration Practitioner with more than two decades of experience in international commercial and investment arbitration during which she acted in arbitrations seated around the globe and governed by a great variety of laws. She is dual-qualified in Germany and England & Wales and practiced at leading international law firms in London, Geneva and Dubai before focusing on her practice as an independent arbitrator.

To date, Anne has acted as sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator and chair in commercial arbitrations, both institutional under all major rules (including ICC, LCIA, Swiss Rules, DIFC-LCIA, SIAC, HKIAC, SCC, VIAC, DIAC, CRCICA and DIS) as well as ad hoc, including UNCITRAL. She has also been appointed in investment arbitration proceedings, including under the ICSID Rules.

She conducts arbitrations in English and German and has good knowledge of French and Russian.

In addition to her membership in various arbitration organizations, Anne is on the panel of arbitrators of SIAC, HKIAC, AIAC and KCAB. She is also a member of the SIAC Users Council. Moreover, Anne regularly speaks and publishes on topics of international arbitration.

Anne has been recognized as a leading arbitration practitioner in the UAE in all editions of Who is Who Legal since 2014 and is listed by Chambers Global as “Most in Demand Arbitrator”.

Ahmed Ibrahim is a full-time Independent Arbitrator with vast experience in handling cases involving major projects and transactions in civil law and common law jurisdictions. He has been practising law in the UAE since 2005. With particular expertise focusing on construction disputes, he has vast experience in the Middle East, acting for and against contractors, developers, governmental bodies, financial institutions and individual investors.

Ahmed has a breadth of experience in civil law jurisdictions, with an in-depth understanding of law and practices in the Gulf countries. Ahmed has handled cases under most major arbitration rules, including those of the DIFC-LCIA, the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Swiss Rules of International Arbitration. In addition to acting as counsel, he regularly sits as sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator and chairman of arbitral tribunals in ad-hoc and institutional arbitration proceedings.

He is also a lecturer of Construction Law at the British University in Dubai. Ahmed practises law in English and Arabic. His studies have focused particularly on arbitration and legal aspects in the construction industry.

Examples of Ahmed’s expertise include: Acting for a UAE contractor in a DIAC arbitration for a claim of AED 80 million. The case involved issues under the FIDIC form of contract applying the UAE law, such as entitlement to extension of time, valuation of variations, concurrent delay and liquidated damages; Advising an American investor in ICSID arbitration proceedings against the Sultanate of Oman under the U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement in connection with the expropriation of an investment in the host state of approximately US $500 million; Acting for a KSA investment management company in arbitration proceedings under the Rules of Arbitration of the Geneva Chamber of Commerce against a Swiss investment company for a claim in the region of US $10 million; Acting as a member of the team for a Chinese contractor against a state-owned Qatari company in an ICC arbitration involving a dispute over US $1.2 billion for damages and prolongation costs in the largest project in Doha; Acting for a leading Italian construction company in a construction arbitration against an Omani investor for “termination for convenience” of a five-star hotel turnkey contract for a claim of US $55 million; Advising a leading Austrian contractor on DIAC arbitration proceedings filed by a subcontractor in relation to one of the largest projects in Abu Dhabi. In addition to the arbitral proceedings, the case involved preservatory interim measures before the Abu Dhabi Court.

Mostafa Ihab is a Principal Associate in the Litigation and Dispute Management Practice in the Riyadh office of Eversheds Sutherland.

Mostafa advises clients on all forms of commercial disputes before local courts and arbitration tribunals, handling financial crime cases and internal investigations.

Previously, Mostafa served eight years as a prosecutor for the Egyptian government and worked for in-house legal departments and private practices.

Mostafa has an LLB from Ain Shams University and an LLM from Indiana University. He is admitted to the Egyptian Bar and is qualified as a Foreign Solicitor in the UK.

Mostafa is fluent in Arabic and English.

Dr. Fathi Kemicha is a Member of the Bars of Paris-Emeritus and Tunisia and the Founder of “Kemicha Legal Consulting K.L.C”, a Law Firm based in Tunisia but acting at the regional and international levels. He has a diploma in International Relations from the Institute of Political Studies – Paris and a PhD in International Law (with distinction) from the University of Paris I–Panthéon-Sorbonne. He was also a Visiting Scholar at Yale Law School. Dr. Kemicha was a member of the United Nations International Law Commission (ILC) and the World Bank Group Sanctions Board. He is an advisory member of the Governing Board of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) and serves as Vice-Chairman of the Commission on Arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). He was also a member of the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) Board of Trustees and Executive Committee.

He has acted as arbitrator and counsel in numerous institutional and ad hoc commercial arbitrations. He has appeared as counsel to the State of Pakistan in the case concerning the Aerial Incident of 10 August 1999 (Pakistan v. India) before the International Court of Justice in The Hague. He has also appeared as counsel to the State of Bahrain in the case concerning Maritime Delimitation and Territorial Questions between Qatar and Bahrain (Qatar v. Bahrain), again before the International Court of Justice.

In addition, Dr. Kemicha served on the Arbitration Panel for Iraq’s prior debt restructuring program in 2005 and 2006 and again in 2008. He is a former secretary general of the Arbitration System of the EuroArab Chambers of Commerce in Paris. He was also the Secretary General of the Constitutional Court of the Kingdom of Bahrain and a former vice president and member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA).

Dr. Fathi Kemicha was made Knight of the French Legion of Honor by President Jacques Chirac, President of the French Republic, and awarded by His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, the King of the Kingdom of Bahrain, “The Order of Bahrain” (First Class).

Nasser Ali Khasawneh is Co-head of Global TMT and Chairman of the Middle East at Eversheds Sutherland. He specialises in dispute resolution, intellectual property, and technology & media law in the United Arab Emirates and regionally. Nasser has worked on various client projects covering the Middle East. He has 25 years’ experience both as in-house counsel and in private practice.

Nasser has acted for leading regional and international companies in various sectors. His work covers advice on various commercial legal issues in multi-jurisdictional litigation and arbitration, particularly in the area of IPR, construction and real estate disputes, as well as labour law.

Nasser regularly sits as arbitrator in DIAC disputes in a variety of fields including construction and multimedia, and has been appointed as one of the first Arab Domain Name Panellists at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration Centre. Since 2004, acted as lead adjudicating panellist or a member of a panel in scores of domain name cases issued under the UDRP system administrated by WIPO.

Nasser holds an BA in Law from University of Oxford, and an LLM from University College London, University of London.

Dany Khayat is the Head of the Litigation and International Arbitration practice in Paris and the co-leader of the Middle-East dispute practice with Mayer Brown.

He has been involved in numerous arbitration proceedings conducted under the Rules of the ICC, ICSID (including Additional Facility), UNCITRAL, SIAC, LCIA, DIAC, CRCICA, BCDR-AAA, LMAA, GAFTA, RSA, AFA, CMAP as well as in ad hoc arbitration proceedings.

Dany has extensive experience in commercial arbitration and has acted as lead counsel in dozens of cases under a variety of applicable laws. He has particular experience in disputes in the following industries: construction, intellectual property, defense, infrastructure, Joint Venture agreements with a particular regional focus on Africa and the Middle East.

Dany also has substantive knowledge of investment treaty arbitration and the protection of foreign investments and has been involved, as lead counsel, in more than a dozen investor/State disputes, representing both States and investors. He has written extensively on ICSID awards and decisions for fifteen years. He is the co-author of the 700-page “Recueil des Commentaires des Decisions du CIRDI (2002–2007)” (Bruylant 2009) in which all ICSID awards, decisions and orders published between 2002 and 2007 are commented upon and has continued to publish regularly since in the Revue québécoise de droit international and The Law & Practice of International Courts and Tribunals.

Dany has also been involved in arbitration-related proceedings before French courts including annulment proceeding as well as in disputes involving State immunities and seizure of State-owned assets, and in other contractual and commercial matters heard before French courts.

He also acts as arbitrator (president, co-arbitrator or sole arbitrator) in ICC, DIAC, CRCICA, BCDR-AAA, DIFC-LCIA, WIPO and ad hoc proceedings conducted in French, English or Arabic.

Dany has appeared at numerous conferences as a speaker on international arbitration, investment treaties and investment disputes and lectured on international arbitration, arbitration in the Arab countries and investor-State disputes at the University of Paris I (Pantheon-Sorbonne), University of Paris-Sud and the University of Poitiers.

Prior to joining Mayer Brown in 2008, he was an attorney in the International Arbitration group of a large international firm in Paris where he worked since 2000.

Dany is fluent in English, French and Arabic and has a reading knowledge of Spanish.

Sara Koleilat-Aranjo is a Partner at Al Tamimi & Co in Dubai. Her practice focuses on arbitration and complex litigation. Sara regularly advises and represents clients in international and domestic arbitration proceedings, both ad hoc and institutional (ICC, DIAC, DIFC-LCIA, GCC Centre for Commercial Arbitration, LCIA, ICSID, UNCITRAL) as well as complex commercial litigation, particularly in cases with cross-border facets. Sara has developed an expertise in corporate and commercial law, banking and financial law, property and construction law and energy, including oil and gas. Sara also advises clients on several procedural issues such as the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards in the UAE and the revision and annulment proceedings of awards.

Sara has been involved in proceedings in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia in addition to the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Sara is well versed in both the civil and common law legal traditions having practiced law at top tier law firms in London, Paris and Beirut prior to joining Al Tamimi & Company.

Sara sits on the Board of Directors of ArbitralWomen and the Paris MENA Legal Club. She is a member of several professional organizations, including the International Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the ICC Arab Group and the French Arbitration Committee (CFA).

In addition to her practice of law, Sara regularly publishes and delivers talks on dispute resolution. She has held several teaching and editorial appointments, such as Editor of the Harvard Business Law Review and Lecturer in Law at the Sorbonne Law School in Paris and the Paris Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi. Sara is currently a certified legal trainer with the Legal Affairs Department of the Government of Dubai.

Liesje Korff is Senior Legal Counsel at Standard Chartered Bank, where she manages a wide variety of high-value disputes for the bank across Africa and the Middle East.

Liesje joined Eversheds Sutherland UK in 2012 before moving to their dispute resolution/arbitration team in Dubai in 2015. During her time at Eversheds Sutherland, she represented various major corporate and commercial clients and has a broad range of experience in managing complex commercial court litigation, international arbitrations and mediation across a number of legal jurisdictions including the UK, Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan and the US. She carried out in-house secondments at PwC, Omniyat Properties and SCB.

Liesje holds a first class with honours law degree from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge.

Hani Kurdi is a Partner and Head of the Litigation and Dispute Management Practice in the Amman office of Eversheds Sutherland. He has over 20 years’ experience advising clients in Jordan on a range of matters with a primary focus on complex litigation, aviation and regulatory matters. Hani also advises clients on corporate matters.

Hani represents clients in all phases of litigation before the Jordanian courts and all types of arbitration cases. He is regularly appointed as an arbitrator on arbitration panels. Hani represents several airlines in aviation related matters, including aircraft related transactions and passenger liability claims.

Hani is ranked by Chambers Global 2019 in band 3 for Jordan corporate and commercial. In addition, he is recommended as a global leader for aviation finance in Who’s Who Legal 2019.

Hani obtained his law degree from the University of Jordan, a post graduate diploma in shipping law and an LLM in computer and communications law both from the University College London. He also holds a graduate diploma in English law and an LPC. Hani is qualified to practice in Jordan and England and Wales.

Prior to joining Sanad Law Group in association with Eversheds Sutherland, Hani established his own boutique firm Kurdi & Associates. Prior to that Hani was general counsel at Royal Jordanian and was of counsel at Sanad Law Group in association with Eversheds Sutherland.

Professor Dr. Martin Lau, MA, PhD, Diploma in Communicative Arabic, is Professor of South Asian Law at the School of Law of SOAS, University of London, and, since 1997, a Barrister at Law at Essex Court Chambers, London.

Professor Lau regularly advises on South Asian and Middle Eastern law in the form of expert opinions and advice with regard to proceedings before the High Court of England and Wales, the County Court, Magistrates’ Courts, the Immigration Appeals Tribunal, the International Chamber of Commerce and U.S. and Canadian Courts as well as governments, such as the UK’s Ministry of Defence, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, the EU, international organizations such as UNODC and UNHCR, and NGOs, including IUCN, IBA and ICJ.

Professor Lau has held visiting appointments at the universities of Harvard and Nagoya and served as the Dean of the Shaikh Ahmad Hassan School of Law of the Lahore University of Management Sciences in Pakistan from 2016 to 2018. Professor Lau and Faris Nasrallah are the editors of the Yearbook of Islamic and Middles Eastern Law.

Professor Lau has acted as presiding, co- and sole arbitrator under institutional arbitration rules and ad hoc arbitrations in commercial arbitrations across the Middle East.

Jonathan Lux has enjoyed a highly successful 40-year career as an internationally acclaimed Mediator, Arbitrator and Barrister.

After graduating from Nottingham University with a University Exhibition and LLB Honours Degree in 1973, Jonathan joined one of the City’s leading Law firms Ince & Co. Rising to a Senior Partner by 2002, Jonathan went on to specialise independently in Mediation, was subsequently called to the Bar and joined Chambers in 2013.

Jonathan provides mediation services in the UK and internationally for a wide range of civil and commercial cases.

His vast experience in a range of mediation and arbitration cases has given him the tact and robustness that leads to a satisfactory conclusion, enabling all parties to cost-effectively put the case behind them and get on with their business. He has particular expertise in International commercial law, including settling cases in shipping, maritime, energy, insurance, international trade and commerce across a range of jurisdictions.

Jonathan is fluent in English, French and German and is well placed for both national and international mediations. He was one of the very first International Mediation Institute (IMI) Certified Inter–Cultural Mediators in the UK and is passionate about recognising and resolving the cultural differences that can sometimes lead to disputes.

Jonathan was awarded Global Shipping & Maritime Lawyer of the Year for both 2010 and 2011 by Who’s Who Legal. In December 2011 he featured in Lloyd’s List of Top Ten Legal Personalities and was a finalist for the Lloyd’s List global Shipping & Maritime Lawyer of the Year award in 2012.

Jonathan has been selected for independent research by Who’s Who Legal as he is among the world’s leading mediators and will be featured in Who’s Who Legal: Mediation 2019 edition.

Jonathan is one of the founder members of the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) and is well known for the use of the Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) principle in resolving cases. His wise guidance, flexible approach and excellent communications skills make him the right choice for both complex and more straightforward mediation cases.

Jonathan is also fully accredited by and a member of the International Mediation Institute and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He has lectured worldwide and written numerous articles on the subject of mediation. He is co-author of a number of publications relating to ADR and Commercial Disputes.

A. Timothy Martin has extensive experience as an Arbitrator, Counsel, Expert and strategic Advisor in the resolution of energy, oil & gas, project infrastructure and construction disputes. He has been a sole arbitrator, party appointed arbitrator, institution appointed arbitrator and tribunal chair in institutional and ad hoc international and domestic arbitrations.

Tim has more than 40 years of experience as general counsel, country manager, finance director, commercial manager and economist, working in more than 50 countries on some of the largest energy projects in the world. He has wide-ranging experience in various legal systems including the common law, civil law, Shari’ah law and the communist legal system. His business sector experience includes: energy, oil & gas, refining, petrochemicals, mining, infrastructure, construction, international trade & investment, regulatory & administrative, corporate governance, and finance & banking.

Tim has been counsel in international boundary disputes arising from oil & gas concessions that straddled disputed international boundaries and in sovereignty disputes in domestic courts. He has managed litigation strategy for complex, multi-jurisdictional disputes in national courts in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia.

Tim established, organized and chaired the leading annual conference on Dispute Resolution in the International Oil & Gas Business for more than fifteen years, co-sponsored by the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN) and leading international arbitration institutions around the world. He is founding Chair of the Journal of World Energy Law & Business, the leading journal on international energy and the official journal of the AIPN, which is published by Oxford University Press. Tim has published and spoken extensively on dispute resolution and energy issues throughout the world.

Tim is a Fellow and Chartered Arbitrator of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators and a Member of the London Court of International Arbitration. He has been elected to the arbitrator panels of the ICDR, the ICC International Court of Arbitration, the SIAC, the Asian Institute of ADR, the Pacific International Arbitration Centre, the Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution, the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration and the Energy Arbitrators List.

More details on Tim and his experience can be found at his website: www.timmartin.ca.

Maria Mazzawi is a practising Arbitrator and a Senior Associate and dispute resolution specialist at Eversheds Sutherland Dubai. She is an international commercial arbitration lawyer and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Maria is trilingual civil-law qualified lawyer with 10 years’ experience working in the Middle East.

Maria’s practice is typically multijurisdictional and includes work in both contentious and non-contentious transactional/advisory contexts. Maria’s focus is on commercial, construction, and TMT arbitration. Maria regularly advises and represents clients in international arbitration proceedings (including before the ICC, DIAC, DIFC-LCIA, and the LCIA).

Maria is an active member of the arbitration community, a frequent speaker at conferences, and contributes regularly to academic journals, and online news and media outlets, including Khaleej Times, Arabian Business, Emirates Law and Lexis Nexis. Maria has also authored articles for several academic journals and outlets, including the International Journal of Arab Arbitrators, the International Construction Law Review, GAR, and Kluwer. 

Maria holds a Master’s degree from Queen Mary University of London with a specialisation in Alternative Dispute Resolution and a focus on international construction contracts and arbitration. Maria also holds a second post-graduate diploma in International Commercial Arbitration from the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

John McGowan is Of Counsel at Global Advocacy and Legal Counsel. He has lived and worked in Abu Dhabi for over 25 years.  During this time, John has represented major construction project stakeholders (employers, engineers, architects, contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers), multi-national corporations, local UAE. holding companies, energy companies, real estate developers and a UAE free zone.

His principal focus is dispute resolution in the construction and energy sectors.  He serves as both an arbitrator and advocate in arbitrations, and is well versed in the rules, procedures and applicable laws in UAE arbitrations including post-arbitral award enforcement proceedings.

John served as UAE counsel on behalf of the Dubai government (Dubai Civil Aviation Authority) in defense against a major international contractor’s post-award enforcement actions in the USA and France. More recently, John has been listed on the inaugural roster of arbitrators at the Tashkent International Arbitration Centre (TIAC) in Uzbekistan.  John’s work includes overseeing/‌managing complex UAE litigation.  He also served on GALC’s team tasked by the Ministry of Finance to draft the English translation of the UAE bankruptcy law [original Arabic].

John is a founding member of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Abu Dhabi, and formerly served as both a member-at-large of the Board of Directors and an officer (Secretary).  He is a member of the Pennsylvania bar in the United States.

Reza Mohtashami KC is a Partner at Three Crowns LLP. He is an experienced arbitration advocate who has represented clients in more than 90 arbitrations conducted under a variety of arbitration rules in many different jurisdictions. His practice focuses on complex and high-value disputes arising out of emerging-market jurisdictions with a focus on the energy, infrastructure and telecommunications sectors. He has particular expertise in investment treaty arbitrations and has represented both investors and governments in such disputes. Reza also regularly sits as an arbitrator.

Currently based in London, Reza has previously practiced in Paris, New York and Dubai, where he established the Middle East dispute resolution practice of a leading international law firm. He is a member of the board of trustees of the BCDR and editorial board member of the Global Arbitration Review. He is a past president of the LCIA Arab Users’ Council, a former member of the LCIA Court, a trustee of the DIFC-LCIA Arbitration Centre and a Vice Chair of the IBA Arbitration Committee. He was appointed Kings’s Counsel in recognition of his advocacy skills in 2018. He speaks English, French and Persian.

Gerard Moore is a Senior Associate in the Construction & Engineering group and International Arbitration practice at Mayer Brown in Dubai.

Gerard acts on a range of construction and commercial disputes and across a number of dispute resolution forums. He has represented clients in international and domestic arbitrations, litigation in intermediate and superior courts (in the UAE and Australia), adjudication and mediation.

Gerard also acts for and advises clients on non-contentious aspects of construction projects. His experience includes drafting and negotiating project agreements on behalf of employers, contractors, subcontractors and consultants. He also regularly provides in-project advice to clients in respect of their legal and contractual rights and obligations.

Gerard has acted and advised on a wide-range of construction and engineering projects, including building, construction, engineering, rail, infrastructure, mining and oil and gas projects across the Middle East, Australia and Asia. He has also acted on a range of commercial disputes, including property disputes, banking and finance disputes and corporate collapses.

Gerard has authored a number of articles in a variety of legal and building industry journals.

Alexis Mourre, Founding Partner of Mourre Gutiérrez Chessa Arbitration, has served as counsel, President of the Tribunal, Co-Arbitrator, Sole Arbitrator or Expert in more than 280 international arbitrations, both ad hoc and before most international arbitral institutions (ICC, ICSID, LCIA, ICDR, SIAC, SCC, DIAC, VIAC, etc.).

He established his own arbitration practice in May 2015, after having founded Castaldi Mourre & Partners in 1996. Alexis has been a Court member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration for 12 years, first as Vice-President (2009–2015) and then as President (1 July 2015–30 June 2021). He was Vice President of the ICC Institute of World Business Law (2011–2015), co-chair of the IBA Arbitration Committee (2012–2013), LCIA Court member (2012–2015) and Council member of the Milan International Chamber of Arbitration (2006–2014).

He is the author of numerous books and publications in the field of International Business Law, Private International Law and Arbitration Law. He is founder and former editor in chief of Les Cahiers de l’Arbitrage – The Paris Journal of International Arbitration, a leading publication in the field of international arbitration.

Alexis is a member of a large number of scientific and professional institutions dedicated to Arbitration and Private International Law. He is the founder and former president of Paris Place d’Arbitrage/Paris the Home of International Arbitration.

He is fluent in French, English, Italian and Spanish, and has a working knowledge of Portuguese.

Omid Mousavi is an Associate in the Litigation and Dispute Management Practice in the Doha office of Eversheds Sutherland. He is a Canadian barrister with experience in litigation and arbitration proceedings in the Middle East and Canada.

Omid’s work encompasses a broad range of complex contentious matters, with a particular emphasis on construction disputes, cross-border proceedings and commercial arbitration. He is skilled at distilling complex commercial issues, providing practical advice and drafting persuasive legal arguments. Omid has successfully represented international clients involved in a wide range of domestic and international arbitrations as well as commercial disputes before local courts.

Omid also assists clients in negotiating solutions outside the courtroom and is experienced in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes, including mediation and settlement negotiation.

Aisha Nadar is a Partner and Senior Consultant specialised in infrastructure procurement and dispute management at Advokatfirman Runeland AB, Stockholm, Sweden. She has been actively involved in all phases of the negotiation and implementation of large-scale cross-border infrastructure and defence programs for over 30 years.  Her consulting engineering experience includes holding senior level positions in the in the public and private sectors in the United States, the Middle East and Europe.

Today, Aisha’s professional activities focus on procurement and contract management. She regularly advises clients on strategic procurement planning, contract drafting, contract management and dispute resolution and acts as arbitrator, mediator and dispute board member and has experience of proceedings under ICC, LCIA, SCC, DIAC, AAA, CRCICA, UNCITRAL and FIDIC rules. Aisha has carried out assignments related to procurement reform for organizations such as the World Bank, USAID and US DoD and is a regularly invited speaker at universities and specialized conferences on construction contracts and dispute resolution. Aisha is a member of FIDIC’s Board, with primary responsibility for the FIDIC Contracts Committee, and is listed on FIDIC President’s List of Accredited Adjudicators.

She holds a BS Electrical Engineering (University of Nebraska), an MBA (University of Texas-Austin), an LL.M. in International Commercial Dispute Resolution (Queen Mary, UoL) and has completed the CIArb Diploma Course in International Commercial Arbitration, Oxford.

Faris Elias Nasrallah specialises in international arbitration having worked for leading international law firms in London and Dubai. His practice focuses on energy, commercial and construction arbitrations with specialist knowledge of Arab laws. Faris has represented clients in complex and high-value proceedings and has extensive advocacy experience, having acted in ad-hoc and institutional arbitrations under the ICC, LCIA, DIAC, and ICSID rules. He has developed significant practice experience in obtaining judicial assistance from the UAE’s Arabic language civil law courts, including the successful recognition and enforcement of domestic and foreign arbitral awards. Faris is currently Senior Arbitration Counsel at Crescent Petroleum. He frequently receives expert appointments on Arab law matters and sits as arbitrator. 

Faris has been selected to author a practitioner guide to the new DIAC Rules (OUP) and in 2022 was appointed as a Member of the TIAC Court of Arbitration. He publishes regularly, including on UAE law and the transformation of the UAE’s arbitration landscape, having led a Max Planck Institute research project on the relationship between theory and practice in international arbitration (2018–2021). He was Assistant and Co-Editor of the Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (Brill) from 2008 to 2020, and has taught jurisprudence, comparative law, and international arbitration at SOAS and the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (Germany). Faris is a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England & Wales and was educated at SOAS and the University of Cambridge.

Karim J. Nassif has more than 20 years’ experience in arbitration, mediation, civil law, contract law, commercial and corporate law, banking and finance, real estate and construction law.

He has acted as counsel, mediator, adjudicator and arbitrator in many complex disputes under the most leading international and regional arbitration rules, including the rules of the ICC, LCIA, DIFC-LCIA, DIAC, CRCICCA, AAA-ICDR, GCC, UNCITRAL, IICRA and ADCCAC; in various cases seated in the UK, France, USA, Switzerland and throughout the Middle East; and governed by a variety of national laws (Lebanon, UAE – including DIFC, KSA, France, England and Wales, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Libya, Kuwait, Syria, New York, OHADA …) or sharia law.

Karim has authored and co-authored several publications in English, French and Arabic and he has frequently been a speaker in international conferences and seminars on international arbitration, civil code, mediation, commercial contracts, property, family structuring and legislative reform matters; including ICC, LCIA, IBA, DIAC, Arab Forum, CRCICCA, DIFC Academy of Law, Paris Bar, Society of Construction Law, Global Arbitration Review etc., events.

Karim pleads in English, French and Arabic.

Karim has been cited in the 2022, 2021 and 2020 GAR – Who’s Who Legal as Global Leader in Arbitration and for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019 as Future Leader in Arbitration; by Legal 500 in 2011, 2012 and 2013 as “Leading Individual in Dispute Resolution”; included in Chambers Global’s Most in Demand Arbitrators for the UAE, in 2021 and 2022; and was awarded the Platinum Award for Sole Arbitrator – Dubai Awards by DIAC.

Finally, Karim is the current Vice-Chair of the ICC commission on Arbitration and ADR.

Dr. Zeina Obeid LL.M, PhD, MCIArb is a Partner at Obeid & Partners (Dubai, Paris, Beirut) where she practices in the litigation & Arbitration Department.

She has acted as lead counsel in major international arbitration cases across the Middle East and North Africa region. She also acts as arbitrator and as an administrative secretary in several domestic and international arbitrations, both ad hoc and under international institutional arbitral rules, including those of the ICC, DIAC, LCIA, CRCICA, BCDR-AAA, and DIFC-LCIA.

Zeina holds a PhD from the University Panthéon-Assas (Paris II) in France and an LLM from Columbia University in New York. She also holds a dual Master II in Business Law in the Arab Countries as well as in Arbitration & ADR obtained at the University Paris II and a Masters in Lebanese Law from the Lebanese University.

She frequently publishes articles on various topics notably in arbitration. In 2017, she published her book “Setting aside arbitral awards in the Arab Countries”, which has been cited as a reference book for practitioners around the MENA region.

She is a Fellow and tutor of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb). She has been elected in 2022 as Board Member of the CIArb-UAE Branch. She is also member of the ICC Commission on arbitration & ADR and member of the International Bar Association (IBA) where she holds the position of Officer in the IBA Young Lawyer’s Committee (as co-secretary) and previously served as Middle Eastern representative of the IBA Anti-Corruption Committee.

Zeina is qualified to practice law both in Beirut and Paris and licensed in Dubai by the Legal Affairs Department.

Mirèze Philippe was Special Counsel at the Secretariat of the ICC International Court of Arbitration. She is a French lawyer of French and Lebanese origin. She holds a post-graduate degree in Business law (DEA Droit des Affaires, Paris I) and a master’s in Business Administration (AUB, Beirut).

Mirèze joined ICC in 1984 as Deputy Counsel and was appointed Special Counsel in 2000. She held this position until end of 2022 when she retired. In her role as Deputy Counsel within one of the teams of the Secretariat, she administered several hundreds of arbitration procedures including scrutinising awards. She was also in charge of expertise procedures and appointments of arbitrators in ad hoc procedures and in IATA procedures.

As Special Counsel, she was entrusted with numerous projects, mainly promoting ICC arbitration in the Arab region, putting in place an incentive scheme including a training programme for ICC National Committees, cooperating over ten years with the ICC Institute of World Business Law on drafting arbitration mock cases and moderating workshops in arbitration, contributing to ICC arbitration online training. Alongside IT engineers she contributed to developing the Court’s case management system IcaBase and the NetCase platform for the conduct of arbitration in a secure online environment.

She was in charge of coordinating internal practices, a legal training programme and the internship programme at the Secretariat of the Court.

Mirèze taught arbitration and teaches online dispute resolution. She speaks and writes on arbitration and online dispute resolution (ODR). She also speaks and writes on unconscious bias and gender diversity.

She is co-founder of ArbitralWomen & Board member (www.arbitralwomen.org), member of the Steering Committee of the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge & Chair of the Arbitrators Search Committee (www.arbitrationpledge.com), member of the ICCA Diversity Task Force, Member of the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Dispute Resolution & of the ODR Task Force, and former Member of the Council of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, member of the Advisory Board of Arbitri (http://associationarbitri.com), Board member of the International Council for Online Dispute Resolution (ICODR), Fellow of the National Centre for Technology and Dispute Resolution (NCTDR) (http://odr.info/), member of the Editorial Board of International Journal of Online Dispute Resolution (IJODR), Board member of ODR Africa Network (https://odrafrica.com).

Mirèze received the CPR 2018 Diversity Award for outstanding contributions to diversity in ADR.

She speaks French, English, Arabic and German, and understands Spanish.

CV and articles available on https://www.arbitralwomen.org/author/‌mireze-philippe/.

Philip Punwar is an English qualified Practitioner with more than twenty-five years’ arbitration experience. He has been resident in Dubai since 2005.

Philip has represented clients before most major arbitral institutions, as well as in ad hoc proceedings. His recent arbitral engagements have concerned real-estate Mega Projects in the Gulf, investment treaty claims arising out of the MENA and South Asia regions, aircraft charter agreements, concession agreements in the water sector and technology disputes in the finance and healthcare sectors.

Philip has acted as sole, party nominated and presiding arbitrator in ad hoc, ICC, DIAC and LCIA arbitrations seated in the Middle East and Europe. He is a member of the Abu Dhabi Global Markets (ADGM) Panel of Arbitrators and the International Panel of the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA).

Philip was born in the English County of Kent and called to the Bar of England & Wales in 1989. He was elected an Honorary Overseas Member of COMBAR in 2010 and a Master of the Bench of the Inner Temple in 2013. In addition to being a practising Barrister, Philip is a Chartered Arbitrator (CIArb, 2001) and an Accredited Mediator (CEDR, 2010).

Philip has been a member of Outer Temple Chambers since October 2022. Prior to returning to independent practice as a Barrister, he was a Partner in the International Disputes Group at Baker Botts LLP (2013–2022) and the International Arbitration Group at Fulbright & Jaworski LLP/Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP (2009–2013). 

Matei Purice is Head of Global Projects Disputes in Continental Europe at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP. He focuses his practice on commercial and investment treaty arbitrations arising out of global projects, including infrastructure, energy, industrial and urban development projects. Matei has particular expertise in Europe and the Middle East. He has acted as counsel in matters under a variety of arbitration rules including ICSID, ICC, SCC, UNCITRAL, Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) and the Court of International Commercial Arbitration of Bucharest (CICA) with seats in Paris, London, Geneva, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Bucharest. He also sits as arbitrator predominantly in projects related disputes.

Matei is also a lecturer at the International Arbitration LLM at the Faculty of Law of the Bucharest University (Romania) where he is responsible for the construction arbitration module. He is recognized by GAR’s s Who Legal: Arbitration - Future Leaders since 2018.

Michael Tonkin, BSc PGDipArb PGDipICIArb FRICS FCIArb FCIOB FDBF MAE CArb, is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor, Chartered Arbitrator, CEDR Accredited Mediator, RICS Accredited Expert Witness and testifying Expert Witness in quantum with 30+ years of experience in the construction industry. He leads HKA’s Expert Services practice for the Middle East, Asia & Africa.

Michael has been appointed as Arbitrator on more than 60 occasions (as sole Arbitrator, Chairman of a tribunal of three, and Co-Arbitrator) under the auspices of ICC, LCIA, DIAC, ADCCAC and the TAI. He also acts as dispute resolver in other ADR such as adjudication and DAB’s. Michael is a former Trustee and Honorary Treasurer of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators as well as a past Chairman and past Vice Chairman of the UAE Branch.

He acts as an expert witness in quantum and has been instructed more than 40 times as a party appointed Expert Witness, a single joint Expert Witness and a Third Party Expert Evaluator on substantial disputes. He has given oral testimony in traditional cross-examination as well as concurrent evidence/hot-tubbing. Michael often acts as “Coordinating Expert” across several disciplines of expert. He is named in Who’s Who Legal Construction as a Global Thought Leader.

Michael would like to acknowledge and is extremely grateful for the assistance given by Ms. Lynn Sharp who is a Director with HKA, Dubai, in the preparation of the chapter.

Professor Dr. Jacomijn van Haersolte-van Hof LL.M. is the Director General of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA). Previously, she practised as a counsel and arbitrator in The Hague, at her GAR 100 boutique HaersolteHof. She set up HaersolteHof in 2008 after three years as counsel in the international arbitration group at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Amsterdam.

From 2000–2004 she was with De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek in The Hague, and before that with Loeff Claeys Verbeke in Rotterdam, which she joined on her qualification in 1992.

She continues to sit as arbitrator and has handled cases under the ICSID, ICC, LCIA and UNCITRAL Rules, as well as those of the Netherlands Arbitration Institute (NAI), and UNUM, the Institute of Transport, Arbitration & Mediation, and at the Royal Dutch Grain and Feed Trade Association, based in the Netherlands. She is on the ICSID roster of arbitrators and was and is a member of several ICSID Annulment Committees.

She was also involved in setting up the arbitral process for the Claims Resolution Tribunal in Zurich, which analysed claims from Holocaust survivors over dormant accounts in Swiss banks.

She is a professor of arbitration law at Leiden University and a member of GAR’s editorial board. Her 1992 PhD thesis on the application of the UNCITRAL Rules by Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal was one of the first books to be published on the subject.

Dr. Karim A. Youssef is the Founder, Chairman, and Head of International Arbitration at Youssef & Partners, a prominent GAR 100 firm, Egypt’s premier arbitration practice, and a regional MENA leader in dispute resolution. His practice focuses on commercial arbitration, investment treaty arbitration, complex high-value disputes, and international law, and he is world-renowned in these fields. Additionally, he heads the Firm’s high-net-worth individuals’ practice.

Karim acts as counsel, arbitrator, or legal expert in some of the MENA region’s highest-profile, largest, and most complex commercial and investment treaty claims. His docket of arbitrator and counsel work exceeds 142 international arbitrations across four continents.

Karim has received some of the highest distinctions from peers and clients, having notably been described as “a leading light in international arbitration” (Legal 500, 2018) and “the number one arbitration lawyer in Egypt” (Chambers Global, 2021). He has further been praised as “a master of strategy” who thinks “light years ahead” of other practitioners (Chambers Global, 2022) and described as a “heavyweight arbitration lawyer with extensive experience acting on multibillion-dollar claims” (Chambers Global, 2022). His distinctions also include earning the 2019 GAR Award for best global speech and writing a reputable book on multi-party arbitration and consent issues prefaced by Jan Paulsson.

Karim is ranked as Star Individual in the Chambers and Partners Global Guide and is a Global Thought Leader in Arbitration Who’s Who Legal.

Karim is a member of the Advisory Board of the CRCICA, the newly established BVI IAC Arbitration Committee, and also member of the ICCA-ASIL Task Force on Damages in International Arbitration.

Karim has law degrees from the prestigious Yale Law School (where he earned LL.M. and JSD degrees) and Paris and Cairo Universities.

Roland Ziadé is the Global Co-Head of the International Arbitration Practice at Linklaters. Member of the Paris, New York and Beirut Bars, Roland has acted as counsel in approximately one hundred international arbitration cases (ICC, UNCITRAL, LCIA, ICSID, AAA, SCC, OHADA, PCA, and ad hoc) and has represented and advised private companies (from the United States of America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa), states, and international organisations.

Roland has also acted as arbitrator in over fifty international arbitrations (ICC, LCIA, ICSID, UNCITRAL, SCC, Swiss Arbitration Centre, DIAC, DIFC-LCIA, AFA, CRCICA). He was a member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration for nine years and is the current Vice President of the ICC International Court of Arbitration Alumni Group. He is also the current President of ICC France Committee on the selection and appointment of arbitrators, as well as a member of the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators.

Roland is also a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR, the Executive Committee of the Foundation for International Arbitration Advocacy (FIAA), the Bureau of the French Arbitration Committee (CFA), the Executive Committee of the Harvard Club of France, as well as numerous other arbitral organizations and arbitration working groups. He teaches arbitration at Paris-Saclay University, Paris-II Assas University and Sciences Po and is the author of numerous publications and articles on international arbitration.

Roland acts as counsel or arbitrator in both commercial and investment arbitration matters. He has particular experience in disputes in the following sectors: natural resources, infrastructure, construction, telecommunications, industrials, healthcare, consumer, as well as investment, merger and acquisition and joint venture disputes, with a particular regional focus and expertise on Africa and the Middle East.

Roland is distinguished by Chambers Global, The International Who’s Who on Commercial Arbitration, Best Lawyers, as well as the Guide to the World's Leading Experts in Commercial Arbitration, for his experience and expertise in international arbitration. In 2017, Global Arbitration Review ranked him in the top three worldwide of partners below 45. In 2018, he was selected by Who’s Who Legal among the 10 leading and most highly regarded arbitration counsel and arbitrators in France and since 2019 he is regularly identified among the top 15 Global Elite Thought Leaders for the EMENA Region.

Roland is consistently considered as “a bright lawyer” and “skilled arbitrator.” Other sources describe him as “an outstanding lawyer” who is “extremely talented and very efficient” and “highly experienced on acting in Middle East-related cases.” He is also “well respected for his work in North and Sub-Saharan Africa, with considerable experience of investment treaty arbitrations.” Interviewees also say that he “looks at the file from all angles and doesn't leave any part of the puzzle unfilled” and that “he is able to quickly factor in the client’s expectations and to adapt to complex situations.”  Clients appreciate his “excellent knowledge of the procedural aspects of an arbitration, as well as his broad knowledge of international jurisprudence” (Chambers Global). 

Roland is also considered as “an ‘outstanding negotiator’ with significant experience on the international scene.” “Described as a ‘star’’”, he “emerges as one of the titans of the arbitration market in Europe” and is “regarded as one of the most sought-after counsel for international arbitrations, particularly in reference to ICC arbitration.” He “has extensive experience sitting as arbitrator in major disputes and draws praise for ‘his multicultural mindset and excellent knowledge of commercial arbitration’” (Who’s Who Legal). Roland is “definitively a top arbitration lawyer and someone to better have on one’s own side when facing an arbitration dispute” (Legal 500).

Roland holds an LLM from Harvard Law School (Fulbright Scholar), as well as postgraduate degrees from Assas and Sorbonne Universities. His working languages are English, French and Arabic.

“Arbitration practitioners were missing a general treatise on arbitration in the Mena region where the number of cases has exploded these recent years. This new MENA Leading Arbitrators' Guide to International Arbitration fills the gap. Written by renowned specialists, it addresses all the major issues with which arbitration practitioners might be confronted. It is an indispensable acquisition for all those who practice or intend to practice in the Mena region”.
Dr. Professor Bernard Hanotiau, Partner, Hanotiau & van den Berg, Brussels, Belgium

“MENA Leading Arbitrators' Guide to International Arbitration is a very useful and unique approach to core and practical issues in MENA arbitration, which gives a precise perspective of the dichotomy that exists between theory and practice that is proper to the region”.
Dr. Nathalie Najjar, Partner, Ibrahim Najjar Law Firm, Beirut, Lebanon