Derains & Gharavi has extensive experience in MENA region, reinforced by its Iranian and Turkish desks.
The hirm and its partners have acted as counsel or arbitrator in over 100 cases involving all MENA States and/or parties.

Hamid Gharavi is the one of the leading counsels and arbitrators in the MENA region, and regularly, speaks at conferences on and in the MENA Region and publishes articles on the MENA practice of international arbitration.

He is assisted by associates fluent in Arabic, Turkish and Farsi.

Yves Derains is a member of the International Supervisory Board of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Arbitration Centre.

In addition to those involving Iran and Türkiye, the firm and its partners have acted as counsel and arbitrator in a large number of arbitrations as non-exhaustively listed below (For full list see the CVs of Yves Derains and Hamid Gharavi):

• Successfully represented as lead counsel Desert Line Projects, an Omani company, an ICSID arbitration against Yemen, achieving a landmark victory with the first ever award of compensation for moral damages suffered by the investor and invalidating a settlement agreement based on State duress (ICSID Case No. ARB/05/17);
• Successfully represented Qatar as lead counsel as respondent in an ICC arbitration in Paris 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 lead counsel an Omani company in two separate ICC arbitrations seated in Muscat under Omani law against Oman in a dispute arising out of a road construction contract and an airport expansion contract (ICC Cases Nos. 20441 and 20442);
• Successfully represented as lead counsel a Qatari company in annulment proceedings before French courts and upon annulment, in an ICC arbitration against one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world regarding the termination of several distribution agreements (ICC Case No. 24069/FS);
• Successfully represented as a lead counsel Lebanese high net worth individuals in ICC arbitrations against another high-net-worth Lebanese individual, arising out of an agreement for the restructuring of family assets (ICC Case Nos. 21312/ZF/AYZ; 25307/AYZ);
• Successfully represented as lead counsel the Arab Republic of Egypt in an ICSID arbitration initiated by a Dutch investor Future Pipe International B.V leading to a favorable settlement (ICSID Case No. ARB/17/31);
• Currently representing as lead counsel UAE company Trasta against Libya in an ad hoc arbitration initiated under OIC Agreement for expropriation (PCA Case No. 2020-09) and in many related ICC arbitrations arising out of a joint-venture and shareholders’ agreement with a Sovereign Libyan entity for the ownership and operation of a refinery in Libya (ICC Case Nos. 24722/AYZ; 24408/AYZ; 26284/AYZ/ELU (c-26285/AYZ);
• Advised as lead counsel a French company against Bahrain in a pre-arbitration legal expertise that led to a binding expert decision against Bahrain in relation to a desalination plant;
• 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 dispute between the Jordan subsidiary of a Turkish Company and the Government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in relation to the construction and operation of a water conveyance system (PCA Case n° 2012-25) [ Yves Derains];
• President of the Tribunal in an ICC arbitration under UAE law between a UAE based supplier of electronic goods and a UAE based distributor in West Africa in relation to a distributor agreement (ICC Case No. 23176/AYZ) [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];
• Sole Arbitrator in an ICC arbitration between a Turkish and an Algerian company in relation to the delivery limestone products (ICC Case No. 28864) [Emmanuel Foy];
• Co-arbitrator in an ICSID arbitration between United Agencies Limited SA (Switzerland), Mediterranean Shipping Company Algérie SARL (Algeria) and Maghrébine des Transports & Auxiliaires SARL (Algeria) as claimants and the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria as respondent in relation to a port concession agreement (ICSID Case No. ARB/23/30) [Hamid Gharavi]; and
• Co-Arbitrator in a DIFC-LCIA arbitration under English law between Saudi companies and a leading engineering company incorporated in the Republic of Korea for the alleged breach of an Operating Consortium Agreement in relation to the construction of a power plant (DIFC-LCIA Case No: DL18169) [Hamid Gharavi].

The firm has built a working relationship with independent correspondents in different jurisdictions in the MENA region 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