Professionals

Zeïneb is a dual qualified (New York & Paris) Senior Associate in Hourani & Partners’ Dispute Resolution practice. She has extensive experience representing sovereign states, state-owned entities, multinational corporations, and financial institutions in high-stakes disputes, including complex investor-State and commercial arbitrations under various arbitral rules including ICSID, ICC and LCIA Rules, and litigation proceedings before leading arbitral tribunals and European courts across the energy and natural resources, infrastructure, defence, financial services and telecommunications sectors.

Prior to joining Hourani & Partners, Zeïneb practiced at Cleary Gottlieb in Paris. She has also worked with global organizations, including the OECD in Paris and the EBRD in London, contributing to investment treaty policy and dispute resolution initiatives, as well as investigations into corrupt and fraudulent practices in the context of complex cross-border commercial transactions financed by the EBRD.

Zeïneb received her LLM from Harvard Law School. She also earned a Master’s in Economic Law cum laude, and Bachelor of Arts in Law from Sciences Po in France.

• Dispute Resolution
• Commercial and International Arbitration
• Public international law

Zeïneb’s experience includes representing:

• A Middle Eastern state in two ICC arbitrations against a neighboring country concerning the operation of cross-border oil pipelines under inter-state agreements, securing a major victory in a long-standing dispute
• A government entity in the restructuring of production sharing agreements with various international oil companies
• A central bank of a Middle Eastern state in set-aside proceedings before the Paris Court of Appeal regarding a dispute arising from a consultancy agreement for the construction of its new headquarters
• A major telecommunications company in annulment proceedings before the Paris Court of Appeal, entirely defeating a $15 billion claim brought against the client
• An African state in international arbitration proceedings initiated by a global energy company, ultimately negotiating a successful settlement
• A North African government entity in enforcement and annulment proceedings against a European investor in relation to a dispute involving the country’s largest natural gas plant
• A leading pharmaceutical company in an LCIA arbitration under English law and seated in London

Education

• LLM, Harvard Law School, USA
• MA, Economic Law, Sciences Po Law School, France
• BA, Law, Economics and Political Science, Middle Eastern Studies, Sciences Po Law School, France

Admissions

• New York State Bar Association, USA
• Paris Bar (Avocat à la Cour), France

• Arabic
• English
• French