Arbitration & Litigation

Menas Associates has been supporting law firms and their clients since 1981 on: international border disputes; and large and complex arbitration commercial and insurance cases.

Expertise

Our expertise in this field began when Menas was asked to assemble data in support of Libya’s offshore border dispute against Tunisia, before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Since then we have advised on disputes including:

Libya’s claims against Tunisia, Malta and Chad

Egypt’s dispute with Israel over Taba

Cameroon’s land and maritime dispute with Nigeria

Advice to governments on their claims (or contested claims) before the ICJ in The Hague

Advice on arbitral proceedings

Advice to IOCs about onshore and offshore border disputes and their possible bearing on their operations

The Yemen-Saudi border

The Jordan-Israel border

South Sudan vs Sudan land border

Archival research and para-legal support to law firms on boundary-related disputes

Expert analysis on the background of disputes, possible routes to settlement, and related prognoses

Project managing and coordinating multidisciplinary teams handling extended projects

We are able to provide expert witnesses for law firms, international oil companies, and other multinational companies, anywhere in the world. Our work includes:

Advice to governments on their claims (or contested claims) before the ICJ in The Hague

Advice on arbitral proceedings

Advice to natural resource companies on the ownership of assets, and on the possibility of disputes that may have a bearing on their operations in present or in the future, both on land and sea

Archival research and para-legal support to law firms on boundary-related disputes

Expert analysis on the background of disputes, possible routes to settlement, and related prognoses

Project managing and coordinating multidisciplinary teams handling extended projects

Arbitration cases

Our initial arbitration case work involved providing, managing, and coordinating the group of oil economists that supported Iran’s legal team in the major 1980s oil cases before the US-Iran Claims Tribunal. Besides expert witnesses, Menas also undertook and coordinated almost all of the international research and evidence gathering for these cases. Since then we have worked on numerous varied arbitration projects across the globe.

Examples of our commercial arbitration dispute work, including for insurers or the insured, include:

Looting of car showrooms in Kuwait

Refineries in Former Soviet Union

EOR project in Myanmar

Mobile phone licenses in Iran

Aluminium smelting in Tajikistan

Oil rigs in Argentina and Venezuela

An LNG plant in Egypt

EPC contracts in Algeria

Philippine banana exports to China

Industrial plants in Saudi Arabia

Commercial bank on sanctions

Political violence in Chile

BOT projects in Kenya

Gold mining in West Africa

Nickel mining in New Caledonia

Biofuels in Central Europe

Russia's aviation sector

Our role in these cases involved:

Finding the most suitable experts for the case

Evidence gathering from primary and secondary research in numerous countries and in different languages

Coordinating and managing the research team and experts

Liaising with the client and their legal team

Preparation of memorials and counter-memorials

Provision of expert witnesses

Any other ‘local-knowledge’ related tasks required by the client