Morocco

The firm: Benzakour Law firm (BLF) is a major Moroccan business law firm, with a long history in the country. It is a prominent and very reputable firm in Morocco. The firm is widely regarded as a top law firm acting in upstream and downstream sides. It is offering a large and full portfolio in business law, with a particular focus on assistance to foreign investment and litigation. The main areas of practice are corporate, merger control/competition law, foreign exchange policy, shipping, aviation, real estate, labour, tax law, energy, trade and dispute resolution/litigation and arbitration.   The firm was originally founded by Me Abdelaziz Benzakour, a statesman and revered figure in the country. He was appointed by the King as head of Morocco’s Mediator Institute in 2011. He is also a former chief of the Casablanca Bar, the Moroccan Association Bars and the African Union Bars. He is lauded as ‘one of the biggest figures of the Moroccan Bar, with lots of personality, charisma and a great reputation’.   Currently, Me Rachid Benzakour is the head partner and manager of the firm. He continuously receives much praise for his in-depth knowledge and deep understanding of international clients’ needs. ‘He takes care of all our issues, responds quickly and knows the local laws very well’, noted one client. He was ranked first in the National Bar Exam (2000). He is a multilingual practioner, with a mixture of Anglo-Saxon and french cultures.   The firm is very well versed in working on different projects in collaboration with several foreign law firms, such as Clyde & Co, Reed Smith, Herbert Smith, Hogan Lovells, Jones Day, Cleary Gottlieb, , Gleiss Lutz, Ashurst, Hilldickinson, Cooley, Uria, DWF, Simmons & Simmons, Bredin Prat, August & Debouzy, BDGS, Flichy Grange, Depardieu Brocas Maffei, Bonelli Erede, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, Stibbe, Latham & Watkins LLP, SJ Berwin, Skadden, Morrison & Foster, King & Wood Malleson.   The firm has also worked on different projects for clients such as: Export and Import Bank of America (EximBank), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Royal Air Maroc (RAM), Alitalia, IATA, Philip Morris, KT&G, Isuzu, Hitachi, Samsung C&T, Ford, Amazon, Booking, Adidas, Schlumberger, Derichebourg, Litasco, General Electric Healthcare, Club Med, Accor, Coca-Cola, Nokia-Siemens, Danone, Alstom, Ikea, New Look, Sumitomo, Columbia, Aeropuertos Argentina, Oetker, Acwa Power, Averda, Endesa, Sita, SNCF International, Groupe Castel, Suez, Simba Toys, Teleperformance Intermediation, Hermes, Technogym, PGS, Acticall, AAR Corp, Can-Pack, Henkel, Diebold, Siemens Gamesa, Ferragamo, UK Government, US Embassy, Credit Agricole, Bic, Pesner, Posco, Mettalis, Somaport, Radisson, Western Geco.