Matthew Williams

Counsel

Overview

Matthew Williams is a counsel in the Doha office with nearly a decades’ worth of experience in Qatar.  Combining extensive international experience in construction, project finance and arbitration with an in-depth knowledge of the Qatari legal market, Matthew is proficient at handling complex matters and providing clients with solutions.

With respect to construction projects, Matthew regularly advises clients on their front-end negotiations, their contract management during the course of contractual dealings all the way through to dispute management and resolution. Matthew has extensive experience with the ICC, the LCIA and the QICCA.

He also advises clients in large scale infrastructure projects, including lenders and sponsors on both the project documentation and the financing and security arrangements. Matthew also advises clients in relation to Qatar law on general commercial matters, including data protection, intellectual property, employment and consumer protection.

Career & Education

|
    • University College London, LLB Law, (Hons), 1995
    • University College London, LLB Law, (Hons), 1995
    • England and Wales
    • England and Wales
    • Member, Qatar British Business Forum (QBBF)
    • Member, Qatar British Business Forum (QBBF)

Matthew's Insights

Publication | 01.28.25

QICCA Rules

The start of 2025 has seen the introduction of the new arbitration rules for the Qatar International Center for Conciliation and Arbitration (“QICCA”). The new rules, entitled the ‘Arbitration Rules 2024’, reflect the changing world of dispute resolution, and the rules are nearly double in length to the 2012 rules reflecting the QICCA’s understanding that arbitration is a competitive environment, and that institutional bodies need to adapt to meet the end-users’ needs. The 2024 rules are a considerable improvement, offering new regimes of expedited and emergency procedures, and transparency on third-party funding, making dispute resolution more accessible and user-friendly. We detail some of the more significant changes below....

Representative Matters

  • Acting as sponsors’ counsel on a $6 billion integrated olefins and polyethylene facility at Ras Laffan Industrial City.
  • Providing various clients with general commercial advice and drafting and negotiating documentation with respect to inter alia real estate, intellectual property, data protection, employment and consumer protection.
  • Acting as sponsors’ counsel and advising on Qatari law aspects of the Facility E IWPP project and advising on the project, finance, and security documents.
  • Acting as lenders’ counsel and advising on Qatari law aspects of the Facility D IWPP project and advising on the project, finance, and security documents
  • Acting as local counsel on a global US $12 billion bond issue.
  • Acting as respondent’s counsel for a large ICC arbitration construction dispute in relation to Hamad International Airport.
  • Acting as sponsors’ counsel on the Al Kharsaa Solar Project and advising on EPC contracts, other project documents and negotiating security documents with lenders.

Matthew's Insights

Publication | 01.28.25

QICCA Rules

The start of 2025 has seen the introduction of the new arbitration rules for the Qatar International Center for Conciliation and Arbitration (“QICCA”). The new rules, entitled the ‘Arbitration Rules 2024’, reflect the changing world of dispute resolution, and the rules are nearly double in length to the 2012 rules reflecting the QICCA’s understanding that arbitration is a competitive environment, and that institutional bodies need to adapt to meet the end-users’ needs. The 2024 rules are a considerable improvement, offering new regimes of expedited and emergency procedures, and transparency on third-party funding, making dispute resolution more accessible and user-friendly. We detail some of the more significant changes below....

Matthew's Insights

Publication | 01.28.25

QICCA Rules

The start of 2025 has seen the introduction of the new arbitration rules for the Qatar International Center for Conciliation and Arbitration (“QICCA”). The new rules, entitled the ‘Arbitration Rules 2024’, reflect the changing world of dispute resolution, and the rules are nearly double in length to the 2012 rules reflecting the QICCA’s understanding that arbitration is a competitive environment, and that institutional bodies need to adapt to meet the end-users’ needs. The 2024 rules are a considerable improvement, offering new regimes of expedited and emergency procedures, and transparency on third-party funding, making dispute resolution more accessible and user-friendly. We detail some of the more significant changes below....