Dechert’s former head of international arbitration Arif Hyder Ali and veteran Garrigues arbitrator Joe Tirado have both left their firms to establish practice as independent arbitrators.

Ali is setting up his own practice – AHALI Dispute Resolution – leaving behind a 30-year career in ‘Big Law’, having spent the past two decades leading the international arbitration practices at Crowell & Moring, Weil Gotshal & Manges and Dechert.

Writing on LinkedIn, he said: “I’ve seen and done enough helping to establish and run a post-conflict claims process, working on boundary issues between states, serving as counsel in arbitrations, as an arbitrator and as an adviser to C-suites and political leaders to have figured out what I truly find most fulfilling and enjoyable – at least professionally and at this stage of life.”

Ali said he would focus on working as an arbitrator, devoting his remaining time to teaching, academic interests, mentoring and rule of law projects.

He added: “Hopefully, my experience across a variety of industry sectors, in disputes governed by common, civil, Sharia and international law, procedural and case management experience under various arbitral regimes, multi-cultural awareness and linguistic skills (English, Spanish, French, Urdu, Bangla, Portuguese, Hindi) may be of some assistance to arbitral institutions and parties looking to appoint an arbitrator.”

Ali said his new firm would maintain offices in Washington DC and London and collaborate with law firms on bespoke counsel engagements. He said: “I’m excited to see how this next chapter of my professional life unfolds. If it holds even a small percentage of what I’ve experienced over the past 35 years, I will have enjoyed good fortune far beyond what I deserve.”

Ali leaves Dechert after 10 years, joining the firm in 2015 as partner and co-chair of international arbitration from Weil, where he spent three years as arbitration co-chair alongside Juliet Blanch, who is also now an independent arbitrator.

Before that he was a partner at Crowell & Moring for about six years, joining from legacy Fulbright & Jaworski (now Norton Rose Fulbright), where he also spent six years. That followed earlier stints at Freshfields and Shaw Pittman (now Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman), where he qualified.

Ali is not the only Dechert lawyer to strike out on their own. Dechert’s Paris-based international arbitration team left the firm in November 2023 to set up an independent practice, while Philip Dunham joined Signature’s Paris office from Dechert in January 2024.

Meantime, veteran arbitration partner Joe Tirado announced his exit from Garrigues after nine years.

Tirado said he will work as a full-time arbitrator, mediator and ADR consultant at the London, New York and Miami offices of arbitration and mediation provider JAMS.

Before joining Garrigues, Tirado was head of international arbitration at Winston & Strawn in London for three years, having held the same role at Norton Rose Fulbright. He also spent more than six years at Baker Botts, where he was a senior associate and partner.

He is an experienced bilingual arbitrator in English and Spanish. His move into full-time arbitration follows the death last month of Calvin Hamilton of Arbitra International, who maintained a long and close connection with Spanish arbitration alongside a thriving Caribbean practice.