Mohamed S. Abdel Wahab

Mohamed S. Abdel Wahab

Founding Partner & Head of International Arbitration, Construction, and Energy Groups

Professor Dr. Mohamed S. Abdel Wahab, C. Arb, FCIArb

Professor of International Arbitration, Private International Law and English Contract Law, Cairo University; Founding Partner and Head of International Arbitration, Construction and Energy Groups at Zulficar & Partners Law Firm (Egypt); Member of the Governing Board (ICCA); Vice-Chair of the ICC Governing Body for Dispute Resolution Services; Vice President Global of the CIArb; President Elect of the CIArb (2025); Dean of the Africa Arbitration Academy; Chair of the International Expert Committee of the Permanent Forum for China Construction Law; Fellow of International Academy of Construction Lawyers; Member of the International Commercial Expert Committee, China International Commercial Court; Co-Chair, IBA Arab Regional Forum; Vice-Chair of the Advisory Committee of the CRCICA; Member of the Advisory Board of the Mauritius International Arbitration Centre (MIAC); Member of the Advisory Board, Indonesia International Arbitration Center (INIAC); Member of the LACIAC Court of Arbitration; Member of the ITA Academic Council; Member of the Court, PCA (The Hague), and Member of the Board of Trustees of the (CIArb) UK; and member of the Academic Council, Thailand Arbitration Centre’s Academy (THACA).He is a fellow of the National Centre for Technology and Dispute Resolution at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA; and associate fellow of the Centre for Private International Law and Centre for Commercial Law at Aberdeen University (UK); Former Court Member of the LCIA (2014-2019); former President of LCIA’s Arab Users’ Council (2016-2018); and Former Vice Chair of the IBA Arbitration Committee (2015-2018); Former Member of the Governing Board, International Council on Online Dispute Resolution (ICODR) – (2017–2021). Prof. Dr. Abdel Wahab is the Director for the CIArb’s Flagship International Arbitration Diploma, and is a Chartered Arbitrator and Fellow of the (CIArb).

Prof. Dr. Mohamed S. Abdel Wahab is also former Vice Chair, Academic Forum for Investor-State Dispute Settlement (2018 -2020); former President of the Egypt Branch, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) (2018); former Member of the CIArb’s Board of Management (2018); former Chair of the CIArb’s Technology Sub-Committee (2012–2014); former Member of the CIArb’s Practice and Standards Committee (2012–2018); former Committee Member of the IBA Investment Arbitration Sub-Committee (2016–2017). He is Member of the Advisory Council of Africa Arbitration Blog and Accredited Mediator of the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (“CEDR”).

Prof. Dr. Mohamed S. Abdel Wahab served as ‘Sole Arbitrator’, ‘Presiding Arbitrator’, ‘Party Appointed Arbitrator’, ‘Legal Expert’ or ‘Counsel’ in more than 255 cases involving parties from Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and the United States. Prof. Dr. Abdel Wahab’s expertise in cross border multi-jurisdictional and highly complex transactions and disputes is broad. He featured in cases under the auspices of the AAA-BCDR, ADCCAC, CRCICA, DIAC, DIFC-LCIA, ICC, ICSID, KIAC, LCIA, LMAA, RCICAL (Nigeria), SCC, SIAC, TIAC (Uzbekistan) as well as in ad hoc UNCITRAL proceedings, and governed by the laws of Afghanistan, Angola, Bahrain, California, Egypt, England & Wales, France, Ghana, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, New York, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistani laws as well as the general principles of law. He is recognized as a world-leading arbitrator and arbitration practitioner on international investment and international commercial arbitration, Arab and African laws, Islamic Shari’a, and online dispute resolution (ODR).

As ‘Legal Expert’, he opined on Bahraini, Egyptian, Emirati, English, Jordanian, Kuwaiti, Libyan, Omani, Qatari, and Saudi laws in relation to issues of conflict of laws, contract law, international jurisdiction, construction law & practice, telecommunications law, hotel management agreements, Islamic Shari’a, project finance, administrative law, commercial and civil laws, and insurance law & practice).

Prof. Dr. Abdel Wahab is listed on the rosters of many institutions including the ADCCAC (Abu Dhabi), ADGMAC  (UAE),  AIAC  (Malaysia),  BCDR-AAA  (Bahrain),  China Guangzhou Arbitration Commission (CGAC), CIETAC (China), CRCICA (Egypt),  DIAC (Dubai), EDAC (Turkey), EMAC (Dubai); EODID (Athens Mediation and Arbitration Organization), KCAB (South Korea), LACIAC (Nigeria), OAC (Oman), SCIA (Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration); SHIAC (China),  the Arbitration Center of the Russian Institute of Modern Arbitration (Russia); TIAC (Uzbekistan); European Court of Arbitration (CEA) France & Italy, MARC (Mauritius), and VIAC (Vienna).

He is the co-editor (with Prof Maxi Scherer and Ms. Niuscha Bassiri) of the first ever book on COVID-19 and international arbitration under the title “International Arbitration and the COVID-19 Revolution” (2020). He is also the co-editor (with Prof Ethan Katsh and Mr. Daniel Rainey) of “Online Dispute Resolution: Theory and Practice” (2011 and 2021). He is the author of the Abdel Wahab Pandemic Pathway to Virtual/Remote Hearings (2020) that was translated into Arabic, Spanish and Chinese; Co-author (with Dr. Kabir Duggal) of the first book dedicated to comparing the OIC and UAIA Treaties under the title “The Resurgence of the Unified Arab Investment Agreement and the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation Investment Agreement” Brill (2022). Prof. Dr. Abdel Wahab was nominated in (2020) for the GAR COVID-19 Pandemic Response Award.

Prof. Dr. Abdel Wahab is recognized as a world-renowned authority on ODR and a visionary on the role of technology in law and dispute resolution, where he regularly publishes and speaks at national and international conferences on Online Dispute Resolution, E-Commerce and IT laws since 2001. Prof. Dr. Abdel Wahab also organized the Fourth International Forum on ODR in Egypt in 2006.

Prof. Dr. Abdel Wahab is also listed in all major legal directories as a star practitioner and features in ‘Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration’, ‘Who’s Who Legal: Construction’, and Who’s Who Legal Thought Leaders: Arbitration and Who’s Who Legal Thought Leaders: Construction. He also features in AFRICA’s 100 list of leading African arbitration practitioners by I-ARB (Africa) and was selected by Africa Arbitration as the African Personality of June 2018 and by LACIAC (Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre) as the Arbitration Personality in May 2019.

He was shortlisted among the top five arbitrators for the GAR award for the best prepared and responsive arbitrator (2021). He received the LAW Magazine 2022 Most Influential Legal Academic Award, the 2021 and 2020 Client Choice International Award, the 2019 AYA Hall-of-Fame in London for the African Arbitrator Award, the 2018 ASA International Arbitration Advocacy Prize, and the LAW Magazine 2017 Best Legal Practitioner Award. He is listed in Who’s Who Global Elite Thought Leaders: International Arbitration; selected among the 500 honorees of the 2021 Lawdragon Global Litigation 500 Lawyers Guide, and the Legal 500 Africa Powerlist and the AYA’s Africa’s Top 30 Powerlist, and was honoured by the Jordanian Minister of Justice, the Jordanian Arbitrators’ Association and the Jordanian Construction Contractors Syndicate in August 2019. Prof. Dr. Abdel Wahab was nominated four times in (2013), (2014), (2018) and (2019) for the Global Arbitration Review Award for the Best Arbitration Lecture/Speech.

Chambers and Partners (2023)-Africa-wide says: “Mohamed Abdel Wahab is a leading arbitrator and arbitration counsel based in Cairo. He is very highly respected for his international commercial and investment treaty practice. As an arbitrator, he frequently presides over disputes concerning construction, energy and infrastructure issues”. “Mohamed Abdel Wahab is someone who is very brilliant and technically capable. He is very smart on the law, but also emotionally intelligent as well”.

Chambers and Partners (2023)-Dispute Resolution: Most in Demand Arbitrators says: “Mohamed Abdel Wahab is one of the best-known arbitration lawyers in Egypt. His practice combines   expert witness and arbitrator appointments with regular roles as counsel on significant and high-profile cases, and he receives especially high praise for his expertise in oil and gas and   construction disputes.

Chambers and Partners (2023)-Dispute Resolution – client feedback says: “Mohamed is the crème de la crème in the field and someone who impresses with his unmatched mastery of complex   legal issues across various legal systems and sectors.”, “He is always well prepared and doesn’t leave any stone unturned”, “It’s very impressive how he’s always on-point, engaged, and on top   of things”, “He’s very much hands-on and anticipates the issues”, “He’s outstanding in every way”, “Mohamed Abdel Wahab is someone who is very brilliant and technically capable.”, “He is   very smart on the law, but also emotionally intelligent as well”.

Legal 500 (2023) – client feedback  says: “Mohamed Abdel Wahab – very prepared arbitrator; deep experience in international arbitration; very thoughtful in his comments; collegial;  engaged; insightful and sharp questions”, “Mohamed Abdel Wahab: Highly respected, very experienced arbitrator, exhibiting highest standard of integrity and ethics”, “Mohamed Salah Abdel  Wahab is an outstanding arbitration practitioner”, “Mohamed Abdel Wahab is one of the brightest lawyers in the MENA. His pleasant and approachable personality adds to his extraordinary  analytical skills and legal culture”, “Mohamed Abdel Wahab is a very highly regarded professional and a leading international arbitrator. He is also one of the rare academicians in the region  who understands the applicable law notably Sharia law in international arbitration. He has the quality of being knowledgeable in several systems of law: common law, civil law, and Sharia  law. He definitely stands out in the pool of arbitrators notably in the MENA region”

Who’s Who Legal Arbitration (2023) says: peers and clients say “Mohamed is an amazing practitioner and one of the hardest working people I know”, “His sharp mind never ceases to amaze me”, “He is one of a kind”.

Chambers & Partners Global (2022) says: “Mohamed Abdel Wahab practice combines expert witness and arbitrator appointments with regular roles as counsel on significant and high-profile cases, and he receives especially high praise for his expertise in oil and gas and construction disputes. He is the perfect mix of legal expertise and strategic intuition, backed up by years of hard-earned experience and advocacy. He is very responsive. We feel comforted when a dispute is in his capable hands”, “He’s an impressive lawyer who is deeply knowledgeable. He has never steered us in the wrong direction”, “Mohamed Abdel Wahab is very highly respected for his international commercial and investment treaty practice. As an arbitrator, he frequently presides over disputes concerning construction, energy and infrastructure issues”, “Mohamed is a very well-known arbitrator who is very much involved in African work. He’s a very impressive guy”.

 Who’s Who Legal: Construction (2022) says: “Peers and clients say: “Mohamed is an all time great of construction arbitration” “Mohamed is a very smooth operator who makes arbitration process work very well” “He is seriously good”.

Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration (2022) says: “His intellectual rigour and well-rounded experience make him a natural choice as an arbitrator”, “He is academically brilliant”, “One of the best minds on arbitration issues” and “Extremely impressive”

Chambers & Partners Global (2021) says “Peers regard Mohamed Abdel Wahab as “an absolute star in arbitration”, “He is very charismatic and engaging – the way he speaks shows the deep  knowledge he has”, “He is always on top of the work and has an excellent knowledge of the market and the law”.

Legal 500 (2021) says: ‘Mohamed Abdel Wahab is a brilliant practitioner who is at the top of the international arbitration field globally. His understanding of and experience in international  arbitration are matched by few’; ‘Very knowledgeable, responsive, brilliant and accurate. Mohamed Abdel Wahab is a very strong litigator and legal strategist’; ‘one of the best litigators and  arbitration experts I have met. He is extremely efficient, reliable and is able to go the extra mile, while being innovative and brilliant’; and ‘Importantly, he is one of the most hardworking  individuals in the field. His working ethos and common sense approach to complex legal problems are outstanding’.

Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration (2021) says: “He is the leading commercial arbitrator in Egypt and arguably the MENA region”, “Mohamed is knowledgeable and qualified with extensive  experience in the field”, “He is at the top of the market”, “Outstanding engagement and pleasant to work with”, “He is a top-tier thought leader and in a league of his own” and “a very well-  prepared and exceptional arbitrator”

Client Choice International (2020) by Lexology says: “Mohamed is an exceptional lawyer; he has extraordinary focus and an impressive knowledge of the law”, “Mohamed outshines his  competitors; he is world-class. He is really an outstanding a very impartial and independent arbitrator”, “He is extremely efficient and reliable; he is one of the most brilliant legal brains of  his generation”, and “He is very knowledgeable, extremely responsive, brilliantly outstanding and an excellent arbitrator and counsel”.

Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration (2020) says: Mohamed Abdel Wahab “is at the top of the market” and “a very well-prepared, exceptional arbitrator”.

The Legal 500 (2019)  states: “Mohamed Abdel Wahab is ‘one of the best in the world’”. 

Prof. Dr. Abdel Wahab read law in Egypt and in the UK, and speaks Arabic (mother tongue), English (fluent) and French (very good working knowledge).

E-Mail:                msw@zulficarpartners.com

Telephone:          +2 02 24612-147