Region: United Arab Emirates

Laurent Aynès has been disqualified as president of the arbitral tribunal hearing a US$32 billion case over a gas supply contract brought by Crescent Petroleum against Iran's national oil company.

27 March 2023

Documents leaked to GAR shed light on efforts by Iran's national oil company to disqualify the tribunal president in a US$32 billion arbitration with Crescent Petroleum, a challenge that is supposed to be decided this week.

14 March 2023

Tim Taylor KC, former head of international arbitration in Dubai at King & Wood Mallesons, has joined the partnership at US disputes boutique Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss – but will continue to be based in the Middle East.

08 March 2023

The final hearing of a US$32 billion case against Iran's state-run oil company has been postponed less two than two weeks before it was due to begin, after Wolfgang Peter and his team at Peter & Kim resigned over an alleged due process failure and co-counsel from Eversheds Sutherland followed suit.

06 March 2023

On the heels of an unsuccessful challenge to the whole tribunal, the National Iranian Oil Company is seeking to disqualify Laurent Aynès from continuing as tribunal president in a US$32 billion dispute with the UAE’s Crescent Petroleum because of his alleged ongoing failure to disclose his and his firm’s involvement in similar proceedings.

03 March 2023

The Dubai International Arbitration Centre has unveiled its new arbitration court, made up mostly of foreign practitioners, as well as hiring a new registrar.

28 February 2023

A US court has enforced LCIA awards worth over US$486 million won by a subsidiary of the UAE’s DP World against the east African state of Djibouti over a strategic port facility on the Red Sea.

16 February 2023

UPDATED: A court in the Dubai International Financial Centre has rejected an Iraqi state oil company’s challenge to a US$40 million ICC award despite the arbitrators’ finding that the claimant engaged in “unethical and illicit” conduct by making payments to a member of parliament.

13 February 2023

The National Iranian Oil Company has failed to disqualify three arbitrators from a US$32 billion case over their refusal to reschedule a hearing despite the unavailability of the state entity’s senior lead counsel.

31 January 2023

Iran’s national oil company has failed to halt enforcement of a US$2.4 billion award in Rotterdam despite its last-minute entreaty to Dutch prosecutors to investigate the Emirati award creditor for alleged corruption.

13 December 2022