Derains & Gharavi has leading and extensive experience in commercial arbitration under all major arbitration rules.

The founding partners, Yves Derains and Hamid Gharavi, have acted as counsel and arbitrator in over 500 commercial arbitrations, including institutional arbitrations under the rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), the Honk Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Institute (SCC), the Tehran Regional Arbitration Centre (TRAC), the Istanbul Arbitration Centre (ISTAC), the Abu Dhabi International Arbitration Centre (ADIAC), the Milan Chamber of Arbitration (CAM), the International Centre for Dispute Resolution of the American Arbitration Association (ICDR/AAA), the Inter-American Commercial Arbitration Commission(IACAC), the Netherlands Arbitration Institute (NAI), as well as Swiss Arbitration Centre (SAC) and ad-hoc arbitrations under the UNCITRAL Rules and others. 

These commercial arbitrations have been seated in jurisdictions and governed by the laws of over 50 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Asia, North and South America, in connection with disputes arising out of all regions and involving all industries.

Yves Derains and Hamid Gharavi have a comprehensive understanding of the rules and practice of leading institutions acquired via their extensive mandates as counsel and arbitrator but also via their institutional functions. Yves Derains is a former secretary general of the ICC Court and the honorary Chairman of the ICC Institute of World Business Law, which he chaired between 2010 and 2020. He is a member of the International Supervisory Board of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Arbitration Centre. He was also Vice-president of the Center for Arbitration and Mediation of the Chamber of Commerce Brazil-Canada (CAM-CCBC) between 2015 and 2017. Hamid Gharavi has been appointed since June 2024 as a member of the ICC Court, as a member of ISTAC’s International Board of Arbitration (since 2015), as the President of the International Board of the TRAC (since 2016), and was a Court member of the LCIA (2008-2012).

The firm and its partners are ranked among leading counsels and its founding partners are also recognized as worldwide leading arbitrators which is material in the selection process of the arbitrators and understanding of the perspectives/expectations of the tribunal and thus putting the case more efficiently.

The following are examples of the Firm’s counsel mandates (For full list see the CVs of Yves Derains and Hamid Gharavi) :

• Successfully represented as lead counsel a leading international construction French company in an ICC arbitration seated in Panama under Panamanian law in relation to the construction of a bridge over the Panama Canal (ICC Case No. 20289/ASM/JPA);
• Successfully represented as lead counsel Qatari company Saad Buzwair in an ICC arbitration seated in Paris under German law against Volkswagen and Audi regarding the termination of several distribution agreements (ICC Case No. 24069/FS);
• Successfully represented as lead counsel Qatar as respondent in an ICC arbitration seated in Paris under Qatari law against a leading Korean engineering company arising out of the design and construction of a solid waste management facility leading to the dismissal of a large portion of the claims (ICC Case No. 20997/ZF/AYZ);
• Successfully represented as a lead counsel a government body of an Africa State in an ICC arbitration seated in Paris under Sudanese law against a Croatian company, arising out of the performance of a contract regarding development of water and irrigation projects in Sudan. (ICC Case No. 23078/MHM);
• Successfully represented as lead counsel a leading French telecommunication company in an ICC arbitration seated in Paris under English law against an Emirati company relating to a contract for the supply of State fiber optic network (ICC Case No. 25591/AYZ);
• Successfully represented as lead counsel an Omani company in two separate ICC arbitrations seated in Muscat under Omani law against a Middle Eastern State in a dispute arising out of a road construction contract and an airport expansion contract (ICC Cases Nos. 20441 and 20442/MCP/DDA);
• Successfully represented as lead counsel an international organization in multiple ad-hoc arbitrations under UNCITRAL rules in relation to construction projects in African States (PCA Case No. AA619);
• Successfully represented as lead counsel a Lebanese high net worth individuals in separate ICC arbitrations in Paris under Lebanese law against another high-net-worth Lebanese individual, arising out of an agreement for the restructuring of family assets (ICC Cases Nos.°21312/ZF/AYZ and 25307/AYZ);
• Successfully represented and currently representing as lead counsel both manufacturers and purchasers of MDF plants in a number of institutional arbitrations under the laws of various jurisdictions seated in Paris, Zurich and Amsterdam arising out of the construction of MDF plants in Europe and the Middle East (ICC Cases Nos. 15170/FM/GZ/MHM/EMT and 20006/EMT; SAC Cases Nos. 300541-2021 and 300540/300542-2021; NAI Case No. 5190);
• Currently representing as lead counsel a large Emirati energy company Trasta Energy Limited in various Paris-seated ICC arbitrations under English and Libyan law relating to a joint venture with the Libyan National Oil Corporation for the ownership and operation of a refinery in Libya (ICC Cases Nos. 24408/AYZ; 26824/AYZ/ELU (c-26285/AYZ)); and
• Currently representing as a lead counsel a leading European telecommunication company in an ICC arbitration seated in Paris under French law against western and eastern European companies relating to supply agreements (ICC Case No. 27977/HBH).

The following are examples of the arbitrator mandates of the partners (For full list see the CVs of Yves Derains and Hamid Gharavi):

• President of the Tribunal in an ad hoc arbitration under Swiss law and Equity between Swiss individuals in relation to the alleged breach of a partnership agreement of a leading Swiss bank [Hamid Gharavi];
• President of the Tribunal in an IACAC arbitration under Peruvian law between a private international group and a Peruvian State agency in relation to the exploitation of hydrocarbons (IACAC case n° 011500031805 ) [Yves Derains];
• President of the Tribunal in a SIAC arbitration under Georgian law between two Eastern European companies in relation to the alleged wrongful termination of a construction contract in relation to a water supply and sewer project in Georgia (SIAC Case No. ARB244/22/VKH) [Hamid Gharavi];
• President of the Tribunal in an ICC arbitration between a Romanian company and Russian and Turkish construction companies in the natural gas sector (ICC Case No. 25272/AYZ) [Yves Derains];
• President of the Tribunal in an LCIA arbitration between two Mauritius and Cayman claimant companies, and six respondents of Indian and other nationalities, in relation to the breach of a shareholder and subscription agreement in a major Indian group (LCIA Case No. 183927) [Hamid Gharavi];
• President of the Tribunal in an ICC arbitration between a Moroccan company operating in the manufacturing and production sector and a Tunisian company specializing in the supply of hygienic products in relation to a dispute regarding the breach of a distribution contract (ICC Case No. 22647/DDA) [Yves Derains];
• President of the Tribunal in an ICC arbitration between a German company and a Malaysian Company related to the performance of a contract for the supply, manufacture and construction of a cart transport system for an airport located in Qatar (ICC Case No. 22144/ZF/AYZ) [Hamid Gharavi];
• President of the Tribunal in an ICC arbitration between three Mexican companies as claimants, and two Mexican companies and one Italian company as respondents, in relation to the construction and operation of solar power plants (ICC Case No. 25587/JPA) [Yves Derains];
• President of the Tribunal in a DIAC arbitration under UAE law between two Emirati companies in relation to a major construction project in Dubailand (DIAC Case No. 65/2008) [Hamid Gharavi];
• President of the Tribunal In a CAM arbitration under Italian law between an Italian constructor and a Chinese subcontractor in relation to the construction of a power station (CAM case n° 13712) [Yves Derains];
• Sole Arbitrator in a LCIA arbitration between a Swiss national and two Seychelles companies in relation to the interpretation and execution of an agreement for the supply of services to a luxury holiday villa in the Seychelles (LCIA Case No. 215075) [Hamid Gharavi];
• Sole arbitrator in a CAM arbitration between an Italian supplier and a Spanish distributor in relation to h the performance and the termination of a Distributorship Agreement (CAM case n° 11708) [Yves Derains];
• Co-Arbitrator in a DIFC-LCIA arbitration under English law between Saudi companies and a company incorporated in the Republic of Korea for the alleged breach of an Operating Consortium Agreement in connection with the construction of a power plant (DIFC-LCIA Case No: DL18169) [Hamid Gharavi];
• Co-arbitrator and President in three ICC arbitrations involving a global technology, construction and manufacturing giant based in Asia in relation to construction projects and the agreements for the supply of technological goods (ICC Case Nos. 23176/AYZ; 28337/KFH; 28207/KFH) [Hamid Gharavi]; and
• Co-arbitrator in an ICC arbitration between a Portuguese airline and a French aircrafts manufacturer relating to an aircraft sales agreement. (ICC Case No. 18112/CA) [Yves Derains].

The firm’s founding Partners are the authors of many publications in the field of commercial arbitration, as non-exhaustively listed below (For full list see the CVs of Yves Derains and Hamid Gharavi):

• “The Conduct of International Arbitration Proceedings”, Elgar Arbitration Law and Practice, 2024 [Yves Derains];
• “Une nouvelle approche de la procédure arbitrale internationale”, Revue de l’Arbitrage, 2021 n°3 [Yves Derains];
• “Le professionnalisme des arbitres internationaux”, Revue de l’Arbitrage, 2019 n°3[Mr. Yves Derains];
• “Arbitraje internacional y neutralidad procesal”, Colección Cátedra Bancolombia de derecho económico, financiero y del mercado de valores, serie Arbitraje Internacional – Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Grupo Editorial Ibañez, 2019 [Yves Derains];
• “There must be another way”, in the Liber Amicorum in the honor of Yves Derains, Editions A. Pedone 2021 [Hamid Gharavi];
• “L’Article 10 du nouveau Règlement d’arbitrage de la CCI: Percées et formalisation de la pratique de la Cour sur la ‘Jonction d’arbitrages,” in Les Cahiers de l’Arbitrage / The Paris Journal of International Arbitration, 2012 n°1, p. 51, [Hamid Gharavi, co authored with Marie-Laure Bizeau];
• “The Arbitrator’s Deliberation” American University International Law Review vol. 27 no. 4, pp. 911-923, 2012
• “Os princípios da lealdade, celeridade e confidencialidade codificados pelo novo decreto francés de arbitragem”, Revista Brasileira de Arbitragem, n°32 Oct-Dec. 2011 [Yves Derains, coauthored with Ms. Ana Paola Montans];
• “Evidence and confidentiality”, in Confidentiality in Arbitration, ICC International Court of Arbitration Bulletin – 2009 Special Supplement, 2009 [Yves Derains];
• “A Guide to the ICC Rules of Arbitration (Second Edition) (co-authored with Eric A. Schwartz), Kluwer Law International, 2005 [Yves Derains];
• “Arbitration Adventures and Misadventures in Naftland”, 19.6 Journal of International Arbitration 621 (2002) [Dr. Hamid Gharavi];
• “L’arbitrage au Yémen” / “Arbitration in Yemen”, ICC Bulletin 41 (volume 17, n°2), [Hamid Gharavi, co authored with Lara Karam];
• “The 1997 Iranian Law on International Commercial Arbitration: The UNCITRAL Model Law à l´Iranienne”, Arbitration International (1999-1) [Hamid Gharavi]; and
• “Le nouveau droit iranien de l´arbitrage commercial international”, Revue de l’Arbitrage (1999-1) [Hamid Gharavi].