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International Arbitration – Middle East
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"Reed Smith is a dynamic and forward-looking practice, which is superb at providing clients with advice which reflects their practical and commercial objectives. The ethos is hands on, down to earth and practical." (The Legal 500 EMEA 2020: UAE).
With over 40 years of experience in the UAE, we bring extensive knowledge gained from working on high profile, complex multimillion-dollar disputes across the region. We represent clients in cases under the rules of a wide range of international arbitration forums, including ADCCAC, DIAC, DIFC-LCIA, LCIA, ICC and UNCITRAL, as well as in ad hoc arbitration proceedings in both the UAE and wider Middle East region and in arbitration-related litigation before the courts of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the DIFC. Our lawyers are advocates, which enables us to offer a "one-stop shop" from start to end of any arbitration, without the need to involve outside counsel. Our strong advocacy experience covers both procedural and substantive hearings and is a true differentiator in our offering.
Clients and legal directories commend our forward-looking approach. Our team is described as "outstanding…with unrivalled experience of arbitration and international litigation in general" (The Legal 500 EMEA 2020: UAE) and "highly experienced representing clients in DIFC court litigation as well as arbitrations conducted under a variety of institutional rules" (Chambers Global 2020: UAE). Reed Smith was also named Arbitration Team of the Year at The Middle East Legal Awards 2017.
We act for some of the most important names in the construction and engineering industries, in respect of projects relating to road and rail networks, hotels, airports, process and power plants, and commercial and residential premises, throughout the Middle East. We also advise and represent multinational corporations, joint ventures, public-private partnerships and government authorities in disputes relating to shareholder rights, minority shareholder oppression, breach of contract, breach of warranty, material adverse change, share purchase agreements, call and put options, agency agreements and joint venture relationships.
Clients rely on our wide-ranging experience to help determine the right strategy for their business when a dispute arises, as either the claimant or respondent. Our lawyers draw from significant experience to tailor the advice to the tribunal and jurisdiction of the claim and to your strategic goals, including whether arbitration is the best course of action.
Recent praise for team members from clients and directories includes: "a superb lawyer…very bright, extremely hard-working and a great strategist," "terrific with clients, and always places their commercial and practical objectives at the heart of her approach," and "[his] technical background, wealth of experience and commercial astuteness means he is a go-to for construction advice, ad-hoc, strategic and transactional" (The Legal 500 EMEA 2020: UAE).
Our UAE disputes team forms part of a global network of offices spanning Europe, the United States, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Asia-Pacific region, with the capacity to advise on cross-border litigation and international arbitration matters anywhere in the world. This makes a real difference to the way we work, facilitating the development of long-term relationships with our clients and their most important projects.
Our team of multilingual international arbitration lawyers, which includes fluent Arabic speakers, has experience of arbitrating under the following rules: ICC, DIAC, HKIAC, CRCICA, LCIA, UNCITRAL, and SIAC. We also have significant experience of bilateral and multilateral investment treaty disputes (investor/state) under the auspices of ICSID and other arbitral bodies.
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