Obeid Law Firm

This family firm is a focal point for international arbitration in Lebanon

Nayla Comair-Obeid founded this family firm in Beirut in 1987. Both firm and founder have since emerged as significant factors in the development of arbitration in Lebanon and the Middle East.

A professor of alternative dispute resolution at the Lebanese Judicial Institute and visiting professor at Pantheon-Assas University, Paris, Comair-Obeid has trained other lawyers and judges across the Middle East on the topics of arbitration and the role of the judiciary in supporting the process. She helped initiate what she describes as “an arbitration awareness campaign” across Lebanon and introduced, for the first time, international arbitration courses at undergraduate level at Lebanese universities. She has also played an active part on the wider international arbitration circuit, including serving as a vice chair of the IBA arbitration committee.

It was no surprise, then, that when Lebanon began to amend its arbitration law, the firm was retained to prepare the first draft (the final law was published in 2002), or that the International Bar Association approached the firm to write the “IBA Arbitration Guide” for Lebanon and to assist in drafting and translating an Arabic version of the IBA guidelines for drafting international arbitration clauses.

Clients include companies and states usually from within the region. It has represented the government of Lebanon in two of the largest international arbitrations to date. Often the work centres on construction disputes. That said, it has represented foreign clients – including, recently, a major US multinational in arbitration-related court proceedings before the Lebanese courts – and has acted as expert in Lebanese law for a Canadian energy company in proceedings before the English High Court.

The firm is active in the Middle East and North and West Africa, and has been involved in disputes in the Europe, the Caribbean and North America that have a Middle Eastern connection. For example, the firm advised a Canadian energy company on matters of Lebanese law before the English High Court and in a Geneva-seated arbitration. It has also advised a US multinational in a Lebanese court action in support of a multimillion-dollar LCIA arbitration seated in London.

Nayla Comair-Obeid also sits as arbitrator and last year was redesignated by Lebanon to ICSID’s panel of arbitrators.

Recent events

The arrival of Ziad Obeid (Nayla’s son), who joined as a partner in 2011, has boosted the firm’s capability in the field of construction disputes. Ziad trained initially as a civil engineer and has worked for a major international construction company in France as well as Canadian engineering consulting firm Tecsult.

After qualifying in law, he practised at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Paris and Dubai, where he worked on international construction and energy arbitrations. He has also worked on investment cases, including those brought under BITs.

Another new joiner, Zeina Obeid, arrived from White and Case in Paris. She is completing her PhD at Pantheon-Assas University on the topic of annulment of arbitral awards in the Middle East.

The firm also hired Canadian-qualified associate Louis-Philippe Lapicerella last year.

One of Comair-Obeid’s cases as sole arbitrator received attention in 2012 when a UAE family applied to the High Court in London to overturn a US$23 million ICC award she had issued in favour of Bahraini construction company Terna. The court’s decision to uphold the award prompted the GAR headline, “She who must be Obeid”.