The Legal 500

Abou Jaoude & Associates Law Firm is cementing its reputation as a robust commercial practice with corporate law, banking and finance at its core, and close relationships with major banking and financial organisations in Lebanon and internationally. The ten-partner firm, headed by Carlos Abou Jaoude, is growing rapidly, and many of its lawyers are dual-qualified and multilingual, giving the edge over many other local firms. The firm is praised for its ‘quick response times and in-depth analysis’ of the issues. Clients say Souraya Machnouk ‘stands out as talented, innovative and professional’. The firm recently structured a first-of-its-kind transaction involving the launch of a TV station funded by a multi-bank private placement of shares. Abou Jaoude was recently lead counsel on the acquisition of GSM and CDMA telecoms licences in Africa and on a BOT GSM licence in Lebanon. The firm has advised on the privatisation of the telecom and electricity sectors in the country, and reports a rapidly growing real estate practice. In 2010, the firm was appointed to a panel of a working group organised by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, in collaboration with the World Bank and the IFC. The firm is a member of the Geneva Group International network. The firm’s enviable client list includes Saatchi (Beirut), Burger King Lebanon and Sisco Group.

Abousleiman & Partners is a consistently leading Lebanon firm headed by Randa Abousleiman who has ten years’ legal experience in New York. The firm has a strong banking practice with a focus on capital markets transactions in the public and private sectors, has been instrumental in the most prominent of recent local and regional IPOs and also advised on real estate finance. The firm has close working relationships with international firms including Norton Rose LLP, Linklaters LLP, SNR Denton, Chadbourne & Parke (London) LLP and Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, while its firm’s enviable client list includes Blominvest Bank Sal, Credit Suisse and AGC Equity Partners Holding.

Alem & Associates, a leading 45-lawyer, full-service firm, is ‘extremely active’ in M&A work with sizeable projects in hand. The firm is expanding and plans to recruit more senior lawyers in the coming months. The firm’s corporate team, headed by Eddy El-Maghariki, recently advised Arab Finance House Sal, a leading Lebanese Islamic bank, on the $80m rights issue to investors in the GCC region; and advised Eastgate Group on the structuring and implementation of a convertible shari’ah compliant loan to a Saudi company. The firm also advises lenders, issuers and borrowers on strategic issues such as regulatory compliance, risk management and bond shareholder matters. The firm also has franchising and aviation expertise.

Perhaps the most formidable and reputable of Lebanese firms is Badri and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm, which had a particularly busy 2010 in joint ventures, M&A work and real estate. The firm continues to grow under the strong leadership of Chadia El Meouchi and recruited seven lawyers in the past year. Clients describe the firm’s advice as ‘consistently relevant, practical and commercial’, and report ‘an excellent level of service’. In 2010, the firm advised Qatar Real Estate Investment Company on one of the first government-ordained mergers to take place in Qatar which will lead to the creation of a leading regional estate company with market capitalisation of more than $3bn. The firm also advised on the inception of a specialised bank in Lebanon, liaising with the Lebanese central bank. Recently, the firm advised a leading publicly listed regional bank and a regional publicly listed real estate developer on a major joint venture; and advised a leading regional carbon trading specialist on pan-European deployment into the UK, France, Spain and other EU countries. Other notable recent clients include Saint-Gobain Weber, National Bank of Canada and HSBC IB (London). The firm is Clifford Chance’s preferred counsel in Lebanon, and works closely with Latham & Watkins LLP, Linklaters LLP and other international firms.

12-lawyer Albert and Ziad Najm Law Firm is Lebanon’s leading marine insurance and maritime firm. Led by the reputable Ziad Najm, it offers full legal services to the shipping and insurance community. The firm is praised by clients for its ‘excellent communication skills, real-time responsiveness and expertise’, and Nadyn Souaiby is singled out for being ‘a dynamic, meticulous and business-oriented lawyer’. In 2010, the firm acted for the owners of MV Valencia after its collision in the Gibraltar area; and was instructed by Holman Fenwick Willan LLP to act for Metallika in the arrest of two ships and the resulting action in the Lebanese courts. Other recent work includes acting for AXA Middle East in a multimillion-dollar recovery action against a burning yacht; and advised the company on insurance regulations in Lebanon. The firm is regularly instructed by a number of international law firms including Clifford Chance, DLA Piper UK LLP and Clyde & Co LLP.

Chedid Law Offices (in association with SNR Denton & Co) is a full-service firm that formed an exclusive association with SNR Denton in 2010. Headed by Elias Chedid, the firm focuses on corporate work and banking and finance. The firm has represented major regional banking and corporate clients, as well as a major US fund on a private placement offering.

Full-service firm Moghaizel Law Offices has a strong focus on international banking, banking litigation and corporate law under the leadership of name partner Fadi Moghaizel. Moghaizel has a reputation for his arbitration practice and recently won a major construction arbitration. In 2010, the firm also advised regarding a dispute between an Arab government and a multinational investment company. Over its 60-year history, the six-partner firm has acted for many Fortune 500 clients as well as regional and local clients. In 2010, the firm was legal counsel to the buyer in the acquisition of a local insurance company and to the buyer in its acquisition of a petroleum distribution company. The firm also advised on a major foreign investment for the establishment of a retail business, and is the Lebanese member of Lex Mundi. Notable clients include Estée Lauder, Coca-Cola, Microsoft Corporation and Renault.

Two-partner Nabil Abdel – Malek’s Law Offices has cemented its reputation since its inception in the 1990s, and focuses on the banking sector with notable clients including Credit Suisse, Bank of America, Barclays and UBS. The firm also offers corporate and finance, M&A and intellectual property expertise, and has an international arbitration practice. The firm has working relationships with international firms including Allen & Overy LLP, Baker & McKenzie LLP and Clyde & CO LLP.

Tyan & Zgheib has a strong arbitration practice, led by Nady Tyan. The firm, many of whose lawyers are dual-qualified, also has a dedicated banking and finance practice with notable clients including Air France, British American Tobacco and Colgate-Palmolive. The firm is currently working on a major investment project, the Tour in Beirut, and recently advised, MetLife Inc on its acquisition of ALICO from American International Group Inc.

Abouhamad, Merheb, Nohra, Chamoun, Chedid is one of the oldest law firms in Lebanon with a strong corporate client base. The firm focuses on domestic and international business law, banking and finance and capital markets. Clients of the 16-lawyer firm include major companies such as Boston Scientific.

Airut Law Offices is a fast-growing firm co-managed by Charles Airut and Marie-Antoinette Airut; the latter is singled out by clients for her ‘very professional approach to complicated legal issues’. In 2010, the two-partner firm advised on the restructuring of Rotana Holding in cooperation with Norton Rose LLP. The firm offers arbitration expertise and recently represented the defence in a $17m arbitration before the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board and is advising the same client on a case in the domestic courts where $23m is at stake. The firm also practises in real estate.

Long-established firm El-Aref International Law Office offers corporate expertise mainly for clients across the MENA region. The firm has advised L-3 Communication, Inc, and Kuwaiti investors on the sale of gas turbines for central east Africa. It also advised US clients on M&A transactions involving regional financial institutions. The firm has a strong litigation practice and represented EADS Eurocopter and Airbus in its €360m transaction for Iraq’s Ministry of Defence; and successfully defended Kuwaiti Corporation in Lebanon in its claims for trade mark infringements before Lebanon’s Court of Appeal.

El-Khoury & Partners Legal Counsel in association with Squire Sanders has a strong focus on corporate finance and is headed by Ziad El-Khoury. In 2010, the firm advised the Saudi Fal Consortium and a Belgium operator in a BOT joint venture with the Lebanese government. Other notable clients advised on finance matters include Fortune 100 companies; and the firm advised New York-based Cedar Petrochemicals on the corporate and tax restructuring of its regional and Asian operations.

Hamdan Law Firm is a two-partner, full-service law firm with a client base spanning the Middle East as well as Europe and the US and a working relationship with the Paris branch of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP. The firm recently acted for a major European company in the energy sector in its business activities in GCC countries. It has a strong litigation practice, notably acting in a $100m claim against the trustees of an international bank in the Royal Courts in the Channel Islands in a case involving various offshore jurisdictions.

Jamil Kanaan Law Office is a three-partner commercial and banking practice with clients including Fransabank SAL for whom the firm advises on banking and finance. The firm’s commercial team has acted for BAC SAL, Ciment de Sibline SAL and Mike Sport & Co SAL and has expertise in litigation and arbitration and has acted for Fransabank SAL in the domestic courts.

Levant Law Practice (LLP) is a full-service six-partner firm with other offices in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. In 2010, the firm acted on a number of major banking and finance transactions including the $100m financial restructuring of three major real estate and hospitality projects in Beirut. The firm’s real estate team advised a major Saudi group on its $600m development in Lebanon. Corporate clients include a leading transportation company and a chemical products trading group of companies. It also offers experience in telecoms and advised a leading Kuwaiti telecoms company on its acquisition of major companies in the MENA region. Notable clients include American Life Insurance Company and Shu’aa Capital.

The Levant Lawyers is currently undergoing reorganization and has lost key lawyers including Fady Jamaleddine and Mark William Thompson, who have set up Mena City Lawyers. The firm is still headed by Emile Kanaan, who has expertise in banking and finance.

Mena City Lawyers was established in 2010 by Fady Jamaleddine and Mark William Thompson who come from The Levant Lawyers, bringing with them a wealth of expertise in corporate law, corporate restructuring, banking and finance and dispute resolution. The seven-partner-firm’s core focus is banking and finance and it recently advised Azadea, the largest clothing retailer in the region, on its corporate structure; and acted on the acquisition of the Dubai hotel of a major international chain by an Emirates holding company. It also advised the major regional gas company Unigaz on its corporate restructuring.

Law Offices of Naoum Farah is a full-service law firm with corporate clients including major names such as LMH/Rotana Media Group of Companies, which it advised on restructuring and provided due diligence. The firm receives instructions from international law firms including Hogan Lovells International LLP, Linklaters LLP, Shearman & Sterling LLP, Hunton & Williams LLP. The firm has a robust litigation practice and recently represented a major media company in arbitration proceedings in Paris. Other major clients include Lebanon’s domestic TV channel LBC International TV.

Ramzi Joreige of Ramzi Joreige and Partners is known in the market for his banking and finance expertise and is a reputable litigator in Lebanon.

Raphaël & Associés has been a stalwart of the Lebanon legal market for decades but, after losing key lawyers in 2008, suffered a further blow with the death of senior partner Moussa Raphaël in 2009. The firm, now headed by Nada Abdelsater-Abusamra, retains a strong finance practice and undertakes litigation.

Since Rifaat Associates’ inception in 2008, the firm has gone from strength to strength and now has three other branches in the region. The firm is headed by Hassan and Danny Rifaat, formerly of Raphaël & Associés. The firm offers IP expertise as well as its litigation and arbitration practice.

Soumrani Lawyers & Legal Counsels offers legal expertise across the board including experience in cross-border transactions. The firm has advised on the establishment of several foreign banks in Lebanon.