Vahid Dashti is an Of Counsel and legal advisor specialized in international dispute settlement and cross-border commercial law. He has over fifteen years of solid experience representing corporate clients, states, and investors in complex international arbitration and litigation, as well as advising on multi-jurisdictional transactions and regulatory compliance across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Vahid’s practice covers both commercial and investment arbitration (ICC, LCIA, ICSID). His recent involvements include advising in an ICC arbitration for a regional automotive group; a commodities-trade dispute spanning the LCIA and Chinese maritime courts; an ICSID investor–state arbitration concerning treaty-based investment protections; and a UK High Court litigation concerning recovery of contractual receivables and enforcement of trade-finance securities. He also advises clients in the energy, oil & gas, shipping, automotive, and technology sectors on contract structuring, cross-border acquisitions, financing instruments, and risk management under both civil- and common-law systems.

Before joining SMBC Law, Vahid served as Senior Legal Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Directors of a Swiss oil and gas trade and investment company, where he managed an international arbitration and litigation portfolio exceeding USD 500 million and led major vessel-acquisition and settlement negotiations. Earlier in his career, he headed the International Contracts & Disputes Department of a major oil and gas construction company, overseeing the full cycle of contract and dispute management on offshore EPC and drilling projects worth over USD 1.8 billion.

Vahid holds an LL.M. in International Dispute Settlement (MIDS) — a dual degree offered by the University of Geneva and the Graduate Institute — and Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Private Law and Islamic Jurisprudence from Imam Sadiq University (Tehran).

He works in English, French, and Persian, with additional knowledge of Arabic, and brings a distinctive perspective bridging civil-law and common-law traditions to international dispute resolution.