Zara is an associate in the Paris office. She has significant experience in advising States and State-owned entities in investor-State arbitrations and on matters of public international law. Her practice also includes representing private corporations in international commercial arbitrations governed by a range of applicable laws and various industry sectors, with particular experience in disputes arising in the banking, finance, and energy sectors.

Zara’s recent experience includes:

• Counsel for the Kingdom of Bahrain in an investment treaty dispute arising out of the alleged expropriation of an Iranian-owned bank and involving questions of international sanctions and banking regulations
• Counsel for an international energy company in a multibillion-dollar commercial arbitration arising out of a national oil company’s failure to supply gas under a long-term contract
• Counsel for a cement company in a commercial arbitration arising out of a share purchase agreement with a state agency of a South Eastern European State
• Counsel for investors in a dispute arising from an Eastern European State’s termination of licenses to operate video lottery terminals
• Counsel for a subsidiary of an Asian national oil company in a commercial arbitration arising under a production sharing contract relating to the reimbursement of taxes, levies, and royalties
• Counsel in two confidential ICSID annulment proceedings

Zara trained at the International Court of Arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris.

Zara received her B.A. degree and M.A. degree (summa cum laude) from Sciences Po, Paris, where she was an Emile Boutmy Scholar and specialised in public international law. She was also the French National Champion of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition and was awarded writing and oralist awards. She spent a year abroad at McGill University, Montréal.

Zara holds an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School, where she served as Vice President (Events) on the Executive Board of the Harvard International Arbitration Law Students Association (HIALSA) and won writing awards as part of the Harvard Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Team. While at Harvard, she was a judicial extern to the Honourable Karen F. Green at the Massachusetts Superior Court.