Feisal Hussain Naqvi

Practice Overview

After graduating from Yale Law School, Feisal worked in New York before moving to Pakistan. He has been ranked as one of the top litigators in Pakistan by Chambers & Partners since 2008.

In addition to handling commercial and constitutional disputes in Pakistani courts, Feisal has a particular interest in arbitration and international disputes. He has represented Pakistan in several disputes with India under the Indus Waters Treaty and has acted both as an arbitrator and as a counsel in numerous international matters. Most notably, Feisal was co-counsel for the Tethyan Copper Company Pty in its claim against the Government of Pakistan regarding the Reko Diq copper deposits. Those proceedings resulted in a US$ 5.8 billion award in favour of the claimants before being settled.

Feisal is Pakistan’s current representative to Working Group III of UNCITRAL dealing with Investor State Dispute Resolution reform. He also served recently as the primary draftsman of the arbitration act prepared by the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan. In July 2024, Feisal was appointed as a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR for a three year term. Earlier, Feisal was a member of the ICCA Task Force on Standards of Practice in International Arbitration.

Some of his recent experiences are as follows:

Counsel for the Government of Pakistan in an energy-related LCIA arbitration regarding the enforcement of a sovereign guarantee
Counsel for a Pakistani entity in ongoing enforcement proceedings arising out of an LCIA award
Counsel for Tethyan Copper Company in parallel ICSID/ICC proceedings against the Government of Pakistan.
Counsel for the Government of Pakistan in relation to disputes with India arising under the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960.
Counsel for Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, in proceedings before the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Counsel for a Dubai entity in an LCIA arbitration arising out of a software development contract with a Turkish entity.