Insights

As a disputes lawyer, I come across many disputes that were entirely avoidable, and it is fair to say that commercial disputes are among the most costly and disruptive events a business can face. They consume management time, damage commercial relationships, generate significant legal costs, and — in severe cases — threaten the viability of an enterprise altogether. Yet a significant proportion of disputes that find their way into arbitration tribunals, courtrooms, or mediation suites are not the product of bad faith or genuinely irreconcilable differences. They are, at their root, the product of poorly drafted contracts: documents that failed to anticipate risk, allocate responsibility clearly, or provide workable mechanisms for resolving problems when they arise.

As the war in the Middle East moves into its second week, its impact will be felt across businesses and industries.

Within the first two days of conflict in the current military crisis in the Middle East, our clients have already begun receiving and issuing force majeure notices, including on major infrastructure projects in Qatar. This short article highlights some of the important provisions and consequences when dealing with force majeure in construction contracts.

The Qatar Financial Centre (“QFC”) has established itself as a premier jurisdiction for the creation and management of trusts, offering a sophisticated legal framework that meets international standards. This article explores the key aspects and advantages of trusts within the QFC, providing insights into their structure, operational benefits and diverse applications for local and international stakeholders.

The financing of legal actions by third parties has grown exponentially since the early 2000s and is now common across many common law and civil law jurisdictions. It is still in its infancy in Qatar, but the Qatar International Centre for Conciliation and Arbitration (the “QICCA”) expressly recognised third party dispute funding in its 2024 rules update (the “QICCA Rules”).