Our banking and financial litigation team provides a swift, practical and commercially focused service to clearing banks, other MENA COUNTRIES banks and a number of overseas banks with branches or representative offices in Lebanon.

 

We also act for commercial clients in banking and financial disputes. Working within our banking and finance practice, the team features lawyers who specialise in banking and financial services and works closely with our non-contentious finance and insolvency teams.

 

The work of the group includes:

 

• Reviewing security, addressing deficiencies and pre-empting potential claims or defences

• Recovery litigation, including disputed security and enforcement

• Insolvency, acting for banks, insolvency practitioners and creditors

• Fraud, payments by mistake, restitution, constructive trusts and injunctions

• Breaches of mandate, disputes concerning cheques, bills of exchange, documentary credits and performance bonds

• Payment systems

• Mis-selling claims, including swaps

• Claims against professionals, including surveyors, accountants and solicitors

• Disputes between banks

 

The team works closely with other parts of the firm to offer our clients a broad range of expertise including property law, planning, environment, corporate finance, trusts and tax.

 

For legal updates and news, please contact  BACHIR & Associates

We live in litigious times and the relentlessly competitive nature of business today means that commercial litigation is now a fact of corporate life.

 

The fact does not, however, diminish the anxiety and disruption caused by business disputes, which can be costly in terms of both time and money.

Although much of our commercial litigation lawyers’ work is in the Lebanese courts, BACHIR & Associates’s strong international focus means that we have established a reputation for high-quality cross-border commercial litigation work. Our commercial litigation lawyers act for corporate clients from the MENA COUNTRIES and abroad, across a wide range of business sectors. We are also instructed by a large number of overseas lawyers.

 

Our advice is candid, realistic and clearly communicated, to enable clients to make informed decisions. Although we are experienced in handling cases of considerable size and complexity, we are flexible in our approach and will tailor our service specifically to meet our clients’ needs.

 

We cover all aspects of commercial litigation including:

 

• Contractual disputes

• Misrepresentation actions

• Shareholder and partnership disputes

• Freezing injunctions

• Search orders

• Regulatory disputes

• Insurance and reinsurance

 

For legal updates and news, please contact  BACHIR & Associates

 

The sheer scale and complexity of many construction projects, and the number of parties involved, mean that delays and disputes are common.

 

We are able to help our clients identify problems, resolve disputes and implement solutions efficiently and with as little further disruption to progress as possible.

 

We have advised clients in construction disputes over a wide range of issues including weak piling, leaking cladding, defective electrical equipment, inadequate waterproofing, air conditioning, waste processing plant, rammed earth walls.

 

We also assist our clients in making or defending both claims for extensions of time and loss and expense claims arising from delay or disruption. We represent consultants in relation to fee claims and bring actions or defend them in relation to professional negligence claims.

Our support ranges from initial troubleshooting through to alternative dispute resolution, mediation, adjudication, arbitration and, where necessary, litigation. Given the nature of the sector we are frequently called on to act in multi-party disputes and in international arbitrations. 

Where issues arise that have both civil and criminal consequences, such as breaches of health and safety legislation, we can advise and represent clients in relation to both aspects of the claim.

 

For legal updates and news, please contact  BACHIR & Associates

 

Having acted for trust corporations and trust entities for many years, our dispute resolution team has extensive expertise in trust and trust-related disputes, both onshore and offshore.

 

Trust disputes often present a very particular set of difficulties and legal issues, many of which derive from a trustee’s special responsibility as fiduciary. These may relate to how costs are dealt with, the protection of trustees from personal liability, breaches of trustees’ obligations and challenges over the administration of the trust.

 

Our client base comprises international trust companies, wealthy private clients, professional trustees and executors.

In addition to advising on contentious trust or estate matters, we also provide ongoing advice in relation to administrative risk regulation to avoid problems arising in the future.

 

Areas in which we have particular expertise include:

 

• Trustees’ liability for breach of trust

• Beddoes applications

• Representation of offshore trustees 

• Claims under the Inheritance 

• Disputed wills – undue influence testamentary capacity

• Court administration of a trust/settlement or directions as to their proper construction

• Removal of trustees from office

• Trustees’ costs in court proceedings

• Tax hearings before the Special Commissioners

 

For legal updates and news, please contact  BACHIR & Associates

 

Family and matrimonial issues require a particular set of skills and sensitivity to help clients see clearly the choices they face and to understand both what is possible and what is desirable.

 

With our partner-led service we can advise on all aspects of family and matrimonial law. This will include the financial implications, procedures to be followed during a separation or divorce and arrangements for the family’s children.

 

The right tactical advice can be crucial, particularly when dealing with claims of a significant value, or claims with an international element. The need to move quickly can be imperative when determining the jurisdiction in which a divorce and financial claim should be brought. We are also able, if necessary, to protect the family assets from dissipation by swift reference to the court.

 

Our approach, while always alert to the sensitivities of family relationships, is pragmatic and commercial and we are not afraid to give clear guidance and advice and to protect our client’s interests through court proceedings where necessary.

 

Issues relating to children are particularly sensitive and they increasingly have an international dimension. We work with clients to secure the best outcome, for the children and for the client. Beyond conventional family matters we also offer advice on:

• Mediation, both on financial matters and issues relating to children

• Collaborative law

• Access to independent family arbitrators

 

In addition to advising on relationship breakdowns, our team provides advice on forward planning asset protection, including pre and post-nuptial agreements. We are supported by lawyers in other specialist areas who advise on issues including:

• Private capital – asset management and protection, tax planning and trusts, and international private capital

• Employment

• Corporate, particularly with regard to family companies

• Real estate

• Tax

 

Examples of the work we undertake include:

• Divorce

• Financial claims on divorce

• Children’s issues (domestic/international)

• Separation agreements

• Civil partnerships

• Pre- and post- nuptial agreements

• Cross-border disputes (forum shopping)

• Mediation – all issues

• Collaborative law

 

For legal updates and news, please contact  BACHIR & Associates

Our team of fraud lawyers has a proven track record of successfully representing claimants and defendants in international and domestic fraud cases, both civil and criminal.

 

We can assemble at short notice a multi-disciplinary team with experience not only in fraud work, but also in employment, financial services, banking and corporate law to meet our clients’ specific needs, whether they are victims of fraud or facing allegations of fraud. We have extensive experience in obtaining and defending emergency injunctive relief (such as search and freezing orders) in this country and our strong international focus and connections mean we can co-ordinate cross-border claims to protect our client’s position.

 

When fraud is suspected, it is important to act quickly and decisively. From the investigations that should be carried out on discovery of the fraud, to tracing the proceeds and determining the commercial merits of pursuing a claim and enforcing a judgment, our specialist fraud lawyers advise at every stage of the process.

 

We have acted for many businesses and individuals – particularly professionals faced with allegations of fraud that put their reputation and livelihoods at risk. Even in the face of the most aggressively pursued claims we defend our clients’ interests robustly and help guide them through what can seem a very oppressive and alien process. Our reputation management service can also assist in shaping the public perception of the case.

 

We can help by:

• Providing advice on the prevention and detection of fraud and on corporate governance

• Assisting with employment issues arising from the discovery of theft by an employee or company officer

• Helping victims to find, preserve and recover stolen money and assets

• Obtaining urgent injunctions, such as search and worldwide freezing orders

• Making applications for orders to secure and obtain disclosure of information and documentation, both from parties and non parties to 

litigation

• Handling multi-jurisdictional and complex disputes

• Vigorously defending our clients’ interests

• Providing crisis and reputation management

 

For legal updates and news, please contact  BACHIR & Associates

 

Our insolvency and restructuring team, comprising experienced lawyers with skills in contentious and non-contentious law, has a reputation for providing practical solutions to business-critical challenges.

 

At BACHIR & Associates we can help businesses facing solvency problems at all points in the economic cycle. Even in a recovering economy some businesses will still struggle. Changing markets, intensifying competition, over-dependence on particular suppliers or customers, weak cash flow or high burn rates, profitable divisions supporting loss-making divisions, adverse litigation, deadlocked boards or shareholders, under-funding, fraud: these can all lead to situations in which the very future of a business is at risk.

 

With many years of experience in this field, including acting in a number of high-profile corporate collapses, BACHIR & Associates is well equipped to advise insolvency practitioners, banks and other lending institutions, stakeholders, troubled companies, directors and individuals on a variety of corporate insolvency-related issues. We are also experienced in current deal structure in the distressed investment and debt restructuring markets.

 

Our work includes advising on directors’ duties in the ‘twilight zone’; voidable transactions; company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) and debt restructurings; standstills, work-outs, reorganisations and formal insolvency procedures; administration and other business rescue procedures; closures of complex group liquidations; and acting on sales of businesses by distressed companies or their office-holders.

 

For legal updates and news, please contact  BACHIR & Associates

Our insurance and reinsurance expertise provides clients with a comprehensive legal service for dealing with complex domestic and international claims.

 

BACHIR & Associates’ lawyers are consistently recognised in the leading MENA COUNTRIES legal directories for work in the insurance and reinsurance markets in Beirut and overseas. We deal with complex claims and policy advisory work for all interests in the insurance markets including insurers, reinsurers, policyholders, intermediaries and investors. We represent clients in coverage claims arising from all classes of commercial insurance business including financial lines (including professional liability, directors’ and officers’ liability insurance and trustee liability insurance), property and construction insurance, energy insurance, trade credit insurance and marine and non-marine reinsurance.

 

Our lawyers have been involved in claims and advisory work in the insurance and reinsurance markets arising from some of the most significant insurance events of recent years.

 

For legal updates and news, please contact  BACHIR & Associate

Globalisation and the growth of the digital economy have brought the significance of intellectual property (IP) into the spotlight like never before.

 

We help our clients to protect, preserve and enforce their IP rights and advise them on exploiting their assets for the benefit of their businesses. From litigation against patent trolls to software copyright analysis and licensing, our IP lawyers help our clients to maximise the value of their IP, both in the MENA COUNTRIES  and internationally.

 

We advise clients from a range of sectors, including publishers, technology houses and manufacturing, as well as local authorities, consultants and a number of high-profile sports personalities.

 

Our experience in IP law and procedure includes:

 

• Copyright – advising on licensing, protection options, effective exercise/exploitation of copyright and provision of content. Our work has included media copyright, such as entertainment material and technical copyright, such as computer software

• Confidential information/secrets – advising clients on including appropriate contract terms to protect confidentiality, stand-alone non-disclosure agreements for individual projects and the practicalities of know-how protection

• Designs and patents – advising clients on protecting innovation and options for registration of their rights with the necessary authorities

• Trade marks and brands – advising clients on brand protection and managing client trade mark registrations and portfolios, as well as enforcement of branding rights, including comparative advertising and domain name issues

• Image rights

• Corporate transactions – working closely with our corporate teams on transactions where IP rights are affected, including appropriate due diligence investigations

 

For legal updates and news, please contact  BACHIR & Associates

 

Our international arbitration lawyers are recognised as experts by the leading directories. We have an impressive track record in advising international companies both in LEBANON and the MENA COUNTRIES and abroad in relation to conducting arbitration proceedings and enforcing international arbitration awards.

 

Our team is experienced in conducting arbitrations under major international arbitration rules and institutions, as well as ad hoc arbitrations,  including UNCITRAL, ICC, ICSID, DIFC, LCIA, SIAC, CIETAC, SCC, WIPO, and in trade arbitrations such as LMAA and GAFTA.

Our team members also have experience in representing sovereign state bodies in investor-state arbitration under bilateral and multilateral investment treaties.

 

We take a collaborative approach when working closely with international law firms in arbitrations where the governing law is not one in which we have qualified practitioners. We maintain a vibrant and effective international desk structure which services our international clients and contacts. We work closely with General Counsel offices, project and commercial managers, and senior legal executives, and we have experience of working with Government Ministries and their legal officers. We provide our clients with a pragmatic, partner-led approach to ensure that clients receive the advice they need to reach a resolution quickly and cost-effectively.

 

We have particular expertise in disputes in construction and engineering, commodities, energy, banking and financial services, insurance and reinsurance, intellectual property, international trade, retail and sports.

 

For legal updates and news, please contact  BACHIR & Associates

 

In the MENA, developments in how litigation is financed mean that there are now more funding options for prospective litigants than there have ever been.

 

Whereas legal aid is now heavily restricted and self-funding is often not an option for cash-strapped litigants, the rise of a global litigation finance industry and crowdfunding options mean that even smaller claims may successfully obtain third-party finance. Outlined below are your funding options.

 

Conditional fee agreement (CFA)

• A CFA allocates the risk of litigation between a client and solicitor. The CFA usually provides that either all or a certain proportion of the solicitors’ fees (chargeable on an hourly rate) are only payable by the client if the claim is successful. So-called “No win, no fee” arrangements have been popularised as a type of CFA where the risk is shifted almost entirely onto the solicitor, because the claimant is not required to pay any fees unless certain success criteria are met.

• Those success criteria are agreed between the solicitor and the client and set out in the CFA. 

 

Damages Based Agreement (DBA)

• A DBA, like a CFA, allocates risk between the client and solicitor. Under the provisions of a DBA, however, the client agrees to pay the solicitor a proportion of the damages/sums of money awarded/resulting from the claim rather than the solicitor’s charges being calculated by reference to an hourly rate. Accordingly, the solicitor is sharing the client’s risk, both as regards not being paid anything until successful conclusion of the matter as well as the ability to enforce any damages against the losing defendant.

 

After The Event (ATE) Insurance

• This is a policy taken out by a party to a dispute (after the dispute has begun) so as to insure the party against the risks of paying the other party’s legal costs if it loses. Depending on the particular nature of the policy, various litigation costs, such as disbursements, may also be covered. Own legal costs cover can also be obtained.

 

Third-party funding

• The use of a third party (i.e. someone who does not have a connection with the litigation) as a source of funding for the litigation process has grown in popularity over recent years, with hedge funds, private equity and other institutional investors now firmly established in the industry.

• Certain investment platforms also provide opportunities to bring smaller cases whereby accredited investors may find opportunities to invest a specified minimum amount, either in funding a single claim or in funding a portfolio of claims.

• The crucial point to note with third party finance is that, generally speaking, funders will only consider providing finance for those cases where:

• the opponent, or the entity which is ultimately liable to pay the costs of a negative outcome, has assets to pay such costs, or is insured against such an outcome;

• there is a good prospect (>60%) of success; and

• the costs of running the claim are proportionate to the potential award, i.e. the return on capital invested.

 

For legal updates and news, please contact  BACHIR & Associates

 

In the current environment of ever-increasing public and regulatory scrutiny, complex claims and investigations involving professional firms make up a considerable proportion of our dispute resolution team’s work.

 

Our experience in complex negligence actions has given our team an appreciation of the financial, regulatory and reputational pressures faced by our clients. That in-depth knowledge of professional negligence and indemnity, from the perspective of the Defendant, the Claimant and indeed the insurer, means that we can offer clients practical and commercially-aware advice.  We focus on reaching the right solution as efficiently as possible whilst limiting the risk of reputational damage and disruption to the underlying professional activities of our clients. Such results are not only achieved through litigation. Our team regularly advises on alternative dispute resolution measures, including in the fields of arbitration and mediation.

 

As well as acting in live disputes and investigations, we also advise our clients in relation to the management of risk within their organisations.  We help ensure that adequate systems and controls are in place so that, wherever possible, issues are managed before they have the chance to develop and also help to identify potential exposure trends in our clients’ wider market places.

 

Our lawyers regularly advise major accounting practices across a wide range of professional negligence disputes, but particularly in the fields of tax and assurance.  We also have considerable experience of acting in claims relating to other financial services professionals and solicitors and have a growing practice in relation to claims against construction professionals, valuers, surveyors, architects, receivers and insurance brokers, drawing on the firm’s considerable expertise in the construction sector.

 

For legal updates and news, please contact  BACHIR & Associates

 

Although not primarily a contentious area, the nature of the real estate sector means that disputes do arise – whether over title matters, landlord and tenant issues or unauthorised occupation of land.

 

Our specialist real estate litigation team has the expertise and resources to handle property-related disputes of all types, delivering solutions that are practical, commercial and cost effective.

 

Our expertise includes:

 

• Commercial landlord and tenant matters, including opposed lease renewals, rent recoveries, rent reviews, dilapidation disputes, matters concerning landlord’s consent or opposition to assignments, sub-lettings, and other disputes concerning the enforcement of covenants and the recovery of possession of premises

• Residential landlord and tenant matters including freehold acquisition and enfranchisement rights and service charge disputes

• Mixed commercial/residential premises

• Advising on and co-coordinating the obtaining of vacant possession of development sites

• Urgent eviction of squatters or other unauthorised occupiers of land

• Telecommunications – we have a specialist real estate telecommunications team that acts exclusively for landowners and developers on the management and removal of telecommunications apparatus

• Disputes arising out of the sale and purchase of land

• Disputes concerning rights or obligations relating to land including trespass, title disputes and ownership, rights of light, easements or other rights concerning land

• Advocacy in all the courts

• Insolvency – we have particular expertise in the enforcement of covenants against both current and former tenants and/or their sureties and the effects of insolvency on clients’ property assets

• Arbitration, mediation and alternative methods of dispute resolution

 

Our real estate litigators work closely with our real estate lawyers to minimise the risk of disputes escalating to litigation. We understand that disputes often take place in the context of a larger transaction that cannot wait on the outcome of potentially protracted litigation. By responding quickly and anticipating issues we can help to prevent problems arising or minimise their effect. We strive to achieve early settlement wherever appropriate, but are experienced in the tactical use of litigation or other forms of dispute resolution to promote the best possible results for our clients.

 

For legal updates and news, please contact  BACHIR & Associates

For businesses in almost every sector, regulatory and compliance obligations have never been more demanding.

Even businesses operating in a non-regulated sector may still be the subject of requirements relating to anti-money laundering and bribery regulations, health and safety policies and measures to combat financial crime.

 

With firm-wide experience in contentious and non-contentious regulatory and compliance matters, we are well placed to advise and assist a wide range of clients.

 

We also have experience advising professional regulators on policy and other matters.

We can help with:

 

• Establishing an investment or other regulated business in LEBANON and the MENA countries 

• Advising on the regulatory requirements with which businesses must comply

• Preparing a suitable data protection, anti-money laundering and/or other compliance policy

• Advising on how best to conduct an internal investigation following a suspected breach of regulatory or compliance requirements, or providing representation at such an investigation

O

ur strength in regulatory and governance work is linked to the breadth of expertise and experience offered by our wider firm, particularly in areas such as employment, corporate, intellectual property, insolvency and financial services. We also have specialists who can advise on sensitive criminal matters.

 

For legal updates and news, please contact  BACHIR & Associates