Personal bio
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND Arif Hyder Ali has nearly 30 years of experience in investor-state, international commercial and construction arbitration. He is currently the Co-Chair of Dechert LLP’s International Arbitration Group. He has served as lead trial counsel and arbitrator in arbitrations under all of the major arbitral rule regimes, including ICSID, UNCITRAL, ICC, LCIA, SIAC and the ICDR. He has also held positions at leading academic institutions as an adjunct law professor, and worked as a senior lawyer in two international organizations: from 1993 to 1996, he was a section chief at the UN Compensation Commission, a special division of the United Nations Security Council, and from 2000 to 2001, he served as senior counsel at the World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Mediation Center. In 2001, he was decorated by the King of Bahrain with the Order of Bahrain (II) for his role in Bahrain’s representation before the International Court of Justice. In 2016, he received Law 360’s MVP Award, which is awarded to a select group of lawyers who have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation and complex global matters. Mr. Ali was born in Bangladesh and has lived and worked around the world. Given his personal background, language skills, jurisdictional experience and professional activities, Mr. Ali brings a unique multi-cultural and multi-jurisdictional awareness and perspective to his work as an arbitrator and advocate. He is recognized by peers and clients as a “polished maestro in his field,” a “brilliant lawyer,” a “great advocate,” and “a very intelligent and knowledgeable international arbitration expert” with “extensive knowledge of complex arbitration issues,” and a “pragmatic approach.” Peers note “his knowledge of and sensitivity towards region-specific legal issues,” “outstanding intellect evident in his ability to quickly absorb relevant technical and scientific information,” and “absolutely brilliant ability to rapidly understand the complexities of a business operation in the context of a contentious dispute.” Mr. Ali has advised numerous arbitration institutions on procedural tools and practices to improve efficiency, while ensuring that parties have a fair opportunity to present their case and that their due process rights are protected. He has deployed innovative procedural mechanisms in his work as an arbitrator, including med-arb and procedural facilitation. INDUSTRY AND SECTOR EXPERIENCE Mr. Ali’s industry and sector expertise as an advocate and arbitrator include: oil and gas, energy, mining, precious metals, life sciences, telecommunications, hospitality, textiles, retail, amongst other industries and economic activity. He has worked on disputes involving foreign direct investment; privatization; the construction, operation and commercialization of thermal, nuclear, and hydro power plants; oil and gas pipeline construction and concession-related matters; mining concessions; gas pricing disputes; natural resource exploitation projects and contracts; the development and operation of tourism and hospitality projects; project finance and development agreements; contract stabilization and renegotiation issues; patents and trademarks; Internet governance and top-level domains; and information technology-related disputes. In the field of construction arbitration (civil, industrial and mechanical), Mr. Ali has worked on disputes involving design and construction; delay; defects; substantial performance; express and implied warranties; change orders; construction sequencing; site selection, suitability and access; and sub-contractor substitution. JURISDICTIONAL EXPERIENCE Mr. Ali has argued and arbitrated disputes under the laws of a number of civil and common law jurisdictions and is often sought out as an arbitrator in light of his understanding of the analytical, substantive and jurisprudential differences between the two systems. He has been involved in arbitrations as counsel and arbitrator under the laws of Argentina, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Guatemala, India, Iraq, Ireland, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, The Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, England and Wales, and several states of the United States (New York, California, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Texas, Virginia, Maryland). Mr. Ali is also recognized for his knowledge of the application of Shari’a law in commercial and contractual relationships, as well as evidentiary analysis. He has advised clients on various aspects of Shari’a law and lectured and authored articles on the relevance of Shari’a law in the field of international arbitration (see, e.g., Shari’a Law Approaches to Arbitration – (2010, International Commercial Arbitration in Practice: 21st Century Perspectives). LANGUAGES Mr. Ali’s working languages are English, Spanish and French. He is also conversant in Portuguese, Urdu, Hindi and Bengali, and has some familiarity with Portuguese.