Biography
Jalal El Ahdab (Jil Ahdab) is a partner in the Dispute Resolution Group for Bird & Bird in Paris, the head of the Arbitration Department in France and a member of the Firm’s Dispute Resolution practice in Dubai and Casablanca, where he offers clients longstanding and cross-border expertise in managing international disputes and arbitrations.
Jalal’s practice-area is international business law, with a focus on international disputes and foreign investments, notably in Europe, Africa and the MENA region. Having acted as a counsel, arbitrator and expert in over 150 cases, Jalal has in-depth experience in managing complex disputes including shareholders' rights, suits against States, class actions, breach of negotiations and bank guarantees, in all sorts of sectors, including sports, medias and the fashion industries.
In addition to being a regular speaker at international arbitration conferences, including at the IBA, Jil has co-authored two books: 'Arbitration with the Arab Countries' (published by Kluwer in 2011), and a book on Arbitration Law and Practice in France, written jointly with Professor Daniel Mainguy of the University of Paris 1 – Sorbonne (published by LexisNexis in 2021). Jalal is qualified to practice in Beirut (Lebanon), Paris (France) and New York (USA), and is equally fluent in Arabic, English and French.
