SHEARMAN & STERLING
Shearman & Sterling is an international law firm established in New York in 1873. The firm has been advising many of the world’s leading corporations and financial institutions, governments and governmental organizations for more than 140 years. The firm comprises over 850 lawyers around the world speaking more than 60 languages and practicing U.S., English, French, German, Italian, Hong Kong, OHADA, Saudi and UAE law.
Shearman & Sterling has acted in many complex, high-profile and first-to-market transactions across the world. We offer an integrated multidisciplinary team of lawyers dedicated to delivering first-class client service, advising on the full spectrum of matters. These include asset management, banking and finance, capital markets, M&A, project development and finance, as well as international arbitration, litigation and dispute resolution.
Shearman & Sterling’s International Arbitration team provides advice and advocacy to companies, States and State entities in investment treaty and commercial arbitrations conducted in accordance with all major international arbitration rules. The multilingual, multicultural team is widely regarded as one of the very best on the market.
Because of our strategic view and thorough knowledge of arbitration processes, clients turn to us for their most critical matters. We work together with our clients, ahead of and throughout the dispute, to devise and implement a strategy that meets their objectives and leads to the optimal resolution of their thorniest legal problems.
Our clients have described our team as tenacious, dedicated and focused on winning. We assemble teams combining technical excellence and industry expertise to fiercely defend the interests of our clients through clear and cogent written and oral advocacy, without compromising their long-term goals with their business partners. Our lawyers are trained to be attentive to our clients’ needs and expectations, responsive and organized.
We act as counsel in arbitrations worldwide and are able to conduct proceedings in English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, and many other languages. We also appear before national courts to enforce or resist enforcement of international arbitration agreements and arbitral awards. Members of our team also regularly serve as arbitrator.
We offer assistance, representation and advice at all stages of the contentious process, starting from the onset of the dispute throughout the arbitral proceedings, advocacy at trial, and the challenge and enforcement of arbitral awards. We also appear before national courts to prosecute or defend applications for interim measures in support of arbitration, such as injunctions, attachments and orders preserving evidence.
We stand apart from other firms for our ability to address highly complex issues of international arbitration law. Our group has been repeatedly singled out for being the one to go to for “seriously problematic cases,” as well as for the “unsurpassed quality” of its work. Our team has been acclaimed in leading professional directories as “a formidable opponent,” and “a fantastic experience for clients.” Clients have also praised our international arbitration group for its “broad range of expertise, diversity of practitioners and ability to handle anything,”
Alex Bevan
Alex Bevan is Shearman & Sterling’s Global International Arbitration Practice Group Leader and Head of the Abu Dhabi office. He also leads the firm’s Construction practice.
Alex has over 20 years of experience advising and representing clients in complex international arbitration proceedings arising out of construction and development projects, investments, acquisitions and joint ventures. These disputes arise in a range of industries, in particular infrastructure, power, oil and gas and telecoms. Alex also serves as Arbitrator in international arbitration proceedings.
Alex is an English solicitor and practiced in Shearman & Sterling’s London office for 12 years before transferring to the firm’s Abu Dhabi office in mid 2012. His transfer to Abu Dhabi has led to the building of one of the biggest dedicated arbitration practices in the Middle East. It is widely recognised as a go-to practice for complex, high-profile arbitration, particularly in relation to large infrastructure projects.
Chambers Global notes that clients and peers have described Alex as “widely noted for his broad construction practice. He has regional experience of representing both contractors and developers in significant arbitrations, most notably in the energy and oil and gas industries. One client observed: ‘He is a tenacious advocate and the go-to guy for big-ticket disputes in the Middle East’”. He is also noted for having “extensive experience in international arbitrations, regularly representing major oil and gas clients”. Previous editions note that he is “extremely able” a “go-to guy for major international arbitrations”, and “a strategic thinker and a persuasive advocate” with “excellent relationship-building skills”. Chambers UK describes him as a “clinical cross-examiner” with “invaluable strategic thinking”. He has also been described as “outstanding – shrewd, hardworking and able”. Alex is recommended in The Legal 500 EMEA and The Legal 500 UK.
