Professor Dr Nayla Comair-Obeid, founding partner of Obeid Law Firm, heads the firm's dispute resolution practice. She is professor of international commercial arbitration at the Lebanese University and alternative dispute resolution at the Lebanese Judicial Institute. In 2014 she chaired the board of trustees of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb). She is currently president of the CIArb for 2017. Dr Comair-Obeid has extensive trial experience in Lebanon where she has represented major domestic and foreign corporate clients including states and governmental entities. Over the course of her 38-year career in litigation and international arbitration, Dr Comair-Obeid has been, and continues to be, involved in the most significant litigation disputes in the market. Her areas of expertise range from international business law and Islamic and Middle Eastern legislation to franchising, shareholder issues, commercial representation, licensing, administrative law, banking, insurance, telecommunication, construction, complex civil litigation and corporate and financial disputes. Dr Comair-Obeid is often called upon as legal expert on various aspects of Lebanese law and Middle Eastern legislations in foreign courts and in arbitral proceedings. In addition, she regularly serves as counsel and arbitrator in Arabic, French and English-language arbitrations conducted both ad hoc and under a variety of International Arbitration Rules. Dr Comair-Obeid has authored The Law of Business Contracts in the Middle East (Kluwer Law) and numerous other publications in Arabic, French and English covering a range of legal fields including international contract law, international arbitration and Islamic finance. She is frequently invited to speak as a leading expert in her field.