Jalal El Ahdab is a partner in the Dispute Resolution Group of Bird & Bird in Paris. He is the Head of our Arbitration department in France and a member of the Dispute Resolution practice in the UAE, where he offers clients his longstanding cross-border expertise in managing international disputes and arbitrations.
Jalal’s practice covers international business law, notably in Europe, Africa, and the MENA region, focusing on international disputes and foreign investments. Having acted as a counsel, arbitrator and expert in nearly 100 cases, he has broad experience in managing complex disputes involving shareholders’ rights, claims against States, class actions, breach of negotiations, and bank guarantees. Jalal’s sector experience involves Bird & Bird’s high-profile clients in commodities trade, telecoms, ports, airports, construction, life sciences, sports, and more.
In addition to being a regular speaker at international arbitration and mediation conferences, Jalal is also the author of numerous articles published in the professional legal journals as well as the co-author of ‘Arbitration with the Arab Countries’ (published by Kluwer in 2011). He is also the managing editor of the International Journal of Arab Arbitration (available on Kluweronline.com) and his book on Arbitration Law in France, written jointly with Professor Daniel Mainguy and published by LexisNexis, is forthcoming in 2020.
Jalal was Lebanon’s UNCITRAL representative until 2018. Currently, Jalal is a member of the International Court of Arbitration of the ICC. He also chairs the European Branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and is the senior vice-chair of the IBA Arab Regional Forum. Jalal is a lecturer in arbitration law at Versailles University and Sciences Po Paris (IEP).
Jalal is qualified to practice in Beirut, Paris, and New York, and is equally fluent in Arabic, English, and French.
