Badri and Salim El Meouchi LLP > Beirut, Lebanon > Firm Profile
Badri and Salim El Meouchi LLP Offices
Tilal Beirut, Block A, 3rd Floor
Achrafieh, Beirut
PO Box 11-3577
Lebanon
Badri and Salim El Meouchi LLP > The Legal 500 Rankings
Lebanon > Commercial, corporate and M&A Tier 1
Badri and Salim El Meouchi LLP operates a distinguished corporate and commercial practice, handling high-profile transactions involving multinational corporate structures and frameworks. Chadia El Meouchi
handles corporate transactions involving PPPs, Carine Farran is versed in capital markets and M&A, while Walid Honein is highly knowledgeable of commercial law. Practice head(s):
Chadia El Meouchi; Carine Farran
Other key lawyers:
Salim El Meouchi; Walid Honein; Zouheir El Baba
Testimonials
‘Badri and Salim El Meouchi LLP have an excellent standard.’
‘Chadia El Meouchi is in a league of her own, Walid Honein has immense experience, and Carine Farran is extremely responsive. ’
Key clients
CDCI International
Debbaneh Saikali Group Holding SAL
Deutsche Bank
Secil SAL
Ciment de Sibline SAL
Emaar Properties
EIB
Banque Misr Liban
Audi Saradar Private Bank
Pinsent Masons LLP
Clifford Chance LLP
Holdal Group
White & Case LLP
Work highlights
- Assisted an international renewable energy independent power producer on its acquisition of the majority shareholding of a holding company.
- Assisted a large cement company wishing to develop solar farms on meeting its energy requirements.
- Assisted an international energy company on restructuring their operations in the Lebanese market.
Lebanon > Real estate and construction (including projects) Tier 1
Badri and Salim El Meouchi LLP regularly supports property development companies with a range of work, including project financing. Chadia El Meouchi co-leads the team with Carine Farran who acts as the head of the firm's transactional group. Practice head(s):
Chadia El Meouchi; Carine Farran
Other key lawyers:
Walid Honein; Zouheir El Baba
Key clients
CDCI International
Debbaneh Saikali Group Holding SAL
Deutsche Bank
Secil SAL
Ciment de Sibline SAL
Emaar Properties
EIB
Banque Misr Liban
Audi Saradar Private Bank
Pinsent Masons LLP
Clifford Chance LLP
Holdal Group
White & Case LLP
Work highlights
- Assisted an international property development company with pre-litigation advice surrounding one of the largest development projects in Lebanon.
- Assisted a large cement company, wishing to develop solar farms on meeting its energy requirements.
- Assisted an international renewable energy independent power producer on the acquisition of the majority shareholding of a holding company.
Lebanon > Banking, finance and capital markets Tier 2
Well-regarded in the capital markets sector, Badri and Salim El Meouchi LLP is highly knowledgeable of restructuring transactions. Chadia El Meouchi co-leads the group with Carine Farran, both of whom are highly proficient in conventional and Islamic banking law. Salim El Meouchi and Walid Honein are also key team members. Practice head(s):
Chadia El Meouchi; Carine Farran
Other key lawyers:
Salim El Meouchi; Walid Honein; Zouheir El Baba; Nazek El Hout
Key clients
CDCI International
Debbaneh Saikali Group Holding SAL
Deutsche Bank
Secil SAL
Ciment de Sibline SAL
Emaar Properties
EIB
Banque Misr Liban
Audi Saradar Private Bank
Pinsent Masons LLP
Clifford Chance LLP
Holdal Group
White & Case LLP
Work highlights
- Assisted a leading multilateral financial institution with the restructuring and settlement of a substantial portfolio of loans for an aggregate amount of more than USD 150M.
- Assisted a banking and financial institution on various local law issues surrounding the financing of up to USD 1BN involving a leading international sovereign wealth fund.
- Assisted an international engineering company on its entry into a bridge facility agreement, amounting to up to USD 1,500,000,000.
Lebanon > Dispute resolution Tier 2
Praised for its ‘deep knowledge of law and procedure’, Badri and Salim El Meouchi LLP is often engaged in commercial and banking litigation. Chadia El Meouchi and Carine Farran co-lead the team and they are particularly knowledgeable of banking and finance, while Khalil Sarkis is versed in civil law.
Practice head(s):
Chadia El Meouchi; Carine Farran
Other key lawyers:
Testimonials
‘The team have a good breadth of experience.’
‘Their knowledge of the law and procedure in Lebanon and the Middle East is first class.’
‘An exceptional team with deep knowledge of law and procedure.’
‘Chadia El Meouchi is our go-to partner for disputes in the jurisdiction. Her insights are always critical for the success of any case.’
Key clients
CDCI International
Debbaneh Saikali Group Holding SAL
Deutsche Bank
Secil SAL
Ciment de Sibline SAL
Emaar Properties
EIB
Banque Misr Liban
Audi Saradar Private Bank
Pinsent Masons LLP
Clifford Chance LLP
Holdal Group
White & Case LLP
Work highlights
- Assisted an international property development company with pre-litigation advisory work surrounding a dispute within one of the largest development projects in Lebanon.
- Represented an international multimedia company on its multimillion-dollar dispute with its exclusive and non-exclusive commercial distributors in Lebanon.
- Assisted a renowned bank in debt restructuring and compliance,
Lebanon > Tax Tier 2
Badri and Salim El Meouchi LLP is well-versed in assisting clients with the tax aspects of corporate transactions, and is jointly led by Chadia El Meouchi and Carine Farran, both of whom have vast expertise in handling transactional matters. Practice head(s):
Chadia El Meouchi; Carine Farran
Other key lawyers:
Key clients
CDCI International
Debbaneh Saikali Group Holding SAL
Deutsche Bank
Secil SAL
Ciment de Sibline SAL
Emaar Properties
EIB
Banque Misr Liban
Audi Saradar Private Bank
Pinsent Masons LLP
Clifford Chance LLP
Holdal Group
White & Case LLP
Work highlights
- Assisted a major Lebanese cement company on its restructuring process.
- Assisted a high-net-worth family in restructuring the ownership of their real estate assets.
- Assisted an international property development company with pre-litigation advisory work surrounding one of the largest development projects in Lebanon.
Qatar > Banking, finance and capital markets
The team at Badri and Salim El Meouchi LLP has expertise handling high-value financial matters, including shareholder transactions in the financial sector, Islamic finance compliance and the registration of foreign banks in Qatar, along with advising clients on complying with local finance-sector regulations. Chadia El Meouchi and Carine Farran oversee a range of high-value transactions in the financial sector. Practice head(s):
Chadia El Meouchi; Carine Farran
Key clients
Lesha Bank LLC Public / QFB
Al Ahli Bank
PriceWaterhouseCoopers
Clifford Chance LLP
European Investment Bank (EIB)
Construction Development Company LLC
Deutsche Bank
Matelec group
Pinsent Masons LLP
White & Case LLP
Lesha Bank LLC Public / QFB
Al Ahli Bank
PriceWaterhouseCoopers
Work highlights
- Assisted a leading Qatari bank with the financing, through a term loan of 727 Million QAR, of the construction and development of a 128 key luxury resort.
- Assisting, as local counsel, a banking and financial institution in various local law issues in relation to a financing of up to USD 1B involving a leading international sovereign wealth fund.
- Representing the lenders and secured parties as to matters of the laws of the State of Qatar in the context of a complex transaction involving the incurrence of an 80 Million Euro Term Loans.
Qatar > Commercial, corporate and M&A
Noted as 'one of the most experienced partners on the ground', Chadia El Meouchi co-heads the 'extremely knowledgeable' corporate, transactional, finance and international advisory team at Badri and Salim El Meouchi LLP alongside Carine Farran, with both joint practice heads bringing significant expertise in cross-border transactional matters. The department specialises in complex deals as well as commercial litigation involving Islamic jurisprudence and corporate restructurings. In addition, Walid Honein has over 30 years of experience in transactional mandates, while Salim El Meouchi brings over 50 years of experience in contentious corporate matters. Practice head(s):
Chadia El Meouchi; Carine Farran
Other key lawyers:
Testimonials
‘The team is extremely knowledgeable and always anticipates our needs.’
‘Chadia El Meouchi is one of the most experienced partners on the ground.’
Key clients
CDCI International
Matelec Group
Deutsche Bank
Lesha Bank LLC Public / QFB
Al Ahli Bank
PriceWaterhouseCoopers
European Investment Bank (EIB)
Pinsent Masons LLP
Clifford Chance LLP
White & Case LLP
Work highlights
- Assisted a client, an international holding, with a multimillion-dollar sale of shares implicating two foreign-owned entities.
- Assisted a regional client in the GCC in the context of its acquisition of a Qatari entity operating schools in the state of Qatar.
- Assisted a leading international bank in its entry into an Islamic repurchase agreement of around $140m with a local Qatari bank from a Qatari and Sharia law perspectives.
Qatar > Projects, real estate and construction
The construction, real estate and disputes team at Badri and Salim El Meouchi LLP offers services in a number of international and domestic matters, and advises clients from the real estate, manufacturing, renewable energy and hospitality industries. Chadia El Mouchi co-heads the team with Carine Farran, with the former's commercial and transactional expertise complementing the latter's experience in cross-border transactions and project financing.Practice head(s):
Chadia El Meouchi; Carine Farran
Key clients
CDCI International
Matelec Group
Deutsche Bank
Lesha Bank LLC Public / QFB
Al Ahli Bank
PriceWaterhouseCoopers
European Investment Bank (EIB)
Pinsent Masons LLP
Clifford Chance LLP
White & Case LLP
Work highlights
- Assisted an international hotel and resort brand in structuring a branded project at a major development site in Doha comprising private residences and serviced apartments.
- Assisted an international transformer manufacturer regarding a project for the study and development of comprehensive renewable energy strategy, the first of its kind in Qatar, which will be the basis of deployment of renewable energy in Qatar.
- Advised, from a legal, contractual and regulatory Qatari law perspective, an Asian energy company on the establishment of an asset-light joint venture in Qatar with a Qatari company, owner of a polysilicon production plant, and an English company.
Badri and Salim El Meouchi LLP > Firm Profile
The firm: Badri and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm is a regional law firm with a strong reputation for providing outstanding, innovative legal advice that bridges the gap between Middle Eastern legal systems and their western counterparts.
Badri and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm was founded over 130 years ago in Beirut.
The firm’s legal team, composed of 30 lawyers, works on transactions throughout the Middle East and North Africa from the firm’s Beirut and Doha bases. The firm is currently exploring the opening of other offices in the Middle East.
Badri and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm is most active in corporate, commercial, banking, finance (both conventional and Islamic), real estate, industrial, litigation, alternative dispute resolution and arbitration, IP, telecom, technology and oil and gas law.
Badri and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm strongly believes in the importance of community, and devotes thousands of hours a year to charitable and not-for-profit initiatives in the fields of human rights, education, special needs, the fight against poverty, and the promotion of leadership and entrepreneurship in the Middle East.
Badri and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm also works hand-in-hand with governments, regulatory bodies and NGOs to improve and modernise the legal frameworks in the Middle East.
With its diverse range of experts, local knowledge and in-depth understanding of business and the law, Badri and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm aims to provide its client with a full range of services to support their business expansion in the MENA region.
Areas of practice: Badri and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm’s attorneys can assist clients in the following fields:
Corporate/commercial: advising on corporate structures and agreements for all parts of the life-cycle of a company, from startup, family, SME, mergers and acquisitions through to funding and IPO.
Banking/finance/insurance (conventional and Islamic): advising on a wide range of financial structures and products. The firm’s clients in this field include banks, financial institutions and investors (both institutional and HNWI).
Litigation: active in this field since its foundation, the firm is known for seeking and obtaining the best possible outcome for its clients.
Arbitration/ADR: the firm was an early pioneer in arbitration and ADR in the Middle East, and frequently acts as counsel or arbitrator in major regional and international arbitrations, both institutional and ad hoc. The firm is renowned for its pre-conflict work in major disputes.
Taxation: advising on tax-efficient structuring, including cross-border structures in conjunction with advisors in the requisite jurisdictions.
Funds: structuring and setting up funds in various sectors.
Real estate: advising on all aspects of real estate development, from purchase, construction, operation and disposal.
Industrial: advising on industrial operations, including ownership, management and licensing.
Healthcare: advising and representing pharmaceuticals, hospitals and foundations in healthcare.
Hospitality/F&B: advising hotel operators and managers, franchisors and franchisees, on all legal aspects of their business and transactions.
FMCG: advising clients on manufacturing, distribution and brand protection in the MENA, including combatting counterfeiting and enforcement.
IP: advising on and registering trade marks and patents throughout the Middle East.
IT/technology: advising on legal issues faced by technology companies and web and mobile businesses, including an expertise in startup financing.
Telecommunications: advising operators and equipment manufacturers on telecommunications issues in the Middle East.
Oil and gas: advising oil and gas firms for both upstream and downstream.
Main Contacts
| Department | Name | Telephone | |
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| Corporate/commercial | |||
| Banking, finance and insurance | |||
| Islamic finance | |||
| Real estate | |||
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| Litigation | |||
| Arbitration and ADR | |||
| Taxation | |||
| Healthcare | |||
| Industrial | |||
| Oil and gas | |||
| Environmental | |||
| Technology/IP | |||
| Funds and financing | |||
| Estate planning | |||
| FMCG | |||
| Hospitality/F&B | |||
| AI and robotics | |||
| Pre-conflict work |
Lawyer Profiles
| Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
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Mrs Grace Alam | Grace Alam is an Associate at Badri and Salim El Meouchi Law… | View Profile |
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Ms Chadia El Meouchi | Managing Partner at Badri and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm | View Profile |
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Me Salim El Meouchi | Chairman and Senior Partner at Badri and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm | View Profile |
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Ms Samia El Meouchi | Samia El Meouchi is a Partner at Badri and Salim El Meouchi… | View Profile |
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Carine Farran | Carine Farran is a Partner (Deputy Managing Partner) and the head of… | View Profile |
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Elie Feghali | Elie El Feghali is a Partner and head of the Litigation Practice… | View Profile |
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Mr Walid Honein | Walid Honein is a Partner at Badri and Salim El Meouchi Law… | View Profile |
Staff Figures
Number of lawyers : 30 at this office : 27Languages
Arabic English French German Russian SpanishMemberships
InterlegesOther
Other offices : DohaDiversity/Community
Diversity
Diversity, as well as being a cornerstone of our values, also promotes creativity and perspective; it is therefore vital to a vibrant, evolving law firm.
In a region that sometimes falls short of celebrating difference, we have always valued the right of our team members to choose how they will live their lives.
In recruiting, we have a policy of non-discrimination at any level – be it race, religion, sexual orientation or gender.
We also do our best to foster a work environment that is dynamic and flexible, to allow us to serve our clients from all over the world while being able to dedicate time to family.
Women make up 64% of our team; more importantly, 50% of our partners are women, demonstrating that a career at Badri and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm is truly and equally open to all.
Pro Bono
As a leading and respected law firm founded over 130 years ago, Badri and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm strongly believes in its unique position to catalyse change. As a result, we have built up a very strong pro bono practice, both to provide legal assistance to those who cannot afford it, and to lead to change in the region, primarily through education and the environment.
We are honoured that our effort has been recognised; our firm has most recently been awarded the Middle East Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year award by the International Financial Law Review (we also won this prize in 2015).
Badri and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm provides support to various human rights and protection organisations, such as Human Rights Watch (our managing partner sits on the Middle East Committee of HRW), Himaya (protection of abused women and children), Bassma and similar organisations.
We also support educational initiatives such as Teach for Lebanon, Days of Science, Acsauvel (a school for children with disabilities), SOS Village and many others.
We believe that a clean environment is a fundamental right that we cannot deny future generations: beyond our own efforts to reduce our carbon footprint as a firm (paperless office, LED lighting, no plastic cups, extensive recycling program which includes our teams home recycling), we support numerous environmental initiatives in Lebanon. Most recently, our firm funded and organised a tree-planting day with Jouzour Loubnan, and every member of our team was involved in planting new trees in the mountains above Jezzine, in South Lebanon.
Finally, our award winning pro bono program includes an allocation of pro bono hours available to each team member in the firm, so that we can reach a diversity of causes that matter to our team. Beyond external causes, this also includes providing pro bono legal services to our own team members when they need it.
The legal system is a fundamental tool in the protection and promotion of human rights, environmental protection and social justice; we consider it a fundamental part of our mission to use our legal skills to be an active part of this process.
- Commercial, corporate and M&A
- Real estate and construction (including projects)
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Banking, finance and capital markets
- Dispute resolution
- Tax