Dispute Resolution
Litigation Portfolio Management
Shalakany has the largest corporate litigation department in Egypt and handles the most corporate cases on an annual basis than any other firm in Egypt. Shalakany prides itself on its litigation portfolio management capabilities and the Firm’s selling point is that it is able to handle large portfolios of diverse cases for large corporate clients in a manner which is high in quality but also cost efficient. To this end Shalakany has in place internal systems which automate and distribute litigation cases across Egypt in order to ensure proper litigation services for the client.
Shalakany’s portfolio management department consists of 33 litigation specialists each specialized in a separate field of corporate litigation. Our litigation specialists are supported by several crucial and essential litigation support employees at the firm.
Shalakany has the largest number of paralegals in Egypt at any firm with a large team ofparalegals who support our litigation specialists in following up and obtaining ‘on the ground’ information from courts all across Egypt’s 27 governorates. Shalakany’s paralegal department is well experienced in dealing with the various needs of corporate clients including dealing with the courts, government entities, GAFI, Industrial Zone Authorities, the Egyptian Tax Authority, Customs Authorities etc..
Shalakany is also proud to have a large team of litigation administrative assistants who are trained in assisting the litigation department in managing and organizing the Firm’s large number of cases as well as filing reports and updating the Firm’s database and clients.
In order to share and distribute the Firm’s substantial knowledge and experience in litigation the litigation department meets on a weekly basis to discuss particularly complex cases and recent precedents issued by the Egyptian courts. Furthermore, our litigation specialists have access to a large electronic legal library, internal reports and opinions, and several precedent databases to assist them in preparing for their written and oral pleadings.
Lastly, to ensure seamless communication between the Client and the Firm communication occurs mainly through a dedicated Client Relationship Manager who is updated on a weekly basis of developments in the Client’s various cases and is available to answer any of the Client’s queries. Shalakany’s online systems, billing and administrative department also ensures that invoicing is done in a clear manner even for large portfolios with hundreds of cases. Shalakany’s IT system also allows Clients to access Shalakany’s internal litigation reports for that Client via the Firm’s tailored reporting system.
Shalakany handles a diverse repertoire of litigation portfolios. Shalakany normally handles well over a hundred cases per client per year for large corporate portfolios. In total, Shalakany handles thousands of cases each year spread out over various courts, court degrees and in various sectors such as the following:
Real Estate:
- Shalakany handles Emaar Misr’s litigation portfolio in Egypt and handles well over two hundred and fifty cases per year on Emaar Misr’s behalf. This includes claims regardingenforcement, rescission and compensation arising from sales contracts, labor Cases, government charges and fees cases, tax cases, land registration.
- Maf Misr For Commercial & Real Estate’s Egypt litigation portfolio including real estate, labor, criminal and construction disputes is handled by the Firm.
- Shalakany handles several cases on behalf of United Lease's and its subsidiaries litigation portfolio including tax cases. United Lease is one of the four main Real Estate Corporate Lease funding companies.
- Shalakany handles Amreyah Cement Company's litigation portfolio including labor cases and tax cases.
- Sinai White Portland Cement Company's litigation portfolio including civil cases and labor cases.
- Construcciones Y Auxiliar De Ferrocarriles (Caff)'s litigation portfolio including administrative cases.
- Assiut Cement Company (CEMEX)’s previous portfolio of cases with over fifty cases.
- Suez Steel Co.’s litigation portfolio is handled by the firm.
- Shalakany handles Global Telecom Holding’s Egyptian litigation portfolio including tax and labor cases.
- Shalakany has handled thousands of cases for Orange Egypt including cases filed to claim removal of mobile relay stations, tower rent claims, compensation claims, labor cases, and tax cases.
- Shalakany has handled Oracle's Egyptian litigation portfolio.
- Shalakany handles Mena House Hotel's litigation portfolio including civil cases, labor cases, criminal cases and commercial cases
- The Three Corners Company Egypt's litigation portfolio with over twenty cases per year
including civil cases, labor cases and criminal cases. - Meridien Pyramids' litigation portfolio including civil cases and labor cases.
- Sharm Dreams Company for Touristic Investment’s litigation portfolio including labor cases, civil cases and as well governmental disputes such as disputes regarding hotel stores leased to third parties.
- Rowad Misr For Tourism Investment Co.'s litigation portfolio including civil cases and labor cases, as well governmental disputes such as the recent dispute concerning government fees
on beach front hotels. - Wings group's litigation portfolio including civil cases.
- Coral Sea Resorts for Hotel's litigation portfolio including civil cases and commercial cases.
- Egyptian Tourism Federation's litigation portfolio including civil cases, labor cases and tax cases.
- El Zamalek Tourism & Investment Co.'s litigation portfolio including civil cases and administrative cases.
- Cleopatra Group for Integrated Development & Touristic Projects’ litigation portfolio.
- Shalakany handled DHL Worldwide Express Cases filed to claim compensation for financial differences (settlement of account) with their various clients.
- Shalakany handles International Co. for Agro Industrial Projects (BEYTI)’s litigation portfolio including civil cases, criminal cases and labor cases.
- Shalakany handles Mondelez Egypt Foods's litigation portfolio with over thirty cases per year including civil cases, labor cases, criminal cases and administrative cases.
- KraftHeinz's litigation portfolio including criminal cases and labor cases.
- Kellogg Company's litigation portfolio including civil cases as well as Kellogg’s subsidiary Bisco Misr.
- Shalakany has handled thousands of cases for Al Ahram Beverages's including criminal cases, labor cases and civil cases.
- Shalakany handles Arab International Insurance Company (Allianz)'s litigation portfolio including labor cases, civil cases and as well governmental disputes such as dispute with the Social Insurance Authority at a value of one billion Egyptian pounds.
- Misr Insurance's litigation portfolio including commercial cases.
- Ingostrakh’s Egyptian portfolio including Sinai Aviation accident.
- Shalakany handles IEOC Production's litigation portfolio including commercial cases and civil cases.
- Shell Lubricant Egypt's litigation portfolio including civil cases and commercial cases.
- Sidi Krir Generating Company's litigation portfolio including civil cases and labor cases.
- Saipem Misr For Petroleum Services' litigation portfolio including civil cases and criminal
cases. - Schlumberger Logelco Inc.'s litigation portfolio including labor cases and tax cases.
- NRC International Services' litigation portfolio including civil cases.
Shalakany prides itself on being one of the first law firms in Egypt to develop specialized expertise in commercial arbitration by establishing a specialized Arbitration Group comprising a team of partners and senior associates. Since the early 1970s, the Firm has been involved in many of the major arbitration cases in Egypt. Early cases included the Pyramids Plateau arbitrations, the Cairo Metro arbitrations, the Ahmad Hamdy Suez Canal Tunnel arbitration and the Isna Barrage arbitration.
On average, the Firm now handles about 10-15 new arbitration cases annually. The firm is proud of winning and/or achieving major positive results for their clients in the majority of arbitrations they have handled. Apart from arbitration procedures and advocacy and other skills required, members of the Arbitration Group, following the introduction of the Egyptian Arbitration Law No. 27 of 1994, have also, through the Group's specialized arbitration practice, become leading experts in the negotiation of settlement agreements and enforcement procedures through attachments, injunctions, and other court procedures related to arbitration.
The Firm has and is handling arbitration cases under various arbitration rules such as ICSID arbitrations, ICC arbitrations, CRCICA (Cairo Regional Center for International Commercial Arbitration) cases, DIFC-LCIA Arbitrations, LCIA Arbitrations and ad hoc cases under UNCITRAL Rules as well as others. Currently, on the arbitration front Shalakany is known to deal with high level complex cases in the MENA region including but not limited to construction disputes, investor-state disputes, treaty disputes, maritime disputes, high end commercial leasing disputes, and oil and gas disputes. The jurisdictions Shalakany acts and has acted in includes the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Libya, Iraq, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan and Egypt.
Shalakany often handles large monetary claims with a portfolio of cases in the billions of dollars. However, many of Shalakany’s cases are also complex cases without a monetary quantification including investor-state disputes, option exercising, and shareholder disputes.
DEALS AND CASES
Some of our most notable cases where we acted as counsel include the following (by sector):Investor -State Disputes, Treaty Cases
- H&H Enterprises Investments, Inc. against the State of Egypt (2009) in an Investor State- Dispute under the Washington Convention (ICSID Case) based on the U.S.-Egypt Bilateral
Investment Treaty concerning a promise to sell land in Ain El Sokhna, Egypt. - National Gas S.A.E. against the State of Egypt (2010) which was an Investor-State Dispute under the Washington Convention (ICSID Case) based on the Emirates-Egypt Bilateral Investment Treaty concerning a gas distribution network in Egypt.
- Khaled El Shalakany wrote two expert reports and appeared as a crucial expert witness for the defendant in a 2008 case at ICSID (ATA Construction, Industrial and Trading Company vs. the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, where Jordan won the case.
- Shalakany is currently acting as co-counsel at the Peace Palace for our Canadian client
against the Government of Egypt in a major investment arbitration concerning expropriation of
fertilizer production rights and investment rights valued at 2 billion USD. This is one of the
largest-valued and most complex disputes in Egypt. - Shalakany is currently acting in an investor state dispute over properties in Egypt for a Dutch citizen.
- Our most noteworthy arbitration case in the construction sector involved a consortium consisting of an international construction company and a consumer electronics company in a construction dispute against a media production studio. This case, which was one of the largest and most complicated construction disputes involving numerous delays, quantum and technical issues and utilizing various experts appointed by both parties as well as by the Tribunal, was won after 10 years at the CRCICA and is one of the most complicated
arbitrations to have taken place in Egypt. - A leading Egyptian Construction and Real Estate Developer in a construction dispute with a power station, which was settled amicably.
- A construction dispute claiming more than 20 Million USD between a German medical
contractor and one of the largest state-owned construction companies in Egypt over the
construction of a hospital in Iraq which we won for our client. - A case of a consortium of construction contractors in a construction dispute against a hotel owner, which was settled amicably.
- A case where an Egyptian Hotel Owner won against an International Hotel Management Company in a contractual dispute concerning a hotel construction where claims totaled 120 Million USD.
- Shalakany represented an export company against a cement production company which was settled amicably.
- Shalakany acted in a case won in our client’s favor between a Concrete Manufacturer and a major Real Estate Developer with claims totaling close to 75 Million USD.
- Shalakany acted in a major multi-billion Egyptian pound contractual dispute between a real estate developer and a government owned company over the sale of 4 million sq. m of land for the construction of the largest real-estate project in Egypt and the MENA region.
- Shalakany acted in a contractual dispute over a JV's running of a property website. This was a major dispute concerning the budding start-up e-commerce industry in Egypt and the MENA region valued at 16 million USD.
- Shalakany acted in a dispute involving 2 telecommunications companies over network rights that was settled amicably.
- Shalakany acted in a CRCICA arbitration between two telecommunication companies that we won in favor of our client Oil & Gas
- Shalakany acted in a foreign oil and energy company in a dispute against an Egyptian petroleum company which was awarded in favor of our client.
- Shalakany acted in a case between international Egyptian and BVI companies operating an oil well in Egypt, under Egyptian and French laws with the seat of arbitration in Sweden, over an Oil & Gas Concession Agreement Dispute with claims close to 90 million USD. This case was settled amicably due to our efforts.
- Shalakany acted in a highly technical and complex arbitration arising during the construction of an oil pipeline by an Italian-Malaysian Joint Venture for a large Petroleum Operating Company in Sudan and its shareholders, including major Chinese and Malaysian oil companies. The arbitration was governed by Sudanese law with the seat of arbitration in
London, UK, and claims and counterclaims worth over 1.75 billion USD. - Shalakany acted in a successful case based on a Joint Venture contract between a Cayman Island and a Swiss petroleum processing company at an Egyptian crude oil processing refinery where we acted as co-counsel with an American law firm from New York. The claims in the arbitration were over USD 100 Million.
- Shalakany is acting in a contractual dispute at CRCICA between two petroleum service
companies over an oil rig and other equipment that was destroyed by a blow-out valued at
over 5.5 Million USD
- Shalakany is currently acting in a contractual ICC dispute concerning the sale of fertilizer products by a Canadian firm in Egypt valued at USD 140 Million.
- Shalakany acted in a maritime dispute concerning an oil rig service ship charter party where claims of 10 Million USD were dismissed against our client and all arbitration costs were awarded in our favor.
- Shalakany acted in a dispute between two fertilizer trading companies involving shipping issues and demurrages between buyers and sellers.
- Shalakany acted in a case between an Italian and Egyptian Joint Venture against an Egyptian Company in a maritime dispute concerning a moveable rig which was settled in our client’s favor at more than 3 Million USD.
- An arbitration between a foreign hotel chain owner and a tourism and diving company where we managed to nullify the award in favor of our client.
- A case between a hotel owner and an international hotel manager and operator involving the Group Services and Benefits clause of the contract, which was settled amicably.
- A contractual dispute that arose from a hotel management and operation contract, which was a major dispute in the tourism sector.
- A contractual dispute arising from a Loan Agreement and a hotel management and operation contract, which was another major dispute in the tourism sector.
- Shalakany is currently acting in a CRCICA arbitration between a foreign international hotel management company and a public Egyptian hotel management company concerning the refurbishment through the operation and management contract of a historical downtown Cairo hotel claiming more than 40 Million USD.
- Shalakany acted in a dispute between a freight transporter and a petroleum company regarding the delivery of machinery valued at more than USD 2 Million and damaged during delivery due to negligence, which was awarded in our client’s favor.
- Shalakany acted in a case between Egyptian and German industrial auditing companies with claims higher than USD 5 Million.
- Shalakany acted for an American grain exporter against an Egyptian importer in a GAFTA arbitration which was decided in favor of our client.
- Shalakany is acting in a dispute at the CRCICA between a British and an Egyptian
Importer/Exporter over unpaid grain shipments.
- Shalakany defended a technology agency dispute and the case was dismissed in an award by the ICC due to our successful jurisdictional arguments in a case concerning medical equipment.
- Shalakany acted in a five-year arbitration held in Dubai over a high-end commercial lease dispute between an owner of one of the largest malls in the world against one of the largest department store owners in the world concerning commercial lease terms and fashion estimated at more than 50 Million USD. This was a unique case that required in-depth
knowledge of the fashion industry.
- Shalakany acted in an arbitration between a leading German engineering company and an Egyptian power station over an environmental upgrade contract that was a highly complex and technical dispute where the Tribunal appointed an expert and the arbitration with claims of almost 12.5 Million USD was eventually settled amicably.
- Shalakany acted in a contractual dispute concerning the sale of the majority of shares in a leading Egyptian company. It dealt with ground-breaking issues in real-estate ownership in Sinai and was awarded USD 5.5 million plus interest in our client’s favor.
- Shalakany is currently acting in an ICC arbitration between a private-law Cayman Island incorporated company and a Saudi private-law company concerning the exercise of a put option agreement that was breached.
- Shalakany is currently acting in an ICC arbitration concerning a Shareholders dispute over the mismanagement of a pharmaceutical company.
Tax - Shalakany acted in a contractual tax related dispute arising from a hotel management and operation contract concerning unpaid taxes attaching to the Hotel’s account.
- Shalakany is currently acting in a multiparty DIFC-LCIA Swiss Law arbitration between a Dubai company providing food packaging services to Egyptian food manufacturers in a dispute worth over 7 million USD.
- Shalakany is currently acting in a multiparty CRCICA arbitration over a debt rescheduling agreement concerning the sale of food packaging equipment.
- Shalakany is currently acting in a DIFC-LCIA Swiss Law arbitration between a Dubai company and an Egyptian food manufacturer worth over 1.5 million USD.
- Shalakany is currently acting in an arbitration case at the CRCICA between two Egyptian private-law entities concerning the construction of a new chemical plant in Egypt. The Claim worth over 200 million EGP concerns the technical requirements of a chemical plant.
The Firm’s litigation department has seen a substantial expansion in the past years. Each year, it handles a large number of cases before all levels of Egyptian courts. The litigation department is proud to have some of the leading professors and retired Egyptian judges as Of Counsel and a dynamic team of litigation partners and associates. Members of the litigation department meet daily to review the court attendance agenda and hold meetings each week by specialized groups to brainstorm, discuss and deliberate on complex legal and procedural issues that arise in the cases handled by the Firm. Our litigation department is structured to work in teams and specializations to keep our clients fully in the picture in respect of all aspects of their cases. Our operative word is "Professionalism".
High-Level Complex Litigation
well as the field of Civil Financial Claims in Egypt having worked on over 400 financial litigation cases. Here are a few examples of cases the firm has recently acted on:
- Representing Misr Insurance Company against the National Bank of Egypt in an Egyptian litigation case amounting to EGP 3 Billion.
- Two major Egyptian anti-trust cases concerning beIN Media Group with a maximum fine value of EGP 600 Million.
- A PPP dispute concerning Emaar Misr for Development for a multi-billion pound dispute.
- Tax and shareholders claims for Global Telecom Holding (formerly Orascom Telecom Holding) totaling EGP 4 Billion.
- Representing Mondelez in a criminal and civil claim concerning a major industrial accident.
- Representing LLC Avialiniya Kogalymavia (Metrojet) and Ingosstrakh Insurance Company in
civil claims based off of a major aviation accident in Egypt.