Curtis Expands Central Asia Footprint with New Office in Tashkent

Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP, a leading international law firm, today announced the opening of its new office in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The new office underscores the firm's strategic commitment to serving clients across Central Asia with sophisticated legal counsel in investor-state arbitrations, commercial disputes, sovereign representation and corporate and commercial matters.

The Tashkent office will initially be led by a founding group of international lawyers drawn from Curtis' US, UK and Middle East offices. Together, the team brings depth of experience in international law (including English and US law), sector-specific expertise, regional knowledge and local business language fluency:

• Dr. Borzu Sabahi, a distinguished international disputes lawyer and lead relationship partner for the firm's current Uzbek government work. Dr. Sabahi brings extensive experience in international arbitration and public international law;
• Dr. Marat Umerov, a senior international arbitration and international trade attorney, highly experienced in disputes arising under investment treaties and laws, and free trade agreements. He was a research fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he focused on issues of economics and security in Central Asia and the Caucasus, and is fluent in Russian;
• Marc Hammerson, an industry leading oil and gas partner is recognized for his transactional experience gained in emerging markets in Africa and the Middle East, as well as in-house corporate experience gained on client secondments and external general counsel appointments to public oil companies;
• Julien Hansen, an experienced corporate partner in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and private equity has deep sectoral focus on natural resources, technology and real estate. Fluent in Russian, he has over 20 years of regional CIS experience;
• Maria Ongoren, an experienced international arbitration and commercial disputes lawyer, is a key member of the Curtis team representing the Uzbek government. She has broad sectoral experience across construction, natural resources, banking, and telecommunications. Fluent in Russian, Maria brings expertise in legislation relating to CIS States.
• Arslan Makharamov, an Uzbek national who supports both the international disputes and oil and gas practices, has prior relevant experience in legislative analysis and policy development within the structure of the Presidential Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan. He is fluent in both Uzbek and Russian.

Curtis' operations in Tashkent will be closely supported by key firm lawyers from the UK and Middle East offices, maintaining the highest international standards. Supported by more than 30 Russian-speaking lawyers across its offices, Curtis' linguistic and cultural edge will provide clients with seamless service throughout the region.

George Kahale III, Chairman of Curtis, emphasized the strategic importance of the expansion: "Our new Tashkent office reflects Curtis's commitment to being where our clients need us most. This expansion is part of our broader international growth strategy, ensuring Curtis remains at the forefront of serving clients in the world's most important emerging markets."

The firm's experience representing Uzbekistan in high-stakes international arbitrations has given it unique insights into the Central Asian market. The Tashkent office will allow Curtis to better serve clients throughout the region.

Focus on Central Asia

The Tashkent office opening reinforces Curtis's strategic focus on Central Asia and the CIS region, furthering the firm's longstanding regional commitment and existing foothold in Kazakhstan. As one of the oldest international law firms, Curtis has a long history of working within countries with similarly dynamic and rapidly modernizing markets.

The new office will concentrate on Curtis's reputation for sovereign representation, building on the firm's established track record of representing governments and state-owned entities in complex international disputes. Curtis currently represents the Republic of Uzbekistan in key investor-treaty arbitrations, reflecting the firm's deep understanding of the region's legal landscape and its track record in the energy sector globally and in the Eurasia region.

This location will offer clients in this region access to Curtis's comprehensive legal capabilities, including international arbitration, complex commercial disputes, cross-border litigation, sovereign representation, public international law, investment funds, corporate and commercial matters, and sectoral expertise across energy, oil and gas, mining and minerals, real estate, infrastructure development, family offices and more.