Lawyers
nullnullMarwan Sakr
Partner
Marwan Sakr is a co-founding partner of Sakr, Awwad, Abi Najem & Sakr (SAAS) Lawyers|Avocats in Beirut, Lebanon. He was called to the Bar in Beirut (1989) and Paris (2006) and admitted as an advocate before the DIFC Courts in Dubai (2009). He became a Chartered Arbitrator (CIArb, UK) in 2011 and is licensed as Legal Consultant in the UAE (RAK) since 2017. He has been appointed Specialist Counsel (Avocat spécialiste) in International, European and Arab laws by the French National Council of the Bar (CNB) in 2020. His practice encompasses commercial and international work and disputes (especially international arbitration and litigation), banking and financial law, insurance and reinsurance, commercial agencies, corporate law, conflict of laws and jurisdictions, public law and government contracts, foreign investments, intellectual property, infrastructure projects (construction, oil, telecommunications, Turnkey and BOT projects), joint ventures, project finance and European and Middle Eastern laws. He has advised and appeared as counsel and expert witness in arbitration proceedings in relation with these matters under various laws and jurisdictions (France, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Egypt, UAE, Qatar, Iraq, Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, OHADA countries) and arbitration rules (ICC, ICSID, CRCICA, BCCI, DIAC, QICCA and UNCITRAL).
He has advised and assisted the Lebanese Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Lebanon and the Association of Banks of Lebanon, as well as the Lebanese Ministry of Administrative reform and the Investment Authority of Kurdistan in the drafting and assessment of several financial, economic and investment laws and regulations.
Marwan started practicing as a trainee then an associate of one of the most prominent litigation firms in Beirut. Between 1994 and 2000, he was a senior associate of AMNCC in association with Gide Loyrette Nouel in Beirut and Riyadh, before becoming a partner of Hennaoui & Sakr and then participating in the founding of SAAS. He also practices as an international arbitrator from Chambers in London.
He has advised and assisted the Lebanese Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Lebanon and the Association of Banks of Lebanon, as well as the Lebanese Ministry of Administrative reform and the Investment Authority of Kurdistan in the drafting and assessment of several financial, economic and investment laws and regulations.
Marwan started practicing as a trainee then an associate of one of the most prominent litigation firms in Beirut. Between 1994 and 2000, he was a senior associate of AMNCC in association with Gide Loyrette Nouel in Beirut and Riyadh, before becoming a partner of Hennaoui & Sakr and then participating in the founding of SAAS. He also practices as an international arbitrator from Chambers in London.
Marwan acts as chairman, member of tribunal and sole arbitrator under several arbitration rules (ICC, BCCI, UNCITRAL, ad hoc and Lebanese CPR). He is on the panel of arbitrators of the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), DIFC‐LCIA, the GCC Commercial Arbitration Centre in Bahrain, the Arbitration Centre of the French‐Arab Chamber of Commerce in Paris and the panel of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) in London. He is also a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR and its Task Force on Maximizing the Probative Value of Witness Evidence, ICC Arab Arbitration Group and ICC Lebanon’s Arbitration Group. Marwan is one of the Lebanese Government’s appointees to the ICSID panel of conciliators.
Marwan is the author of a monograph on “Non-signatories, Third Parties and the International Arbitration Agreement”, co-directed and contributed to a reference book on banking law and co- authored a book on the law of associations in Lebanon of several book chapters, articles, reports, studies, chronicles and case notes and speaks regularly on these subjects. In addition, Marwan lectures on Project Finance law, international contract and commercial laws in various Master programs at Université Saint-Joseph in Beirut, Lebanon), the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Beirut Bar Institute. He is an approved Faculty Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (International Arbitration) and currently sits on its Education and Membership Committee. Marwan also teaches two courses on Multiparty Arbitrations and Conservatory Measures in the Dispute Resolution Module of the Swiss International Law School/Bond University’s LLM in International Commercial Law and Dispute Resolution in Basel, Switzerland.
Marwan has been identified as a leading individual in the field of arbitration and dispute resolution by Who’s Who Legal and Legal 500. He has been described as “a smart lawyer with an excellent knowledge base” (WWL Arbitration 2016) and as “[t]he 'outstanding' Marwan Sakr boasts a broad knowledge base and is considered a real specialist when it comes to complex international matters” (WWL Arbitration 2017) and “Marwan Sakr is a distinguished name in the region who commentators laud as an 'outstanding arbitrator', with expertise covering a number of jurisdictions and all of the main arbitration rules” (WWL 2018) and as “a distinguished name in the region who commentators laud as an 'outstanding arbitrator', with expertise covering a number of jurisdictions and all of the main arbitration rules” (WWL 2019) and “Marwan Sakr is a top name for arbitration in the region, and enjoys a strong reputation for his knowledge of commercial and investment disputes” (WWL 2020). He was ranked as “Global leader” in Arbitration (WWL 2020).
Marwan is a member of the Beirut Bar Association, Paris Bar Association, International Bar Association (IBA), American Bar Association (ABA), International Law Association (ILA, HQ, London), Society of International Economic Law (SIEL), Association suisse de l’arbitrage (ASA), a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) London, the European Association of Banking & Financial Law (Association Européenne de Droit Bancaire et Financier, AEDBF) Paris, the Association française des avocats conseils d’entreprise (ACE, the French commercial bar), the Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) UK, ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR and its Task Force on Maximizing the Probative Value of Witness Evidence, ICC Arab Arbitration Group and ICC Lebanon’s Committee on Arbitration; the Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) USA and the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL). He is also an Associate Fellow of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies-University of London and a Fellow of the Centre for International Legal Studies (CILS), Salzburg, Austria.
English (fluent), French (native) and Arabic (native)
Beirut
Paris
Dubai International Financial Centre (Advocate)
United Arab Emirates (RAK, Legal Consultant)
Paris
Dubai International Financial Centre (Advocate)
United Arab Emirates (RAK, Legal Consultant)
Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth (LL.B in Lebanese law and French Master in private law)
Université Toulouse I Capitole, (Master 2 de droit international, européen et comparé, spécialité juriste international)
Haute école des avocats conseils (HEDAC), Versailles, France.
University of Huddersfield, UK (LL.M, International Law)
Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London (Fellowship in International Arbitration)
Université Toulouse I Capitole, (Master 2 de droit international, européen et comparé, spécialité juriste international)
Haute école des avocats conseils (HEDAC), Versailles, France.
University of Huddersfield, UK (LL.M, International Law)
Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London (Fellowship in International Arbitration)
Specialist Counsel (Avocat spécialiste), International, European and Arab laws (CNB, France)