The Legal 500

Al Kamel Law Office puts in a ‘strong, substantive performance’ across all areas of dispute resolution through its ‘extremely competent’ team of specialist litigators and arbitrators. The group is representing Boeing in a Boeing 737 crash compensation claim; and Northrop Grumman in arbitration. New department head Mohamed Kamel ‘clearly stands out for his academic and advisory excellence’, and new litigation team leader Joseph Morcous is ‘also very competent’. Tamim Foda is praised for his ‘timely responses and acute business sense’ in arbitrations.

Hafez is widely acknowledged as the pre-eminent arbitration practice in many sectors, as is Karim Hafez personally as an arbitrator and counsel of international standard. Hafez leads this 22-strong team of dispute resolution specialists.

Helmy, Hamza & Partners (Baker & McKenzie)’s arbitration and litigation teams are headed by ‘safe pair of hands’ Hazim Rizkana. Recent instructions include trade mark protection cases; defending a CEO in capital markets violation charges; and representing a major Egyptian hotel development company in arbitration following the owner’s default.

Kosheri, Rashed & Riad is ‘an arbitration firm – and a good one’, with credentials stretching back to the drafting of Egypt’s arbitration law. Senior players Ahmed El-Kosheri and Tarek Riad have acted as chair, arbitrator, and counsel in front of the ICC and many regional arbitration centres. The firm also acts in litigation, and has represented the previous government and Transocean.

Shalakany Law Office has dedicated arbitration and litigation teams in Cairo and Alexandria, as well as in Dubai. This ‘excellent’ group achieved successful results in recent arbitrations for Millennium Hotels, Unilever, and Galaxy Energy Group, and handles 10-15 new matters each year. Around 800 litigation instructions come in annually, the majority reaching a successful conclusion. Khaled El Shalakany is a ‘leading player’.

Zaki Hashem & Partners, Attorneys at Law regularly represents government bodies and private sector companies from the oil and gas, construction and IT sectors. Former head Nabil Elaraby is now the head of the Arab League.

DLA Matouk Bassiouny expanded its disputes team to eight following a raft of new instructions on post-revolution disputes between corporates and the Egyptian regulatory authorities over revocation of permits and manufacturing licences. John Matouk and Osman Mowafy are ‘number one in litigation’.

The two name partners Mohammed Hassouna and Ahmed Abou Ali at boutique firm Hassouna & Abou Ali provide ‘solid support’ in court and arbitration. Clients include Coca-Cola, Dow Chemical and Johnson & Johnson.

International law firms often turn to Ibrachy & Dermarkar for local law assistance in disputes, and recently this has included global technology and IT companies and telecoms operators. Ahmed Abbas El Said leads in corporate tax, employment, fraud and real estate lawsuits. Hegazy El Wakil has handled arbitrations for Sinai and Siemens.

SNR Denton combines international standards of practice with locally admitted lawyers. Michael Lacey and Amal Afifi are key figures in the group, which is representing Standard Chartered in a litigation audit of over 200 cases relating to American Express Bank; and Scomi Oil Tools in litigation against Gharib Oil Services.

Karim Adel Law Office’s ‘dynamic and knowledgeable’ partner Karim Adel Kamel has a wealth of experience in the hotels and leisure sector, and the firm recently acted for Hilton in obtaining an order for payment of $1.8m from a debtor. On the defence side, the firm obtained dismissal of a $20m claim made against another client.

Marghany Advocates fields ‘a strong, professional team’. Mohamed Marghany Khairy and Amir Marghany represented Kingdom Agricultural Development in the first successful negotiation with the Egyptian cabinet over a pre-revolution $55m sale of land for agricultural development. The team also acted for Kharafi Group in averting a potential multimillion-dollar dispute with Ericsson.

Founding partner and former judge Ashraf Nadoury is the lynchpin of Nadoury & Nahas Law Offices’ well-respected litigation and arbitration practice, which is instructed by a wide range of local and international clients.

Nour Law Office managed by Trowers and Hamlins acts in domestic and international instructions for debt settlement and litigation, as well as contractual and insurance claims. In 2010, the firm set a precedent for calculating the compensation payable for confiscated agricultural lands. Mohamed Nour leads the practice, which can draw on London colleagues for English law actions.