Recently viewed firm rankings
Overview
Though dominated by a generalist, sole practitioner model of practice, Iran’s small corporate and commercial legal market offers clients a diverse, if limited choice of service providers. The market is composed of a vanguard of internationally-styled law firms, including market leader Tavakoli & Shahabi, as well as a selection of experienced and capable individual practitioners supported by associate teams. Though clients argue the jurisdiction can sometimes seem opaque, with legal realities often relying heavily on interpretation and deal-making rather than a black and white reading of the law, the market does hold the requisite legal talent to avert these risks.
This legal offering, however, has been going largely unused. Iran is experiencing a stagnation in foreign investment activity, as the pressure of UN trade sanctions and the global political stand-off over its uranium enrichment program compound prevailing attitudes of uncertainty over the jurisdiction’s prospects. Combined with a deepening global economic downturn, investors are adopting a wait-and-see approach to the market, leaving Iran’s long-suffering law firms facing yet more lean times.
Despite having little room for growth, law firms are surviving on the ad-hoc instructions of existing clients, and the constant demand for the country’s resources, primarily oil. While US investment has dried up, lawyers have seen increased work from opportunistic clients based in Europe and Asia, in what some lawyers have labelled a “land-grab” for resources in Iran. Direct acquisition, contract negotiation and joint ventures in the resources and energy sector, as well a staple diet of IP advice and disputes work, will remain the lifeblood of Iranian firms in the short-term.