Founded in 1976 by Professor Mohamed El Mernissi, FIGES MERNISSI is a law firm specialising in business law.

Initially focused on commercial law and in particular corporate law, Professor El Mernissi became interested in arbitration and developed this practice as counsel to the parties and then as arbitrator in ad hoc and institutional arbitrations. He was the first president of the arbitration court of the ICC Morocco, which later became the Moroccan Court of Arbitration and contributed to the development of arbitration in Morocco. In 2005, Professor El Mernissi chaired the Commission for the revision of the legislation on arbitration (Law No. 08-05).

Following on from its role as legal counsel to the sponsors of the first IPP project in Morocco (Jorf Lasfar coal-fired power station), FIGES MERNISSI has subsequently been involved in most of the structuring projects in Morocco and public-private partnerships (water and electricity distribution and liquid sanitation in Casablanca, Rabat, Tangiers and Tetouan, port concessions for the ports of Tangier Med I and II and the port of Casablanca, urban transport with the Rabat tramway, wind farms with the EnergiEol, Tarfaya, Taza, Koudia Al Baida projects, clean coal with the Safi power plant and seawater desalination for the supply of drinking water and irrigation with the Chtouka desalination plant in the Agadir region). The firm advises both developers and Moroccan and international banks on the financing of these projects. In 2003, Professor El Mernissi was appointed as a project manager for the preparation of the Law No. 54-05 on delegated management.

Mohamed El Mernissi was also in charge of the preparation of the Law No. 06-99 on the freedom of prices and competition in 1990 and member of the Competition Council from 2007 to 2013. With this experience, the firm assists companies in their merger control operations and anti-competitive practices.

Following the passing of the founding partner in 2021, FIGES MERNISSI is now headed by Lamya El Mernissi, who joined the firm in 1998, and by Saad El Mernissi, a member of the Paris Bar and former partner of an international law firm based in Morocco.

With the desire to mark an evolution from the image of a generalist firm while remaining true to its culture and its stringency for quality, FIGES MERNISSI now offers expertise in four areas of law: infrastructure and energy, competition, arbitration and corporate law.

Thanks to its rigour and experience, FIGES MERNISSI has been chosen as a partner by numerous international law firms that do not have a local structure capable of assisting their clients in their projects in Morocco.