Nadia Darwazeh awarded the ASA Prize for Advocacy in International Commercial Arbitration 2022

Nadia Darwazeh, Head of Arbitration at the Paris office of Clyde & Co, was awarded the ASA (Swiss Arbitration Association) Prize for Advocacy in International Commercial Arbitration 2022.

The prize is awarded bi-annually to counsel who, through their exceptional talents in advocacy, contribute to promoting the effective resolution of international commercial disputes through arbitration. Previous prize winners include Chris Boog (2020), Mohamed S. Abdel Wahab (2018), Melissa Magliana (2016), Raëd Fathallah (2014), Philippe Pinsolle (2012) and Franz Schwarz (2010).

Nadia Darwazeh comments “I feel truly honoured that the ASA has awarded me this prestigious prize. Oral advocacy is one of my favourite aspects of international arbitration and it is fantastic to be recognised by my peers for it. To me, oral advocacy is about telling a compelling story to the tribunal. At the same time, it is also about taming wild horses – by this I mean controlling the witness, holding the reins tight, but then also following your instinct and letting the witness loose a little bit to get the best result out of the cross-examination. It is important for younger arbitration practitioners to go and seek out opportunities of oral advocacy, get out of their comfort zone and have the confidence to do so. It is equally important for the more seasoned arbitration practitioners to grant such opportunities early on and instill confidence.”

Benjamin Knowles, Head of the global Dispute Resolution Practice Group at Clyde & Co adds “Nadia is thoroughly deserving of this illustrious award, which recognises not only her personal advocacy skills, but also the strength of the team that Nadia has helped to build up within the firm.”

Felix Dasser, ASA president and partner with Homburger in Zurich, presented the prize and says that “it was a great pleasure to bestow the biennial ASA Advocacy Price on Nadia Darwazeh, an extraordinarily gifted advocate and a wonderful person.”

Chris Boog, Vice-Chair of the International Arbitration Practice Group of Schellenberg Wittmer in Zurich, who won the prize in 2020 and gave a laudatio, “is thrilled that Nadia was chosen as the winner of this year’s ASA Advocacy Prize. She is a stellar lawyer and advocate and represents the type of bold, brave, curious and truly international arbitration practitioner that will ensure that arbitration will remain the go-to dispute resolution mechanism for international commercial players in the future. I wholeheartedly congratulate her on her win and hope this accolade will motivate younger lawyers to follow in Nadia’s footsteps and always follow their inner voice when it comes to career decisions and otherwise.”