Shai Sharvit

Shai is one of the most prominent international arbitration practitioners in Israel and was recently recognized in the 2025 Lexology Arbitration Index as the only Israeli to be ranked as a Global Elite Thought Leader.

Shai’s practice focuses mainly on international arbitration and complex commercial disputes, which have cross-border or multi-jurisdictional aspects where he acts as counsel, expert and arbitrator in international disputes. In addition, Shai was also introduced in 2023 as an Associate Member of Arbitra International in London.

Shai’s international arbitration experience ranges from investment disputes, to construction, energy and infrastructure through insurance, commercial, corporate and shareholders’ disputes to licensing, technology (including IP and IT) and high-tech disputes under the rules of all major arbitral institutions.

Shai’s admissions and affiliations list includes his positions as a Court Member of the LCIA Court (first Israeli to serve on the LCIA Court in its 129 years of existence), former member for Israel at the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR, member of the ICC Institute of World Business Law, member of the international arbitration committee of the Tel-Aviv Bar Association, ambassador of the ICC Commission on the Belt & Road Initiative and he is also a member of the panel of arbitrators of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, the Israeli Institute of Commercial Arbitration and CIETAC (China). In addition, Shai also served as a member of the Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Centre International Task Force on International Arbitration, was a member of the experts’ group assisting UNCITRAL on High-Tech and Technology Disputes and is also an observer at Working Group II of UNCITRAL on behalf of the Israeli Institute of Commercial Arbitration, and took an active part in the drafting of UNCITRAL SPEDR Rules. Shai also took part in the legislative work with the Israeli MoJ on the new international arbitration law, based on the UNCITRAL Model Law, which was adopted in Israel in 2024.

Recently, Shai assisted in founding the international arbitration panel of the Israeli Institute of Commercial Arbitration and was appointed by the President of the IICA to serve on its appointment committee.

Shai is regularly invited by the Ministry of Justice of the Government of Israel to advise on draft legislation (for example, on the adoption of the UNCITRAL Model Law, the Singapore Convention and other private international law legislation) as well as other policy issues relating to Investment Arbitration, private international law and cross-border legislation. Shai is also invited regularly by leading international arbitration bodies (including ICCA and the IBA Arbitration Committee) to contribute to cross-border research and publications and also regularly writes on developments in Israeli case-law in different Israeli and international publications.

Shai is also a co-founder and the chairman of Tel-Aviv Arbitration Week, Israel’s leading and largest conference on international arbitration, a co-founding member of the organizing committee of Cyprus Arbitration Day, a faculty member at the Delos ROAP (Remote Oral Advocacy Program) EMEA Course, a lecturer on international arbitration at the arbitrators’ accreditation course of Tel-Aviv University Faculty of Law and was invited to speak in recent years in conferences around the world, including in New York, London, Paris, Stockholm, Berlin, Edinburgh, Dubai, Lisbon, Uzbekistan, Nigeria, Moscow, Cyprus and more.