Derains & Gharavi International

• Derains & Gharavi distinguishes itself by devoting equal time to counsel and arbitrator mandates which enables it to benefit from both perspectives and thus more efficiently undertake its mandates.
• The Firm’s comprehensive perspective and thus efficiency is similarly reinforced by the diverse and balanced nature of its mandates in terms of geography, institutions, nationality, clientele, industries, and investor-State nominations as well as its leadership in all segments of arbitration.
• Building on this experience and consistent with its avant-garde approach, the Firm places great value in proposing second opinions and preparing industry players via mock-arbitrations but also encouraging alternative means of dispute resolution such as mediation/conciliation by launching the first standing platform of designated mediators in investment and commercial disputes operating under its own stand-alone rules now that there are precedents and both States and the business community are experienced and more inclined to explore settlements at the outset or during the arbitration.
• The Firm prioritizes efficiency and tailored approaches to remuneration in counsel mandates by opting for an hourly billing policy driven only by value for the client and offering alternative billing arrangements comprising a lump sum and a result-based fee driven by equilibrium and the principle of alignment of interests.

• The Firm adopts a tailored and integrated perspective for the constitution of teams composed of talented and diverse attorneys with different levels of experience and skills who are comprehensively involved in all case components under the leadership of one or more partners fully devoted and hands-on as it is the same that allows efficiency, complementarity, innovation, training and collegiality.
• The Firm’s lawyers are notably fluent in French, English, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Farsi, Romanian, and Russian.
• The Firm’s lawyers are trained in civil, common and/or Islamic law and qualified in a variety of jurisdictions including France, the US, England & Wales, the Dominican Republic, Iran, Turkey, and Lebanon.
• The Firm has built a working relationship with independent correspondents in different jurisdictions in Western and Eastern Europe, Asia and North, Central and South America on which it calls on an ad-hoc basis to ensure tailored/merits-based inputs in counsel cases depending on the specificities that may arise under the laws of these jurisdictions and whether judicial support is required.

The Firm’s expertise is multi-fold and covers:

• Counsel, arbitrator, expert, mediator and conciliator mandates
• Commercial, investment, public international law, and sports’ arbitration
• Arbitration-related litigation namely pre- (e.g., court interim measures or appointment of arbitrators), para- (e.g., challenges to nominations and/or arbitration clauses), and post- arbitration (e.g., annulment, enforcement and seizures) litigation
• Support services such as mock hearings and second opinions (on pre-arbitration advice or in ongoing arbitrations), as well at training sessions to in-house counsels and/or State officials
• Negotiation and redaction of bilateral and multilateral investment treaties, as well as laws and rules on arbitration

Learn more about our expertise: Commercial Arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Public International Law, Sports, Judiciary, Support Services

The Firm has since its inceptions acted in different capacities in over 500 arbitrations instructed as counsel and/or its members appointed as President, sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator, mediator/conciliator and expert by a variety of parties in France, Europe, Asia and North, Central and South America including:

• International organizations
• States and State-owned entities
• National and international corporate groups
• Family-owned companies
• High net individuals
• Sport federations
• Athletes
• Main arbitration institutions

The Firm’s and its members’ track-record have contributed to the development of the law and practice in public international law, investment, commercial and sports arbitrations via the following:

• Landmark awards issued by the Firm’s founding partners
• The creation of a “sui generis” platform for mediation within the firm, where the funding partners act as permanent mediators under the rules adopted by the firm on January 1, 2025 (see dg-mediation.com), for the amicable resolution of all commercial, investment, or sport disputes
• Precedent-setting cases such as DLP v. Yemen (ICSID Case No. ARB/05/17) (the first inter-Mena BIT arbitration, and moreover the first arbitration worldwide where moral damages were awarded); Lemire v. Ukraine (ICSID Case No. ARB/06/18) (where a State was for the first time held liable for an FET violation in relation to public tenders); Pantechnicki v. Albania (ICSID Case No. ARB/07/21) (where the case was dismissed for the first time pursuant to a fork-in-the-road BIT provision); and Michael Dagher v. Republic of Sudan (ICSID Case No. ARB/14/2) (where jurisdiction was dismissed on the basis of one BIT by refusing for the first time to give international effect to a nationality)
• Innovative solutions such as resorting for the first time to French courts as “Juge d’appui” to constitute a tribunal under the OIC Treaty in Trasta v. Libya (PCA Case No. 2020-09)
• Effective and creative enforcement/seizures worldwide including of State assets and international freezing orders
• Functions on and contributions to Courts and/or Boards of major institutions such as the ICC, LCIA, and ISTAC
• The publication of over 100 articles and books, as well as teaching and speaking engagements at conferences worldwide