The Middle East
Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss lawyers represent clients from practically every country in the Middle East on a wide variety of international litigation and corporate matters. Our team, which includes native Arabic speakers, has on-the-ground experience and a network of longstanding working relationships and contacts throughout the region. After years of working in the region, we have developed an understanding of the traditions and business culture crucial to conducting business in this vibrant region.
Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss has managed some of the highest-profile fraud and corruption matters to have ever arisen in the Middle East. For years, we served as global legal coordinator for Saudi Arabian conglomerate Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers Company, managing the world-wide litigation and commercial negotiations resulting from one of the largest frauds in Middle East history. We served as U.S. counsel for the Liquidators of Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), obtaining a $1 billion racketeering judgment against a Saudi national and working with a multinational team to obtain the first recognition in Saudi Arabia of a non-Arab League judgment. We have extensive experience representing and advising foreign sovereigns, including the Governments of Kuwait, and Egypt, on asset recovery, money laundering, fraud, anti-corruption and sovereign immunity matters. We routinely advise companies and individuals throughout the region on U.S. regulatory and criminal matters, including compliance with U.S. sanctions programs.
In our Middle East work, Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss evinces the highest commitment to our principles, working extensively on a variety of human rights cases. We have secured the release of a U.S. national sentenced to life in prison in Egypt on political charges, liaising with U.S. State Department, White House, members of Congress and key international power brokers over the course of his two year detention to obtain his release. We have represented detainees held by the U.S. Government at both Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Bagram, Afghanistan, and have secured the release of our clients and their return to their homes and families.
In the News
LBKM associate Alex Bedrosyan has been selected to Lexology Index: Arbitration 2025 in the “Future Leaders – Non-Partners” category.
November 22, 2024Global Investigations Review has ranked LBKM as one of the world’s leading firms for cross-border investigations.
November 15, 2024Eric Lewis, A. Katherine Toomey, Adam Kaufmann, and John Moscow were recognized for their market-leading expertise in the tracing and recovery of lost, misappropriated or stolen assets.
July 2024LBKM is once again ranked as a leading firm worldwide for Asset Tracing & Recovery in the 2024 edition of Chambers and Partners Litigation Support. Chambers noted the firm’s “particularly strong networks in Latin America, the Middle East and the UK,” and clients described the firm as “extremely responsive and on the ball.”
June 2024ABF Fellows are a global honorary society of attorneys, judges, law faculty, and legal scholars whose public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the highest principles of the legal profession and to the welfare of their communities.
June 2024In this article, Solomon B. Shinerock and Alex Bedrosyan analyze international humanitarian law through the context of the crisis in Gaza.
New York Law Journal, April 22, 2024South Africa's case against Israel before the International Court of Justice must identify legal elements of genocide sufficient to prevail, but reporting on the proceeding largely fails to clearly articulate what a case for genocide alleged in the context of war requires.
Solomon Shinerock and Alex Bedrosyan discuss the key legal rules and principles by which the parties to the conflict ultimately will be judged by the international community.
Law360, April 12, 2024The National Black Lawyers is an invitation-only professional development and networking association comprised of the top African American attorneys from across the country.
January 2024Chambers Litigation Support 2023, a guide to leading litigation professionals, has again ranked Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss in its Global-Wide Asset Tracing & Recovery category.
July 2023Tom Malinowski, two-term representative for New Jersey's 7th Congressional District and former vice chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is moving to an international litigation boutique to serve as senior policy consultant.
Law360, July 12, 2023In a recent wide-sweeping decision, Twitter v. Taamneh, the United States Supreme Court dramatically reshaped liability under the 2016 Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (“JASTA”), which imposes secondary, civil liability under the Anti-Terrorism Act (“ATA”) on persons who aid and abet or conspire to commit acts of international terrorism.
May 25, 2023LBKM’s Middle East team is featured in The Legal 500 Private Practice Powerlist 2023 for Arbitration (Middle East). The publication is designed to highlight the region's leading arbitration counsel to Legal 500's broad international readership of private practice lawyers, in-house counsel, and expert witnesses.
April 27, 2023On March 2, 2023, the US government published a multi-agency notice setting forth red flags and warning of enhanced enforcement efforts related to third-party intermediary evasion of US Russia-related sanctions and export controls. The Financial Times subsequently reported that a senior Treasury official stated that the UAE was a “country of focus” for US investigators.
March 2023The National Black Lawyers is an invitation-only professional development and networking association comprised of the top African American attorneys from across the country.
January 2023Aisha Bembry, managing partner of LBKM's Washington office, was featured in Law.com's "How I Made It" series.
Law.com, November 8, 2022The Lafarge case illustrates the extent companies with operations in high-risk jurisdictions must be aware of increasing ATA-related risk, including the risk of civil litigation.
November 2022Who's Who Legal has recognized four Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss lawyers as leading asset recovery practitioners in its 2022 guide.
August 2022The United States Supreme Court concluded in ZF Automotive US, Inc. v. Luxshare, Ltd. that federal district courts cannot order discovery for use in a private foreign arbitration via 18 U.S.C. § 1782—a statute that permits litigants to seek discovery in federal court for “use in a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal.” The unanimous decision narrows a useful discovery tool by prohibiting parties in or contemplating private, foreign arbitration from obtaining discovery through federal courts for use in that arbitration.
June 14, 2022Waleed Nassar, a lawyer who worked on Egypt’s asset recovery efforts, said foreign banks regularly built personal relationships with wealthy customers in Egypt, who could then move money out of the country in a way that might have otherwise raised red flags. “You and I can’t go to a bank right now and get away with some of the most basic things that are atypical protocol-wise, but these guys can,” he said. “But for [the banks’] conduct, a lot of the money would have never have been able to be transferred outside of Egypt in the first place.”
OCCRP.org, February 21, 2022- New engagements in the region include World Cup kick-off event in Qatar.
In recent weeks, LBKM’s Middle East practice group expanded its reach to help launch a large-scale, multi-day event in Qatar to kick off the World Cup 2022. As part of these efforts, LBKM’s Sports and Entertainment group led negotiations with various talent agencies and third parties, managing myriad legal and logistical issues to bring together such public figures as Trevor Noah of The Daily Show; Jalen Rose and David Jacoby of ESPN; and NBA Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady. The event served to promote cross-cultural understanding and demonstrate the ways in which sports and entertainment can be used to bridge cultural divides and effect social change.
December 1, 2021 Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss PLLC is pleased to announce that John Moscow has been named to the 2021 New York Super Lawyers list. Each year, no more than five percent of the lawyers in each state are selected to receive this honor. In addition, A. Mackenna White has been named to the 2021 New York Rising Stars list. Each year, no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state are selected to receive this honor.
September 30, 2021Who's Who Legal recognized four Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss lawyers as leading asset recovery practitioners for 2021.
August 2021- Judge allows journalist to challenge claimed inclusion on U.S. drone ‘kill list’
“We are gratified that the court recognized that, as a U.S. citizen, Mr. Kareem has the right to be heard in court before his government can decide to kill him, and we look forward to these proceedings continuing to a final resolution,” said Tara J. Plochocki, partner with the Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss law firm.
Washington Post, June 13, 2018 - New York Post reports FBI evidence in a lawsuit alleges Saudi Arabia's US embassy may have funded test run for Sept 11.
Waleed Nassar, an international disputes lawyer who represents two Saudi charities that are defendants in 9/11 litigation alongside Saudi Arabia, said, "the evidence, along with much of what has been submitted, is innuendo and circumstantial".
"The plaintiff's burden is to show something more direct, and that's really the only hope they have to have Saudi Arabia remain in the litigation," Nassar said.
September 11, 2017 In September 2016, the US Congress passed the Justice Against State Sponsors of Terrorism Act (“JASTA”) into law, overriding President Obama’s veto to narrow the scope of foreign sovereign immunity for terrorism related claims and expanding liability under the Anti-Terrorism Act (“ATA”) to now also include those who ‘aid, abet, or conspire’ with a foreign terrorist organisation. JASTA’s twin expansions of liability now make it easier to hook Middle Eastern countries and institutions into the web of costly US litigation. As President Obama himself recognised as a basis for his veto, ‘courts [can] potentially consider even minimal allegations…sufficient to open the door to litigation and wide-ranging discovery…’
Lexis Middle East Law, June 28, 2017A host of likely legal challenges will confront Middle East related entities doing business in or with the United States under President Trump, write Waleed Nassar and Kate Toomey.
The New Arab, January 16, 2017"It's still their burden to prove their allegations, which right now is based on a lot of innuendo and leaps of logic," said Waleed Nassar, a partner at Lewis Baach, which represents two of the Saudi charities named in the case.
The Hill, October 9, 2016Mr. Lewis said that “there is no there there” on the allegations of any Saudi government role in the attacks, given the kingdom’s long history of being at war with Al Qaeda.
“The notion that senior Saudi officials or the Saudi government had an interest in supporting Sept. 11 and the attack on the World Trade Center is patently absurd,” he said.
The New York Times, September 29, 2016- Swiss banks froze Mubarak's assets hours after his removal. 5 years and a corruption conviction later, the money still hasn’t moved.Mada Masr, February 11, 2016
- September 30, 2015
- Eric Lewis says Donald Trump is giving credence to those who stigmatize America's Muslims. He says such rhetoric is hateful and dangerous.September 20, 2015
- Fayis al-Kandari has been held without charge for 14 years in US prison in Cuba, where he was allegedly tortured.Aljazeera, July 28, 2015
- Mohammed Soltan was convicted of financing anti-goverment protest amid proceedings his lawyers describe as ‘a Kafkaesque political show trial’The Guardian, May 30, 2015
- BBC World Service Newshour, May 30, 2015
- The Business Monthly, American Chamber of Commerce Egypt, December 2012
Publications, Presentations & Events
- Dubai Arbitration Week
Fakhruddin Valika will participate in a mock case management conference following a fireside chat for young arbitration practitioners at Dubai Arbitration Week.
Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), November 14, 2024 LBKM is proud to sponsor this year's CenterForce Driving Diversity in Law & Leadership Summit in Washington, DC, where Managing Partner Aisha Bembry will be a panelist at a session titled "Shattering Glass Ceilings: The Unwritten Playbook for Career Success Beyond Hard Work."
Washington, DC, June 12, 2024In recent weeks, the world has been engulfed by the spread of COVID-19 as governments scramble to protect their citizens and avoid the collapse of public health systems and long-term damage to their economies. The wide-ranging efforts to flatten the curve of COVID-19 has created a tidal wave of ramifications for an international business community that is today more interconnected than ever, and led to high levels of uncertainty surrounding current and future contractual obligations. At a time when government policies fluctuate daily and courts and arbitration centers are becoming increasingly inaccessible to resolve active disputes, it is difficult for a party to seek or obtain interim measures or relief. From country to country and company to company, the responses have not been uniform: some commercial parties have continued to perform their obligations, while others have argued for wholesale abdication of their responsibilities, and still others are somewhere in between. Certain trends of government action and commercial response are emerging worldwide, no less so in the hyper-connected global businesses that are found in the Middle East.
April 20, 2020In these tough times, when clients are looking to protect assets and increase revenue, it is more important than ever to ensure that their arbitral awards are collectible. A truly successful outcome requires the ability to enforce and monetize the award that was won in the arbitration. When faced with a recalcitrant award debtor, it is imperative to think strategically and work closely with counsel and experts to enforce and identify recoverable assets.
April 2, 2020- November 2016
We are pleased to report that on August 16, 2016, the United States Treasury Department removed the Philippines and Indonesia branch offices of our client, the International Islamic Relief Organization of Saudi Arabia (IIROSA) from the Office of Foreign Assets Control Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. The administration’s action in this matter demonstrates a clear commitment to an impartial review of the facts and its belief in IIROSA’s ability to oversee its critical global relief operations.
August 18, 2016- Four Things Businesses Should Know About the Agreement with IranJuly 2015
- May 30, 2015
- June 27, 2014