Ibrahim Shehata

Practice Areas

Energy & Electricity

Venture Capital & Startups

Corporate & Commercial

Labour & Employment

Career

Ibrahim Shehata has accumulated a decade of experience in the Egyptian market. Shehata started his career with Ibrachy & Dermarkar law firm followed by Sharkawy & Sarhan law firm. He then moved to the US to earn his Master of Laws degree in International Arbitration from New York University.

Shehata started off his career focusing on corporate law where he successfully advised several multinational companies on doing business in Egypt. Being involved in the Egyptian renewable energy market since 2014, he developed a niche experience that makes him one of the leading lawyers in the field.

Moreover, Shehata has been recognized in the last few years as one of the key players in the entrepreneurial ecosystem through working with more than 60 startups. In this regard, Shehata has helped startups navigate the legal issues that always arise in this specific realm and guided them to be more investment-ready.

Publications

1. “Arbitration in Egypt: A Practitioners’ Guide,” Kluwer Law International.

2. “All’s Well That Ends Well? Looking at the Future of the Unified Arab Agreement in Light of the Al-Kharafi v Libya Decisions by the Egyptian Courts,” ICSID Review, co-written with Ahmed Rasekh & Kabir Duggal

3. “The Interest Rates Public Policy Dilemma: The Egyptian Perspective,” ICC Dispute Resolution Bulletin, (July 2020)

4. “The Ministerial Approval Requirement for Arbitration Agreements in Egypt: Revisiting the Public Policy Debate,” Journal of International Arbitration, (May 2020) | Reprinted from Journal of International Arbitration, volume no. 37), (issue number 3), (2020), (391-404), with permission of Kluwer Law International.

5. “Extension of Arbitration Agreements to Third Parties through the Lens of Egyptian Courts,” Arbitration International, (April 2020)

6. “25 Years of Model Law Arbitration in Egypt,” ASA Bulletin, (September 2019) | Reprinted from ASA Bulletin, volume no. 37, issue number 3, (2019), (631-642), with permission of Kluwer Law International.

7. “The Application of New York Convention by Egyptian Courts: An Empirical Analysis,” International Journal of Arab Arbitration, (September 2019)

8. “Attorney-Client Privilege & International Arbitration,” Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution, (May 2019)

9. “Application of Overriding Mandatory Rules in International Commercial Arbitration: An Empirical Analysis,” World Arbitration and Mediation Review (WAMR), (December 2018)

10. “Three Potential Imminent Benefits of Blockchain for International Arbitration,” Young Arbitration Review, (November 2018)

Languages Spoken

Arabic - Native

English - Fluent

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE

Clients

Yazaki

UNIDO

CrossBoundary Energy

GIZ

Hassan Allam Utilities

Karm Solar

NOMAC

Marlink

Oriflame

BNP Paribas

responsAbility Fund

Avanz Capital

Prometeia

Temenos

Hochdorf Nutrition

Omaz

Fosber

Work Highlights

1. Advising UNIDO on the drafting of the contractual framework for the Energy Services Agreement (ESCO) business model in Egypt including the Guaranteed Savings Model, the Shared Savings Model, and the Outsourced Model. In this regard, we delivered the full contracts required for the three models along with the guidelines for these contractual models.

2. Advising Phelan Energy Group on the establishment of their Green Hydrogen Project in Egypt along with all the legalities that pertain to the Green Hydrogen Sector.

3. Advising several qualified developers and international financial institutions under the Egyptian Feed-in Tariff (“FiT”) program for wind and solar energy projects. My work included preparing an extensive legal study on the FiT regulatory and legal framework and implementation and assistance to developers in SPV incorporation, land availment, application for interim power generation license, and issuing security bonds to the government.

4. Advising Yazaki on the implementation of their multi-million-dollar private free zone in Egypt.

5. Advising responsAbility Swiss Fund on their financing disbursement for one of their portfolio companies in Egypt.

6. Advising the minority shareholders of Coca-Cola Egypt on the exit strategy in a recent acquisition of Coca-Cola Egypt.

7. Advising Hempel on its terms and conditions for the sale of its products in Egypt as well as its various transactions with governmental and non-governmental entities in Egypt.

8. Advising Aggrekko Egypt on their labor law issues in Egypt in addition to advising on several pre-contentious legal issues concerning their contracts that are performed in Egypt.

9. Advising Oriflame on their corporate and commercial law issues in Egypt.

10. Advising Avanz Capital on their day-to-day legal issues concerning their venture capital domiciled in Egypt.

Awards

Education