Your legal team on the ground in Iraq
Iraqi bar admitted advisors in Baghdad, with a U.S. office in Chicago.
Iraqi bar admitted team · ICC and ICSID arbitration experience · Registered vendor to a Gulf-headquartered oil and gas producer · Offices in Baghdad and Chicago
Company Formation & Structuring
We register branches, limited liability companies and representative offices for foreign businesses with the Ministry of Trade companies registrar in Baghdad. Our Baghdad team files the applications in person and follows them through to registration. We then keep the entity in good standing: annual filings, licence renewals, governance changes and shareholder updates. Before you file, we advise on branch versus local company, because that choice drives tax, liability and exit later.
Foreign Investment & Licensing
We advise foreign investors on whether a project needs a National Investment Commission or provincial investment licence, what that licence protects, and what it does not. We prepare the application file, follow it with the commission, and map the sector approvals that sit alongside it, from ministry requirements in oil, electricity and communications to customs registration.
Regulatory Compliance
Iraqi rules often change by Cabinet decision, with little notice. We monitor Cabinet resolutions, the Official Gazette and ministry circulars, and turn each change into specific actions for your entity in Iraq: tax and social security filings, work permits, customs requirements, sanctions screening and anti-corruption controls.
Dispute Resolution & Arbitration
We recover unpaid invoices, withheld performance guarantees and stalled contract payments from Iraqi public and private counterparties. Our Baghdad team appears before the Iraqi courts, and our founder brings ICC and ICSID arbitration experience to disputes that need an international forum. We also advise on enforcing foreign arbitral awards in Iraq under the New York Convention.
Corporate & Commercial Contracts
We draft and review contracts governed by Iraqi law or performed in Iraq: EPC and service contracts, subcontracts, agency and distribution agreements, joint ventures and supply terms. We test each one against the Iraqi Civil Code, the public contracts instructions and the applicable tax and customs rules, so that liability caps, payment terms and dispute clauses hold up when they are tested.
Employment & Labor Advisory
We advise foreign employers on Iraqi Labour Law No. 37 of 2015 and the Retirement and Social Security Law No. 18 of 2023: employment contracts, work permits and residency for foreign staff, social security registration and contribution rates, termination, and labour disputes. Our Baghdad team handles the filings with the relevant ministries.
Due Diligence & Market Entry Advisory
Before you sign with an Iraqi partner, supplier or acquisition target, we check what the records actually show: company registration and ownership at the Ministry of Trade, government contractor blacklists, tax standing, litigation and sanctions exposure. We also manage vendor registration and prequalification, and we have completed registered vendor onboarding with a Gulf-headquartered oil and gas producer.
Tax & Customs Advisory
We advise on Iraqi corporate income tax, withholding on payments to foreign contractors, the 35% tax on foreign oil company income under Law No. 19 of 2010, tax clearance certificates, and customs procedures including ASYCUDA declarations and duty payment. We help you price tax and customs cost into a contract before you bid, not after the first assessment.