Professional notice
Partner Mohamed Abdel Wahab remains in demand as expert witness and arbitrator as well as counsel
| People in Who’s Who Legal | 1 |
|---|---|
| People in Future Leaders | 1 |
| Pending cases as counsel | 14 |
| Value of pending counsel work | US$3.6 billion |
| Treaty cases as counsel | 2 |
| Current arbitrator appointments | 21 (10 as chair or sole) |
| Lawyers sitting as arbitrator | 2 |
Founded in 2009, this Cairo-based firm works on international arbitrations relating to oil and gas, telecoms, finance, banking and IT.
As an Egyptian firm, many of its cases are at the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA), but it also has SIAC, ICC and ad hoc cases on its books and has done work at ICSID.
Founding partner Mohamed Abdel Wahab leads the arbitration practice as well as the firm’s project management team. He is a vice president of the ICC Court, a member of the CIETAC panel of arbitrators and a vocal proponent of the use of arbitration for resolving Islamic finance disputes. He is also a member of the IBA’s core advisory group that is considering reforms to investor-state arbitration.
Abdel Wahab is a well-regarded arbitrator as well as counsel and is ranked as a “thought leader” in arbitration by Who’s Who Legal. He has received a prize for his advocacy from the Swiss Arbitration Association.
The arbitration team also includes partners Youssef Al Saman and Ingy Badawy and counsel Lojayne Shaheen and Omar Abdel Aziz.
Who uses it?
Clients include Cemex, Bechtel, Bawabet Al Kuwait Holding Company, Saipem, Shelf Drilling, Crédit Agricole, Dragon Oil, Methanex, Pfizer, Philip Morris International, Orange, Total, Egyptian General Petroleum Company, Ford, Honda, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Goldman Sachs and APM Terminals.
The firm has also represented Bahrain and Canada.
Track record
In 2017, Zulficar helped mobile operator Orange Egypt (formerly Mobinil) settle an eight-year Cairo centre arbitration with an Egyptian state-owned telecoms company over interconnection fees. At the time of settlement, the tribunal had already upheld Orange’s claim in principle and dismissed a US$1.8 billion counterclaim by the state entity.
The year before, as co-counsel with Clifford Chance, the firm helped Bawabet Al Kuwait Holding Company – part of the business empire of Kuwait’s wealthy Al-Kharafi family – settle a US$400 million ICSID claim against Egypt. The case concerned gas pricing and tax measures that affected a petrochemicals investment.
The firm has had successes for Egyptian General Petroleum Company (EGPC). In one London-seated case, the client got the firm involved only 18 months into the proceedings, having failed to retain external counsel before that point. Zulficar nevertheless turned things around and won an award with costs in EGPC’s favour.
In the Egyptian courts, the firm helped the production company of Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef overturn a US$14 million award in favour of Cairo TV network CBC.
Recent events
Zulficar & Partners has advised Egyptian state-owned Arab Contractors and its Greek joint venture partner Archirodon in their long-running efforts to collect on a US$138 million ICC award against Kuwaiti consortium DIPCO issued more than a decade ago. The clients had been subcontracted for work on an Egyptian port terminal before the project was cancelled.
The dispute was finally settled in 2022 when the port authority agreed to make a US$260 million payout to resolve its dispute with DIPCO, a portion of which will go to the subcontractors.
The firm also reports winning another case for Arab Contractors at the CRCICA against two local partners.
Along with Clyde & Co, the firm represented Bahraini hotel investor Nile Douma Holding Co WLL in a treaty claim against Egypt. An award was issued in late 2021 dismissing the claim.
Abdel Wahab is chairing an ICSID tribunal hearing Dutch-registered Shell Petroleum’s treaty claim against Nigeria.
Our solid and world-class arbitration practice is founded on a combination of knowledge, expertise, creativity, and strategic dispute management. We pride ourselves as market pioneers in the world of arbitration, where we regularly prosecute cases under major institutional rules and in ad-hoc proceedings.
The Firm’s Arbitration Group is headed by Prof. Dr. Mohamed S. Abdel Wahab who, in addition to being a Founding Partner of the Firm, is recognized as a world-class leading arbitration practitioner, who regularly features in international arbitration proceedings as arbitrator, counsel or expert. The Arbitration Group comprises more than 23 highly talented lawyers specializing in prosecuting investment and commercial arbitral proceedings, and is continuously expanding at an accelerated pace to cater for an increasing caseload, where the Firm is continuously instructed to act on high profile international commercial and investment cases with an exceptional track record of successful outcomes.
The Arbitration Group is available and able to conduct international arbitral proceedings in diverse jurisdictions, under various laws, and in different languages to the highest standards of efficiency and professionalism, and is regularly instructed to represent corporations, investors and governmental entities from across the globe in arbitral proceedings under the CRCICA, ICC, ICSID, JCAA, LCIA, SIAC, and in the context of ad-hoc proceedings governed by the UNCITRAL rules and/or diverse national laws.
The Arbitration Group is recognized for successfully prosecuting high value and complex arbitral proceedings. Its expertise spans diverse business and investment sectors, and cases governed by Egyptian, English, French, Jordanian, Kuwaiti, Moroccan, Omani, Qatari, Saudi, Spanish, Swedish, Swiss, Syrian, Italian and United Arab Emirates law(s), as well as international law and the general principles of law.
The Firm has already established itself as a market leader and precedent maker, where it is regularly ranked as the top tier practice in notable directories including: Chambers & Partners, Global Arbitration Review (GAR), Legal 500, and IFLR.
In 2017, the Firm was awarded the Global Arbitration Review “Mediterranean or North African international arbitration practice that impressed in the past year” at the GAR Ceremony held on 29 March 2017.
In 2018, Mrs. Mona Zulficar, Founding Partner & Chair Person of the Firm, was recognized by IFLR Middle East Awards 2018 for the “Life Time Achievement Award”, for her exceptional and tireless efforts of influential and innovative work in the corporate finance and regulatory practices, as well as impressive achievements in other fields. This award marks Zulficar & Partners as not only the first Egyptian to receive the award, but also the first woman globally. In 2021, she was the inaugural recipient of the “Egypt Lifetime Achievement Award” in the Chambers & Partners Middle East Awards 2021 ceremony on April 7th, celebrating her career and contributions to the Egyptian legal profession.
In 2020, Prof. Dr. Abdel Wahab was elected as Chair of the International Expert Advisory Committee of the Permanent Forum on China Construction Law during its latest congress in Beijing.
Prof. Dr. Abdel Wahab is listed in the top 64 world leading practitioners in Who’s Who Global Elite Thought Leaders: International Arbitration (2021); featured in the 2021 Africa’s 30 Arbitration Powerlist as a recognized leader in the African disputes market; and selected among the 500 honorees of the 2021 Lawdragon Global Litigation 500 Lawyers Guide. Features in AFRICA’s 100 list of leading African arbitration practitioners by I-ARB (Africa), selected by Africa Arbitration as the African Personality of the Month (June 2018), and by the LACIAC (Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre) as the Arbitration Personality in May 2019. Received the LAW Magazine 2017 Best Legal Practitioner Award (Egypt), the 2018 ASA International Arbitration Advocacy Prize (Switzerland), the 2019 AYA Hall-of-Fame African Arbitrator Award (UK) and the 2020 and 2021 Client Choice International Award (UK).
In 2020, the Firm was awarded the LAW MAGAZINE award for the “Best Law Firm in the MENA Region” at its ceremony held on 25 September 2021 at Greater Cairo public Library.
In 2021, the Firm was awarded the “Law Firm of the Year, Egypt” by WWL 2021 Country and State Awards.
Find out more, please visit www.zulficarpartners.com