Hazim Rizkana

Practice Areas

Hazim focuses on litigation and arbitration, banking and finance, civil, commercial and private law, aircraft finance, mergers and acquisitions, securities, trademarks and patents

Career

Before establishing Rizkana & Partners, Hazim spent 28 years with an international law firm, and spent several years as counsel for two of the largest banks in Egypt. Hazim worked in the international law firm’s Riyadh Office for three years. He used to head the Dispute Resolution, Aviation and IP Practices and co-sharing the Banking and Finance Practice of the firm’s Cairo office. Having more than three decades of experience, he regularly acts as the lead lawyer in the transactions he is involved in.

Hazim has extensive experience in advising and representing states, banks, and companies in international commercial and investment disputes covering a wide range of industries including, among others; construction, telecommunications, oil and gas, waste management, tenders, and capital markets. Moreover, he also has represented clients in the setting aside, as well as, the enforcement of numerous, high profile, arbitral awards. Hazim is also a recognized arbitrator by the Egyptian Ministry of Justice. In addition to his work in arbitration and litigation, Hazim is an accredited mediator by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (“CEDR”) in London and has represented clients in several mediations.

Professional Memberships

 Registered arbitrator with the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration “CRCICA”;

 Registered arbitrator with the Dubai International Arbitration Centre “DIAC”;

 Registered arbitrator with the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration “SCCA”;

 Attended the Special Membership Course and the Award Writing Course of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in London “CIArb”;

 Attended the first CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution Congress in Europe;

 Accredited CEDR (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution) Mediator;

 Served as a board member and head of the audit committee of a major public-sector bank for three years. He also participated in drafting the Banking Law;

 Member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt “AmCham”;

 Member of the British Egyptian Business Association “BEBA”;

 Actively involved in the Egyptian Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AEPPI). He is also a board member of the “AEPPI”;

 Member in the directory of Experts at the Dispute Settlement Center with the General Authority for Investment ("GAFI");

 Registered arbitrator at the Settlement Dispute Center with the Central Bank of Egypt;

 Served in the U.S.- Egypt Business Council for one term (2 years 2011 and 2012);

 Member of the Egyptian Tax Association ("ETA");

 Founding member of the Aviation-Education, Resource & Information for African Lawyers ("AERIAL");

 Founding member of the Association for the Protection of Competition in Egypt ("AFPOC"); and

 Member of the Board of Trustees of the Egyptian Foundation for Technological Education.

Publications

 Joined in the regulatory panel on the “Cyber Security and Risk Management Summit”, that was arranged by the ECES and KPMG and addressed the recommendations on the required regulatory reform, December 2019;

 Panelist at the Cairo Legal Franchise Workshop and Symposium 2019. The Workshop was organized by the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration, January 2019;

 Panelist at the “Construction Contracts and Dispute Resolution in Egypt” conference, December 2017;

 Moderator for the “Investment Treaties: Changing Focus” panel in “A Paradigm Shift in International Investment Law” conference organized by the African International Legal Awareness, April 2017;

 Lectured “The Enforcement of Foreign Court Judgments and Arbitral Awards”. The lecture was organized by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators – Cairo Branch and was held in the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration, May 2015;

 Presented "The Execution of Court Judgements and Arbitrational Awards" in the Charted Institute of Arbitrators Cairo Branch May 2015;

 Presented "Why and When to Mediate" in the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration, October 30, 2014;

 Provided a short speech in the annual Sharm El Sheikh Conference of the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration "CRCICA". "The Role of State Courts in International Commercial Arbitration" that was held on 16-17 November 2014;

 Co-authored an article titled "IP Reforms Likely to Return to Spotlight" published in the "Baker & McKenzie - EMEA Legal Insights Bulletin", Volume 25 No. 1., Winter 2013;

 Co-authored the " Baker & McKenzie - Global Restructuring & Insolvency Guide," 2011, 2012 and 2013;

 Co-authored the "Baker & McKenzie - Global Privacy Handbook. 2008, 2010 and 2012";

 Co-authored Egypt Chapter in the "Baker & McKenzie - Global Product Recall Handbook," 2009;

 Co-authored "Doing Business in Egypt Report" for the years of 2011 and 2013;

 Presenter of two presentations in two seminars on Laws and Practice of Anti-Counterfeiting Measures in Egypt that were held in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan in 2012. The seminars were hosted and organized by the Japanese External Trade Organization (JETRO) and the Ministry of Trade, Economy and Industry;

 “International Arbitration Yearbook,” 2010 -2011;

 Provided a presentation to the Iraqi delegation under the auspices of OECD and GAFI about the practical aspects of arbitration under bilateral investment treaties (BITs) as part of the event: Enabling and Sustaining Private Foreign Investment in Iraq, Training Workshop on the Iraqi International Legal Investment Framework" in 2010;

 Provided a presentation on "Liability and Damages in International Commercial Contracts”. with the Legal Workshop International at the London School of Economics in December, 1998;

 Reporter in the "Settlement of Intellectual Property Disputes" panel in the AIPPI International Symposium in Cairo, Organized by the Egyptian National Group of AIPPI, 1997.