Karen AZOULAY

Associate

Karen Azoulay is admitted to the Paris Bar and acts as counsel in international arbitration and litigation across a variety of sectors. She represents clients in litigation and arbitration-related proceedings before the French courts, including urgent proceedings and cross-border enforcement disputes, as well as in amicable dispute resolution proceedings. Her practice also encompasses commercial and investment arbitration before all major arbitral institutions, including the ICC, ICSID and CCJA. Karen contributes to the firm’s pro bono practice.

Prior to joining Teynier Pic, Karen worked in major French and Anglo-American law firms in Paris, where she gained experience in international dispute resolution. Karen is both civil law and common law trained.

  • Paris (2021)
  • Representing more than 1,200 Nicaraguan agricultural workers in proceedings to enforce a Nicaraguan judgment before the Paris Court of Appeal against three multinational companies specializing in petrochemicals.
  • Representing a consortium of French and African public works companies against the project owner in an ICC arbitration and various enforcement proceedings before the domestic courts in a dispute concerning the construction of a bulk and mineral port in a West African State.
  • Representing an energy company in a CCJA arbitration against an African State and a State-owned company concerning the operation and maintenance of power plants.
  • Representing two European companies in an ICC arbitration against a multinational telecommunications group concerning the performance of contracts for the manufacture of electronic components and abrupt termination of an established commercial relationship.
  • Representing an international organisation in an ICC mediation in a dispute relating to the contamination of its premises in France.
  • Representing three European companies in highly expedited proceedings before the Paris Economic Activities Court and the Paris Court of Appeal against a French bank and a foreign State regarding the blocking of on-demand guarantees issued for a major construction project in the Middle East.
  • Representing a crypto-asset liquidity provider in litigation before the Paris Economic Activities Court concerning the launch of an NFT project.
  • Representing an Indian company manufacturing menthol and cocoa-based products before the Commercial Court of Paris in a dispute against several French insurance companies.
  • Representing a major French public works group in an ICSID pre-arbitration against a West African State concerning the State’s failure in the performance of a construction project.
  • Representing a Chinese minority shareholder and two Chinese companies active in the fabric manufacturing sector in the context of several disputes against a French company which is their commercial partner in China (urgent summary proceedings concerning the exclusion of this shareholder, summary proceedings seeking the appointment of an expert to review management operations, proceedings on the merits concerning allegations of unfair competition and abrupt termination of an established commercial relationship).
  • Representing a French company active in the energy sector in a dispute before the Economic Activities Court and the Court of Appeal against a French project owner concerning the destruction of a turbine.
  • Representing a French pharmaceutical company holding a licence to manufacture drugs for orphan diseases against a distributor regarding the termination of a distribution contract in the United States of America due to their failure to achieve sales targets.
  • French
  • English
  • Magister Juris (LL.M.) University of Oxford (Royaume-Uni) – 2021 – Distinction (First class honours)
  • Master 2 in International Economic Law University of Paris II – Panthéon Assas (France) – 2018 – Top of class
  • Master 1 in International Law University of Paris I – Panthéon Sorbonne (France) – 2017 – With honours
  • Bachelor of Laws University of Paris V – Descartes (France) – 2016 – With honours
  • “The evolving legal framework for State aid: an effective tool against the enforcement of intra-EU investment arbitral awards?” (in French), Les Cahiers de l’arbitrage, No. 4/2025, 1 October 2025.
  • “Intra-EU investment arbitration: the Swiss Federal Supreme Court’s resistance to the CJEU’s Achmea and Komstroy judgments” (in French), Les Cahiers de l’arbitrage, No. 4/2024, 1 October 2024.
  • “European Union law and investment arbitration” (in French), Les Cahiers de l’arbitrage, No. 4/2023, 1 October 2023.
  • “Investment Treaty Arbitration: France“, GAR Know-How, 28 July 2022 (co-authored with Eric Teynier and Sara Nadeau-Seguin)
  • “Lex contractus or lex arbitri? The UK Supreme Court sets the rules on the law applicable to the arbitration agreement: Enka v Chubb [2020] UKSC 38“, Civil Justice Quarterly, 10 June 2021
  • Member of the Alliance des Avocats pour les Droits de l’Homme (AADH) – Pro bono

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