Aviation

•      Finance and leasing

•      Insolvency and restructuring

•      Liability. accidents, and claims

•      Litigation and dispute resolution

•      Competition

•      Regulation

Criminal Law

We provide full service to criminal defendants including bail bonding, entry of pleas, plea bargaining, trial representation and appeals.

Maritime

Maritime Law (also known as Admiralty Law) is a separate body of law governing a variety of maritime related disputes. Maritime law is a unique area of our practice, and we have the capability to respond nationwide to defend our clients in relation to maritime seizures, and our lawyers have achieved substantial resolutions on behalf of clients in maritime disputes.

Our Firm has represented and has the capability to represent a broad range of clients in numerous cases: cargo carriage disputes; oil spills; water pollution claims; vessel financing; and ship operation, construction and re-building disputes; maritime liens; commercial contractual claims (including charter parties); and a variety of other maritime disputes.  

While most maritime firms need to maintain outside criminal counsel to cover the potential criminal liabilities arising from pollution accidents, our firm has the in-house capability to handle both the civil and criminal aspects of such cases. Furthermore our criminal maritime lawyers are not only extensively experienced in criminal matters and criminal procedure, they are also experienced other areas of maritime practice.

We are involved primarily in handling admiralty and maritime eases. This means that we are highly knowledgeable of cases pertaining to accidents, injuries, and other situations involving cruise ships, yachts, and other watercraft.

Scope of Services

Our firm delivers expert legal services throughout a wide range of civil and criminal law disciplines, placing emphasis on serving its clients' litigation, corporate, commercial law and personal needs. The scope of our practice is broad and diverse. Our lawyers anticipate and respond to the transactional, counseling and trial practice needs of businesses in all major industries and individuals in all walks of life. We deliver superior legal research and analysis and draft businessdocuments which meet our clients' needs and exceed their expectations. We solve our clients' problems and provide guidance in corporate and commercial law matters; international and domestic trade; shipping and maritime pursuits; international competition, anti-trust and trade regulation; agency and distributorships; oil and gas exploration, extraction, refining and export; banking in both secular and Islamic financial sectors; franchising; investments and securities; e-commerce; intellectual property registration, licensing, marketing and sales; domestic and international tax law; commercial and personal real property development and sales; telecommunications; inheritance and family law; labor and employment law; public procurement and administrative law; business risk management and succession planning; and criminal law and defense.

Litigation and Arbitration

Our firm has long been recognized for its litigation practice and for the influential representation of our clients in resolving commercial and personal disputes in the Kuwaiti courts and before Kuwaiti ministries and other governmental regulatory agencies; in arbitration and other methods of dispute resolution such as mediation, early neutral evaluation and conciliation. We assess our clients' risks in potential litigation; negotiate to resolve pending lawsuits; negotiate and draft settlement agreements; prepare formal complaints and advance our clients' interests in the courts and alternative dispute resolution proceedings; and assist and educate in-house counsel.

Corporate Law Practice

We assist clients in establishing the best legal structure to serve their needs, whether as a corporation, a company with limited liability, a partnership or a proprietorship. Our firm is experienced in forming, implementing and operating all types of business entities; in giving our clients expert advice on issues of corporate law; and in negotiating, drafting and interpreting agency and distributorship agreements, engineering and construction contracts, public sector contracts, and joint venture and teaming agreements. We offer innovative and effective solutions to clients' business problems.

Banking and Finance

We handle all aspects of banking and finance transactions, including general corporate lending, secured and syndicated loans and guarantees, structured finance, project finance, and lease financing with an eye to minimizing the bank's or the borrower's legal risks and ensuring compliance with Kuwaiti and international laws. We draft complex credit and security documentation; provide reliable legal advice and counsel to bank branches and departments regarding loans; securities; emissions and carbon trading; treasury; joint venture and merger and acquisition and divestiture issues. Our services also include public listing and registration and private placement of securities; handling of stock exchange transactions; provision of access to capital markets; and compliance with insider trading restrictions. We have advised several major foreign banks that have established branches in Kuwait.

Taxation

We interpret the tax laws of Kuwait; provide advice on corporate tax planning and regulatory compliance; and handle tax litigation on behalf of domestic and international clients. Our Firm provides full service tax planning for domestic and international companies and financial institutions to enhance earnings and reduce legal risk. Our lawyers use tax aspects of domestic and cross-border commercial transactions to increase clients' profits, determine the applicability of relevant treaties, and collaborate with the foremost international accounting firms in Kuwait.

Employment and Labor

We advise corporate employers on all labor and employment matters under Kuwait law, acquiring a great fame in resolving and managing such litigations.

Mergers, Acquisitions and Divestitures

Our firm conducts due diligence investigations to enable our clients' managers to make informed evaluations of proposed mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. We are involved in all phases of the acquisition or divestiture process, including drafting of the proposed restructuring or severance plan and the client's strategic plan; conducting negotiations and drafting contracts; obtaining assistance of local counsel; and handling ministerial and judicial proceedings.

Intellectual Property Law

Our intellectual property law practice involves the registration, management and enforcement of patents, copyrights, trademarks and other intellectual property rights; negotiation and documentation of technology transfers; negotiation and drafting of licensing and franchising agreements; and provision of technical assistance with respect to commercial, strategic and regulatory matters under Kuwaiti and international intellectual property law.

Foreign Investment

Our firm provides counsel on a wide range of transactions involving corporate, commercial and foreign investment matters, as well as Internet and e-commerce trade and investments. We have advised many companies doing business in the Kuwait Free Trade Zone. We have solved a host of onshore and offshore investment problems and provided legal advice on the marketing and sale of foreign invest products in Kuwait. We assist foreign investors in choosing the best vehicles to work with Kuwaiti business partners, such as partnerships, agencies, distributorships, joint ventures and teaming agreements, as well as mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and other equity relationships. We have enabled clients to comply with foreign trade regulation statutes, such as the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and anti-bribery laws of other foreign countries.

Foreign Trade in Kuwait

We enable foreign businesses to enter Kuwait markets in several ways such as by establishing a Kuwaiti company with at minimum of fifty-one percent (51%) Kuwaiti ownership; through joint ventures; by appointing a Kuwaiti commercial agent; or by appointing a Kuwaiti commercial representative. We are experienced in drafting and implementing distribution contracts, teaming agreements, and joint venture contracts for foreign businesses operating in Kuwait.

Islamic Finance

Our Firm has assisted several banks and financial institutions with various Sharia'a compliant Islamic financial documents, instruments and transactions.

Energy and Oil and Gas

We have assisted Kuwaiti and other Middle Eastern companies, as well as international companies, in their oil and gas exploration, extraction, refining and exporting operations in Kuwait. We work to ensure our oil industry clients' compliance with Kuwaiti, United States and international statutes and treaties; to guide our clients in completing and filing their exploration and drilling certificate applications; and to resolve disputes with their customers, suppliers and competitors. Our firm represents oil and gas clients in complex regulatory proceedings, audits and investigations conducted by Kuwaiti government regulatory agencies and ministries. We also manage clients' rate cases, tariff matters and compliance activities; handle appeal of regulatory decisions; and represent energy industry clients' in court and arbitration proceedings. We counsel clients on issues that intertwine oil and gas law with real property and environmental law; cross-border licensing, distribution and marketing; antitrust law, trade regulation and compliance; e-commerce; corporate law and governance; risk management; intellectual property; tax law; employment and labor law; and financial, securities and commodities regulatory compliance.

Public Procurement and Administrative Law

Our firm represents clients in all aspects of their dealings with the ministries of the government of Kuwait including negotiation and completion of contracts; administration of contracts; dispute resolution in ministry proceedings; and arbitration and litigation.

Defense Contracting and Iraq Reconstruction

We have provided legal advice on United States government procurement regulations and contracting and on Kuwait Ministry of Defense and Kuwait National Guard procurements. We advise many clients that have based their operations in Kuwait while contributing to the Iraq Reconstruction effort.