About Us

El Swefy Law Firm was established in 2007 by Mr Ashraf El Swefy. Ashraf El Swefy himself started his practice in 1976 when he joined a leading law firm in Egypt specializing in maritime and commercial practice and quickly developed a strong reputation within the shipping and commercial community in Egypt and worldwide both as a litigator and also as a specialist in dealing with Maritime causalities and corporate and commercial matters.

In 2007, Ashraf moved offices and started his own firm located in Alexandria, being the major port in Egypt, And correspondent offices in Cairo, Port Said and Suez.

The firm through its history successfully handled a number of high profile cases, these included the grounding of the “ Ever Given” in the Suez Canal in March 2021 and representing her owners & insurers, numerous court actions resulting  because of the grounding of the “ Jolly Amaranto” off the entrance channel of the Port of Alexandria in December 2010, the “B Elephant “ cut of internet cables in 2013, the “CSCL Yellow Sea” damage to gantry cranes in November 2017, the “ Silva” arrest by ministry of justice in 2009.

The firm also acted for numerous shipping companies in drafting and or revising shipbuilding/ ship purchase agreements, the firm also acted for several banks and financing institutions in arranging for securities to secure loans provided by the said banks to several local and foreign borrowers ship owning companies and/or enforcing such securities. 

The firm provides a wide range of services in the area of shipping and maritime law, trade law, corporate law and oil and gas.

The clients of the firm range from leading marine insurance companies, major local and international shipping companies, off-shore services companies, banks and multinational oil & gas companies.

Ashraf El Swefy

Principle

Ashraf graduated from the law school, Alexandria University in 1975, after finishing military service in the Egyptian navy, Ashraf joined a leading law firm in Egypt specializing in maritime, shipping, commercial and banking laws.
In 2007, Ashraf moved offices and started his own firm.
Ashraf acted for numerous local and international shipping companies and P & I associations in a number of high profile marine causalities, cargo claims, collisions, damage to floating band fixed objects, death and injury of crew and passengers, pollution and groundings . Ashraf acted for numerous banks and financial institutions in arranging for securities to secure loans provided by the said banks to several local and foreign borrowers and/or enforcing such securities. Ashraf also acted for a number of shipping companies in the purchase of new buildings. Ashraf has an unchallenged reputation in dealing and handling most difficult situations and for providing practical solutions in most complex cases.
Ashraf provides consultancy services on regular basis to several entities local and International, these include several International law firms and presently he is the legal consultant for the Egyptian Freight Forwarders Association.

Ashraf has been described by Mr Justice Burton in ” Melinda Holdings vs. Hellenic Mutual War Risks Association ( Bermuda) 18-2-2011 as“…plainly very experienced indeed, both a senior and influential lawyer in Egypt, and in regularly advising a number of major shipping companies and P&I clubs in Egypt and internationally, he also provided expert evidence on several occasions”.

Languages: Arabic, English.