Awan Seerat Tirmizi provides specialized legal services to litigants including advice on litigation strategy and representation in multi-jurisdictional disputes. The team has established itself as an expert in litigation and international arbitration matters with a sector focus on energy, construction, and financial services. It has also carved out its niche as the only specialist civil fraud and asset tracing/recovery practice in Pakistan.
The firm’s strength lies in strategizing unavoidable litigation and retaining control of core assets to prevent dissipation of their commercial efficacy or value by attrition. We deploy our resources to design and deliver simple solutions for highly complex legal problems of a select client-base.
The firm has handled a significant number of litigation and arbitration matters with its partners representing energy and infrastructure companies before all Courts and forums in Pakistan, and acting as arbitrators in other proceedings. Partners have a particular expertise in international disputes and have been part of teams that have advised and acted for sovereigns, investors, and commercial entities in ICSID, UNCITRAL, and LCIA claims and can act in state-state, investor-state, and commercial disputes before all arbitral forums and under all rules.
The firm’s expertise in the area of civil fraud, and the insight acquired from handling highly complex cases of recovery where funds had jumped several borders before being discovered and pursued, presents it as best suited for handling cases involving white-collar crimes. The firm has also been recognized as a leading legal practice in the Asset Recovery area since 2015 by Who's Who Legal.
The firm has extensive experience in enforcement of foreign judgments. The Partners have a proven track record of successfully handling complex litigation.
The firm has previously advised on M2 Motorway concession negotiations and reviewed concession agreements for various facilities at motorway service areas both in KP and Punjab. It has also advised concessionaires at Gwadar Port Authority and Port Qasim. We are currently engaged for a challenge to an arbitration award in respect of a concession. The firm has previously acted as a mediator in a dispute involving an energy terminal set up as a Public Private Partnership Venture.
The firm’s partners have acted for frontrunners amongst Pakistan’s mid- and downstream petroleum industry and in the power sector, in an advisory capacity and by representing them in complex disputes before the High Courts and regulatory authorities, including the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority and National Electric Power Regulatory Authority. Our clients include the full spectrum of entities in the energy sector: multiple E&P Companies, oil marketing companies, LNG Terminals, and liquefied petroleum gas infrastructure companies. We have also advised and acted for power generation companies, power purchasers and for the Private Power and Infrastructure Board. The firm’s partners have also been involved in a high-profile litigation and International Arbitration pertaining to the development of one of the largest copper and gold deposits in the world.
The firm regularly assists clients to institute and/or defend investigation proceedings before the Federal Investigation Agency and the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan. These include complaints and proceedings pertaining to anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing, and serious fraud offences.
The firm’s partners have worked extensively on prevention of fraud in capital market operations for nearly three decades and have regularly advised Stock Exchanges or investors on several cases of fraud by brokerage firms. The senior partner of the firm has also been a Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan nominee on the Governing Board of the Lahore Stock Exchange.
The firm has been advising and assisting various embassies for the legal verification process for the last 18 years including but not limited to the following states; Italy, Portugal and Austria.
