Ramy Bassily

Biography

Ramy Bassily is a partner at Lead up and a recognised practitioner in international commercial arbitration and investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS), with a particular focus on the Middle East and North Africa. He represents multinational corporations, financial institutions, States and state-owned entities in complex cross-border disputes.

His practice includes proceedings before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID, including in investor-State arbitrations under the ICSID Convention), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and the American Arbitration Association (AAA), as well as the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC), the Swiss Arbitration Centre and the Vienna International Arbitral Centre (VIAC).

In the MENA region, he has extensive experience in arbitrations before the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA), the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), the Abu Dhabi International Arbitration Centre (ArbitrateAD), the Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution (BCDR), the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) and the Qatar International Center for Conciliation and Arbitration (QICCA).

He also acts in ad hoc arbitrations, particularly under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules.

Ramy has acted in disputes governed by a broad range of substantive laws, with particular expertise in the laws of the Middle East and North Africa, including Emirati, Saudi, Qatari, Kuwaiti, Jordanian, Iraqi, Lebanese, Egyptian, Libyan and Sudanese law. His practice also includes substantial work in disputes governed by French and English law, drawing on his French legal training and his familiarity with common-law contractual structures. He handles matters engaging Sharia principles.

His experience spans key sectors including banking, construction, infrastructure, energy, distribution, defence and telecommunications. Alongside contentious work, he advises clients in negotiations and mediations.

In addition to his role as counsel, Ramy is regularly appointed as arbitrator and is listed on the rosters of qualified arbitrators of several international arbitral institutions across the MENA region. He sits as sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator and tribunal chair in disputes involving commercial, construction, services, sale and purchase, real estate and investment management matters. This dual perspective informs his advocacy as counsel: having decided cases himself, he understands how tribunals weigh evidence, evaluate procedural strategy and reason through complex factual records, and he draws on that insight to shape arguments with the tribunal’s reasoning in mind.

Ramy practised at leading international law firms in Egypt and France, and independently, before joining Lead up. He has been admitted to the Egyptian Bar Association since 2009 and works in English, French and Arabic.

Ramy is recognised in the Lexology Index 2026 (formerly Who’s Who Legal) for arbitration, published in partnership with Global Arbitration Review (GAR), and is ranked by Leaders League among the Recommended arbitrators in France (Arbitrators, France, 2026). He serves as Co-Leader of the Cairo Hub of ArabArb and as Vice-President of the Club de l’Arbitrage.

Experience

Below is a selection of representative matters across international commercial arbitration and investor-State disputes, and Ramy’s work as arbitrator. The list is illustrative and does not exhaust his practice.

Selected experience in international commercial arbitration

• Counsel for a Middle Eastern construction company in an ICC arbitration relating to infrastructure projects.
• Counsel for a State-owned gas seller in an ICC arbitration relating to the price of gas under a long-term supply contract.
• Counsel for a State-owned natural gas company in an ICC arbitration relating to the price of bitumen-based fuel under a long-term supply contract.
• Counsel for a consortium of companies of a major French construction group in an ICC arbitration concerning the construction of a carbon fibre plant.
• Counsel for a German company in a UNCITRAL arbitration concerning the construction of an energy plant in a Middle Eastern country.
• Counsel for a conglomerate of Middle Eastern construction companies in a UNCITRAL arbitration concerning infrastructure projects.
• Counsel for a businessman in an ICC arbitration concerning commercial agreements concluded under Sharia principles.

Selected experience in investor-State arbitration

• Counsel for a Turkish investor against a Middle Eastern State in an arbitration arising out of the termination of two large-scale infrastructure projects and, more generally, losses caused by the Arab Spring, in breach of a bilateral investment treaty (BIT).
• Counsel for a Middle Eastern State in an ICSID arbitration against a French investor in the telecommunications sector, under a BIT.
• Counsel for a Middle Eastern State in an ICSID arbitration against a Spanish investor in relation to an investment in a cement manufacturing plant, under a BIT.
• Counsel for a Middle Eastern State in an ICC arbitration against an investor in the telecommunications sector.
• Counsel for a Middle Eastern State in an ICSID arbitration against a British investor in the textile sector, under a BIT.
• Counsel for a Middle Eastern State in a UNCITRAL arbitration against a Finnish investor in the iron ore sector, under a BIT.
• Counsel for a European State in an ICSID arbitration against a Dutch investor in the postal sector, under a BIT.

Selected experience as arbitrator

• Sole arbitrator in a DIAC case relating to a construction dispute. Applicable law: United Arab Emirates.
• Sole arbitrator in a DIAC case concerning the breach of a construction subcontract. Applicable law: English.
• Sole arbitrator in a DIAC case relating to the breach of a construction subcontract. Applicable law: United Arab Emirates.
• Sole arbitrator in a DIAC case relating to the breach of a service contract. Applicable law: United Arab Emirates.
• Sole arbitrator in a DIAC case relating to the breach of a sale and purchase agreement. Applicable law: United Arab Emirates.
• Sole arbitrator in a DIAC case relating to a real estate dispute. Applicable law: United Arab Emirates.
• Sole arbitrator in a DIAC case relating to the breach of a real estate investment and operational management contract. Applicable law: United Arab Emirates.

Education

• Master 2, Litigation, Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution, Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas, France.
• Master 2, International Trade Law, Université Paris X Paris-Nanterre, France.
• M., International and Comparative Law, The American University in Cairo, Egypt (Highest Honour for outstanding graduate academic achievement).
• Harvard-modeled International Negotiation Program, Harvard University and The American University in Cairo, Egypt.
• University Diploma in French Legal Studies, Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, France.
• B. (Hons), Ain Shams University, Egypt.
• Certificate of Legal Methodology, Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, France.

Thought leadership

Recent publications

• “Q&A: Conducting Litigation in France”, Lexology, 23 June 2025 (with Julien Maire du Poset, Anne-Sophie Tonin and Baptiste Rigaudeau).
• “In Brief: Arbitration Formalities in France”, Lexology, 23 June 2025 (with Julien Maire du Poset, Anne-Sophie Tonin and Baptiste Rigaudeau).
• “Panoramic Dispute Resolution — France”, Lexology, 27 October 2025 (with Julien Maire du Poset, Anne-Sophie Tonin and Baptiste Rigaudeau).

Recent speaking engagements

• “Legal issues and opportunities in Egypt in the context of investment arbitration”, The American University in Cairo, November 2021.
• “Hardship and Force Majeure in International Commercial Contracts”, 38th ICC Institute Annual Conference, Paris, November 2018.

Academic involvements

• Research assistant, Université Paris X Paris-Nanterre, France, October 2014 to January 2015.
• Research and teaching assistant, The American University in Cairo, Egypt, September 2011 to May 2013.

Contact

A.A.R.P.I. Lead up, 12, rue Tronchet, 75008 Paris, France. Telephone: +33 1 45 75 43 44. Email: bassily@leadup-avocats.com. To get a fuller sense of the firm, please visit our Expertise page and our Team page.