Libya: A New Frontier

Clyde & Co Partner Adrian Creed discusses the challenges and opportunities for the first international law firm to enter Libya since Gadafi's fall from power.

One of deposed Libyan dictator Muammar Gadafi's sons once audaciously said of Libya's oil and economic activities that "what is below the ground belongs to my father; what is on the ground belongs to us." This may be an exaggeration, but it is not far from the truth. Consequently, Libya is now emerging 40 years later with very limited experience of how things work in the international marketplace.

Indeed, outsiders may find it difficult to grasp how little the average Libyan understands about the world of commerce. During the Gadafi years, the private sector was practically nonexistent and many of the business laws that prevailed were designed to crush the private sector rather than to encourage it. Those who worked in the private sector were generally distrusted; most Libyans aspired to cushy jobs in the