Rashed Z. Khalifah

Associate Attorney

Rashed Khalifah is an associate in the Riyadh office of Gibson Dunn. Rashed’s practice focuses on dispute resolution and regulatory work. Rashed recently joined the Riyadh office of Gibson Dunn after working as a Senior Associate with a leading law firm in Jordan.  Rashed completed his law degree at Birkbeck, University of London, in 2014 and has been practicing since then.  Rashed is admitted to practice law in Jordan, is a native speaker of Arabic, and is fluent in English.

Rashed regularly advises clients on investment legislation, project-related disputes, and construction and tax disputes. His work includes advising prominent foreign investors and project financiers on investment protection, benefits and exemptions, tax stability, and recourse against state agencies, as well as complex domestic and international disputes, including arbitration proceedings, cross-border litigation, and  enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards. Rashed’s recent work involves precedent-setting actions, claims and defenses in construction, aviation and tax, and has been singled out by the Legal 500 EMEA as “a commercial and tax litigation expert”, and is ranked in 2022-2024 editions of the Legal 500 as a Rising Star and leading associate in Dispute Resolution.

Representative Experience*

  • Advising Red Sea Global in connection with the regulatory structure of one of the Kingdom’s most prominent projects.
  • Assisting in the representation of KSA in Güris Insaat ve Muhendislik Anonim Sirketi v. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ICSID Case No. ARB/23/26, which arises from the KSA – Turkey BIT.
  • Advising a prominent marine services provider on a novel multi-million-dollar claim arising from a construction contract related to a major oil terminal in Al Basrah, Iraq.
  • Successfully represented one of the largest phosphate-mining and exporting enterprises in the Middle East in a high-value and complex construction arbitration brought against it by an EPC contractor under the ICC Arbitration Rules, involving the successful invocation of Sub-Clause 20.1 (the time-bar defence) for the first time under Jordanian law.
  • Successfully acted for a major aviation financier in a novel and unprecedented aircraft engine repossession action under the Cape Town Convention.
  • Successfully represented a prominent bromine manufacturing enterprise in an unprecedent tax litigation arising from a recent amendment to the free zones regime and investment legislation in Jordan.
  • Successfully represented a global energy company in two parallel tax litigations, arising from a major renewable energy project and involving the successful invocation of tax stabilization and grandfather clauses in Jordan.

*Includes prior firm representations.

Capabilities

Credentials

Admissions:
  • Jordan - Jordanian Bar