Who this practice serves
We assist foreign and Syrian companies, shareholders, suppliers, distributors, lenders and external counsel where a dispute, debtor or relevant asset is connected with Syria. The work may begin before proceedings, during a Syrian case, after a local judgment or when a foreign judgment or arbitral award may require recognition and enforcement. Early instructions are valuable because the legal merits, procedural route and realistic recovery outcome are different questions and must be assessed together.
Mandates, strategy and exclusions
Common mandates include early case assessment, formal notices, settlement strategy, commercial litigation, debt recovery, interim-measure analysis and enforcement planning. We also review the Syrian dimension of foreign judgments and arbitral awards. No responsible assessment can guarantee success, timing or recovery before examining jurisdiction, service, finality, limitation, public-policy issues and the debtor’s assets. Criminal complaints, insolvency, sanctions, tax or proceedings outside Syria require separate analysis and, where necessary, other qualified counsel.
Evidence and cross-border coordination
A useful file contains executed contracts and amendments, governing-law and dispute clauses, invoices, delivery evidence, account statements, notices, correspondence and a dated chronology. Electronic material should be preserved in its original form with information showing authorship and transmission. For a foreign judgment or award, counsel may also require certified copies, proof of finality, service records, the arbitration agreement and legalisation and translation. We coordinate these items with foreign counsel before avoidable gaps become an enforcement objection.
Timing, assets and commercial proportionality
Deadlines may arise from limitation rules, appeal periods, service requirements, contractual notice clauses or a risk that assets will move. The route also depends on where the debtor and assets are located and whether protective measures are legally available. A strong legal claim may still be a poor commercial recovery if assets are unknown, encumbered or costly to pursue. Strategy should therefore compare negotiation, proceedings and enforcement costs against the amount, evidence, debtor response and realistic asset position, with urgent dates recorded at the outset.