Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Obeid & Partners
Obeid & Partners
The Offices 3, Level 3, One Central, World Trade Center,
P.O.Box 9573 Dubai – UAE
T: +971 4 526 4633
F: +971 4 526 4778
E [email protected]
Dubai
Obeid & Partners Dubai’s office (“OLF”) occupies a unique position in the MENA region as a leading French-Middle Eastern focused firm in ADR and international arbitration.
OLF brings a unique perspective with a distinctive mix of French and Middle Eastern experience and knowledge. Several of our lawyers have lived, studied, and practiced in France and maintain numerous professional relationships overseas. Our dual Arab and French legal culture has been a key driver in the development of our practice.
Our Dubai office acts as a central hub for our regional operations across numerous jurisdictions, including Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Libya, the UAE, and Qatar providing a full-service offering across a diverse range of business and practice areas.
OLF Law Firm is particularly known for its expertise in Middle Eastern legislation, Islamic finance, complex cross-borders matters and its international arbitration and ADR practice which has been consistently recognized by professionals and institutions as a world-leading practice. Our expertise which is grounded on a strong understanding of local laws and practice, extends from our home jurisdiction of Lebanon, to the wider MENA region and beyond.
OLF occupies a prominent position in the MENA and services foreign governments and multinational corporations, institutions, and private equity firms in multiple sectors such as energy, financial services, construction, telecommunication, pharmaceutical, aviation, real estate, manufacturing, aerospace, information technology and mining.
Our services are regularly retained in the most significant arbitrations in the region where we act as counsel and arbitrators in international arbitrations cases conducted in English, French and Arabic.
Our firm members are also frequently asked to serve as legal experts on MENA legislations before international arbitral tribunals and before various courts in international litigation.
Our team has also been involved in several legislative reforms across the region and at the forefront of drafting model ADR laws and arbitration rules for several institutions such as DIAC, DIFC-LCIA, ICC, CRCICA, the Arab League and other similar institutions in the region.
OLF’s services are highly commended by international institutions and professional publications, including Legal 500, Chambers Global, Who’s Who Legal and the Global Arbitration Review (GAR). In addition, OLF has also been consistently ranked as having one of the top 100 arbitration practices in the world and is recognized globally as having a Tier 1, Number 1 ranking in dispute resolution in Lebanon.
Partners
Ziad Obeid
Partner
Prof. Dr Nayla Comair-Obeid
Partner
Zeina Obeid
Partner
Practice Areas
International arbitration
Specialist construction-centric advice
Expert services on Middle Eastern legislation
OLF team includes practitioners who regularly accept appointments as legal experts on various aspects of Middle Eastern and Shari’a law and have authored numerous publications relating to the laws of Arab countries.
OLF’s lawyers are regularly called to give expert evidence on aspects of Middle Eastern legislations before international arbitration tribunals and foreign courts including the Grand Courts of the Cayman Islands and the English High Court. They have presented evidence on matters such as agency issues, shareholding rights, commercial representation, enforcement and recognition of foreign judgments and the enforcement of international awards and injunctions in Lebanon and the Middle East. We draw on this experience to provide our clients with a detailed insight into complex and multi-jurisdictional matters.
The firm is regularly involved in cases where the following laws are applicable to the substance of the dispute:
§ Egyptian Law, Jordanian Law, Kuwaiti Law, Lebanese Law, Qatari Law, Syrian Law, Tunisian Law, UAE Law, Yemeni Law
§ English Law, French Law, Italian Law, Swiss Law, US Law
Special expertise in Islamic Finance
OLF has significant expertise in advising clients on Islamic Finance issues notably in arbitration proceedings.
The firm’ founding partner, Prof. Dr. Nayla Comair-Obeid, has acted as member of the Corporate Governance Working Group of Islamic Banking (2004 – 2007) and has also authored numerous publications in Islamic finance and has co-authored the Diploma Course on Islamic Finance of the Chartered Institute of Arbitration in Malaysia.
Publications :
- The Law of Business Contracts in the Middle East
- CIArb Diploma course on Islamic Finance, Malysia.
- “An Overview of Islamic Financial Instruments and the Suitable Mechanism for Resolving Disputes,” in FestschriftAhmedSadekEl-Kosheri:fromtheArabWorldtotheglobalizationofinternationallawand arbitration, 2015.
- “ADR and Islamic Finance”, Article published in TheResolverMagazine, CIArb July 2014.
- Speaker, “Arbitration in commercial and financial disputes under Islamic Law”, GASI Seminar, Lugano, 08 October 2019.
- Panelist & Moderator, CIArb “Islamic Finance and Banking Practices: Reconciling Tradition and Modernity” Conference, Manama, Bahrain, 30 October – 1 November 2016.
- Tutor, CIArb Islamic Finance and International Arbitration Diploma Course, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, September 2015.