Alain Farhad

Alain Farhad has acted as an arbitrator (Sole Arbitrator, Chairman or co-arbitrator) in over 80 arbitration proceedings under the rules of the ICC, DIAC, LCIA, and DIFC-LCIA as well as in ad hoc arbitration proceedings. Some of his pending and recent appointments include:

– Appointed by the ICC Court to act as the Chairman of the Arbitral Tribunal in an ICC arbitration seated in the DIFC arising in relation to the construction and operation of power generation equipment in Oman.

– Appointed by the ICC Court to act as the Chairman of the Arbitral Tribunal in an ICC arbitration seated in Dubai arising in relation to a construction contract governed by UAE law for the piling works for three multipurpose high-rise buildings in a landmark real estate development in the UAE.

– Appointed by the co-arbitrators to act as the Chairman of a DIFC-LCIA Arbitral Tribunal in arbitration proceedings seated in the DIFC and governed by UAE law arising in relation to a distribution agreement between a South Korean manufacturer of electronic equipment and its regional distributor.

– Appointed by the DIAC Executive Committee to chair a Dubai seated DIAC arbitration arising from a construction contract governed by UAE law relating to the construction of a multipurpose building in Dubai.

– Appointed by the ICC Court to act the sole arbitrator in an arbitration seated in Doha, Qatar and governed by the ICC Expedited Procedure Rules and Qatari law to decide a commercial dispute between a Qatari entity and a Spanish contractor.

– Appointed as a co-arbitrator by one of the Parties in an ICC Arbitration seated in Doha and governed by Qatari law in relation to the construction by a joint venture of an educational facility in the State of Qatar.

– Appointed by the co-arbitrators to act as the Chairman of the Arbitral Tribunal in a Dubai seated DIAC arbitration governed by UAE law arising in relation to the construction of a major hospital in the UAE.

– Appointed by the parties to an LCIA arbitration seated in London to act as the sole arbitrator in a commercial dispute governed by English law between a Bahraini entity and an Emirati entity arising in relation to the sale of commodities in the oil and gas industry.

– Appointed by the LCIA Court to act as the Chairman of the Arbitral Tribunal in an LCIA Arbitration seated in Doha and governed by the laws of Qatar in relation to a subcontract agreement for the supply and installation of irrigation infrastructure.

Experience as Counsel:

Alain Farhad has acted as counsel in numerous international arbitration proceedings under the Arbitration Rules of ICC, ICSID, LCIA, DIAC and DIFC-LCIA as well as in ad hoc arbitration proceedings. His main areas of expertise relate to oil & gas, construction, infrastructure projects, international investment, and mergers & acquisitions matters. Examples of his experience as counsel include:

– Representing a privately-owned UAE oil and gas producer in a commercial arbitration initiated by Egyptian entity over the sale of exploration and production rights in Egypt, in arbitration proceedings conducted under the CRCICA Rules and Egyptian law.

– Representing the Government of Croatia in its largest pending ICSID arbitration and defending its interests in a claim initiated by a Hungarian investor in relation to the control of a Croation energy production company.

– Representing an Emirati government entity in one of the largest DIAC arbitration matters to date governed by UAE law over a USD 2 billion real estate project development, against a privately-owned Emirati entity.

– Representing the Claimant in two DIFC-LCIA arbitrations governed by UAE law in relation to claims arising from the construction of a high-end residential property project on the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai.

– Representing a UAE registered holding company in ICC arbitration proceedings

governed by UAE law initiated by its Syrian joint venture partner in relation to the development of a distribution network in Ethiopia and Tanzania.

– Representing an Emirati government entity in an LCIA arbitration seated in Dubai and with Moroccan law governing in relation to the construction of a large multipurpose real estate development in Morocco.

– Member of the ICC Commission task force on “Addressing issues of corruption in international arbitration”.

– Former member of the ICC UAE Arbitration Commission Steering Committee.

– Member of the DIFC Courts Arbitration Committee.

– Lecturer on international law at the Sorbonne Abu Dhabi University (2015-
present).

– “Global Leader”, “a leader in the profession in the Middle East” and “an extremely intelligent and effective lawyer” (The Who’s Who of International Arbitration)

– “raises the standard of any dispute” (Chambers Global)

– “one of the rising stars of international arbitration”, “a standout individual who is a true expert in international arbitration. As a French qualified lawyer he has a
different and more international perspective than many English qualified partners in other firms.”, “exceptionally competent and knowledgeable on disputes concerning construction and wider commercial issues”. (The Legal 500)