Professional Profile
Barrister Usman Ali Lali is a founding partner at Orbis and specializes in international commercial law, cross-border investment disputes, and regulatory compliance across Pakistan's most complex and capital-intensive sectors. Called to the Bar of England and Wales (Lincoln's Inn) in 2015 with a specialization in Commercial Law and Fraud and economic crime — he advises foreign investors, multinational enterprises, and commercial clients on navigating Pakistan's regulatory and legal landscape with precision and strategic depth.
His transactional practice spans the full spectrum of commercial work — from structuring foreign direct investment and negotiating bilateral instruments to drafting and enforcing complex commercial contracts, including EPC, BOT, BOOT, and PPP arrangements across infrastructure, energy, and regulated industries. He advises on joint ventures, shareholders' agreements, and corporate restructurings, and provides full-service corporate counsel under the Companies Act 2017, including SECP regulatory compliance, mergers and acquisitions, and governance frameworks for listed and unlisted entities. His insurance practice extends to regulatory compliance under the Insurance Ordinance 2000, policy drafting, reinsurance arrangements, and insurance claims disputes.
Usman holds the distinction of serving as an Adviser to the Federal Ministry of Law and Justice of Pakistan and as a Consultant on International Disputes. He is additionally the designated Focal Point for the World Bank's Women, Business and the Law (WBL) Initiative in Pakistan, underscoring his commitment to legal reform, gender equity in economic participation, and engagement with multilateral development institutions.
His tax advisory practice encompasses high-value regulatory mandates for major public authorities, including the National Highway Authority (NHA), the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), and the Port Qasim Authority. He has served on the Appellate Body for Customs and Income Tax matters and Export Order proceedings. He has appeared before the ICSID, ICC, and IDRC London in international arbitral proceedings, chaired EU Commission plenary sessions in Brussels on democracy and rule of law, and completed executive training at Columbia University, the IMF Regional Training Institute Singapore, UNIDROIT The Hague, and UNODC Vienna, and presented at the Lauterpacht Centre, University of Cambridge.