Guozun Cathay Associates Egypt Office was officially inaugurated in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, in May 2024. As a core hub of the firm’s globalisation strategy covering North Africa and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, its core mission is to provide Chinese enterprises along the Belt and Road Initiative with integrated local and international cross-border legal services.
This document constitutes the official benchmark fee guide for Guozun Cathay Associates Egypt Office for the 2026 calendar year. All published prices are exclusive of the prevailing 14% value-added tax (VAT) in Egypt. Settlement is accepted in three currencies: US Dollars (USD), Chinese Yuan (CNY) and Egyptian Pounds (EGP), with the settlement exchange rate determined by the central bank mid-market rate on the date of service delivery.
1. Compliant Fee System and Service Pricing Methodologies
Guozun Cathay Associates Egypt Office strictly adheres to the Egyptian Lawyers Act 1983 and the Code of Practice on Professional Fees issued by the Egyptian Bar Association. Taking full account of the practical needs of Chinese enterprises for cross-border services, the office has established five standardised pricing models, all of which comply with Egyptian judicial regulatory requirements and international commercial legal service practices:
1.1 Fixed Lump Sum Model
Applicable to routine legal matters with standardised processes and pre-calculable workloads. The final service fee is confirmed upon signing the engagement letter, with no hidden additional charges. This model primarily covers services such as company registration, basic compliance filing, and standard legal document drafting.
1.2 Hourly Rate Model
Applicable to non-standardised services such as major cross-border investment projects, complex commercial disputes, and customised compliance system development. Fees are calculated based on the actual chargeable working hours of lawyers. A detailed timesheet is submitted to the client on a monthly basis, clearly specifying work content, participating personnel and time spent, with full traceability for verification.
1.3 Tiered Fee Model Based on Subject Matter Value
Applicable to legal services involving property interests, such as cross-border mergers and acquisitions, asset transactions, and large commercial claims. Tiered rates apply based on the subject matter value of the case: the higher the subject matter value, the lower the corresponding rate, consistent with prevailing practices in Egypt’s high-end commercial legal service market.
1.4 Conditional Fee Model
Within the scope permitted by Egyptian law, this model applies exclusively to cases such as debt collection, commercial recovery, and tort damages compensation. Fees are charged only on the condition that the client actually receives payment or obtains a successful outcome. The maximum fee ratio shall not exceed 30% of the actual amount recovered.
1.5 Annual Retainer Model
Provides comprehensive year-round legal support for enterprises, with a fixed service fee charged on an annual basis.
2. Tiered Hourly Rate Standards for Lawyers
All practising lawyers at Guozun Cathay Associates Egypt Office hold valid practising certificates issued by the Egyptian Bar Association. Core team members also hold qualifications to practise Chinese law or the law of other Arab jurisdictions, and are proficient in providing legal services in Chinese, Arabic and English. The office operates a strict tiered pricing system for lawyers, with different levels of lawyers focusing on distinct professional fields and service capabilities:
The benchmark hourly rate range for 2026 is USD 120 per hour to USD 450 per hour, broken down as follows:
2.1 Junior Practising Lawyer (1–3 years’ post-qualification experience)
Primarily handles routine local legal matters, document collation, basic compliance review and other work.
2.2 Mid-level Specialist Lawyer (4–8 years’ post-qualification experience)
Responsible for professional services in specific areas, such as company incorporation, labour and employment, and intellectual property application.
2.3 Senior Partner (over 10 years’ post-qualification experience)
Leads high-end legal services including major cross-border projects, complex dispute resolution, and regulatory response.
2.4 Cross-border Specialist from Beijing Headquarters
Provides professional support from a Chinese law perspective and coordinates Guozun’s global network resources.
2.5 Special Rate Adjustment Rules
2.5.1 For handling cases outside Egypt (including other North African countries), a travel and fieldwork allowance of 20%–40% shall be added.
2.5.2 For urgent service initiated within 72 hours, and services rendered on public holidays or at night, a 50% urgent service surcharge shall apply.
2.5.3 For cross-border collaborative cases involving multiple countries in the Middle East and North Africa, the overall rate shall be increased by 15%.
2.5.4 For trilingual court interpretation and legal document translation services, the rate shall be increased by 20%.
2.5.5 For specialised services in sectors with high professional barriers such as energy, infrastructure and finance, the rate shall be increased by 10%–25%.
3. Benchmark Fee Ranges for Core Practice Areas
3.1 Cross-border Investment and M&A Legal Services: USD 1,500 – USD 48,000
3.1.1 Full turnkey services for Chinese enterprises establishing wholly-owned subsidiaries, branches and representative offices in Egypt and North African countries, including foreign investment eligibility review, company name approval, and industrial and commercial registration.
3.1.2 Application for Egyptian industry business licences, investment incentive policies, and design and implementation of compliance structures for foreign shareholding ratios.
3.1.3 Legal due diligence for Sino-Egyptian two-way investment, investment path planning, transaction structure design and post-investment compliance management.
3.1.4 Full-lifecycle legal services for enterprise equity changes, capital increase and share expansion, mergers and divisions, and deregistration and liquidation.
3.1.5 Legal support and policy liaison for entry into various industrial parks such as the Suez Canal Economic Zone and Port Said Free Trade Zone.
3.2 Infrastructure and Construction Legal Services: USD 3,200 – USD 85,000
3.2.1 Full-cycle legal services for various infrastructure projects including transport, municipal works, water conservancy and energy, covering mainstream project models such as EPC, PPP and BOT.
3.2.2 Review of project bidding and tendering documents, contract system design and negotiation, performance risk management, and construction claims and counterclaims.
3.2.3 Project completion acceptance, warranty period dispute resolution, franchise acquisition and compliance management.
3.2.4 Specialised legal support for large-scale development and construction projects in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.
3.3 Energy and Natural Resources Legal Services: USD 2,800 – USD 72,000
3.3.1 Full-process legal support for oil and gas exploration and development, refining, storage and transportation, and pipeline construction projects.
3.3.2 Investment, development, construction, operation and compliance risk management for renewable energy projects such as photovoltaic, wind power and hydropower.
3.3.3 Energy project licensing and approval, Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) negotiation, and supporting legal services for cross-border investment and financing.
3.3.4 Mineral resource exploration and development, mining right acquisition and transfer, and natural resources compliance regulatory response.
3.4 General Corporate and Commercial Legal Services: USD 800 – USD 36,000
3.4.1 Daily operation compliance maintenance, annual audit, and tax compliance consulting for Egyptian companies.
3.4.2 Optimisation of corporate governance structures, protection of shareholders’ rights and interests, and legal support for board of directors and shareholders’ meetings.
3.4.3 Drafting, review and revision of various commercial contracts, and contract performance risk monitoring.
3.4.4 Enterprise internal control system development, trade secret protection, and data compliance management.
3.5 International Trade and Cross-border Compliance Legal Services: USD 2,200 – USD 58,000
3.5.1 Drafting of international trade contracts, cross-border supply chain compliance review, customs affairs compliance and tariff planning.
3.5.2 Representation in responding to trade remedy cases such as anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard measures.
3.5.3 Compliance of bonded business in Egyptian free trade zones, and cross-border e-commerce platform operation compliance.
3.5.4 Development of compliance systems for international sanctions, export control, anti-corruption and anti-commercial bribery.
3.6 Intellectual Property Protection and Brand Enforcement Legal Services: USD 350 – USD 32,000
3.6.1 Registration, renewal, change and assignment of trademarks, patents and copyrights in Egypt and North Africa.
3.6.2 IP infringement investigation, cross-border evidence collection, administrative complaint and judicial litigation representation.
3.6.3 Brand counterfeiting crackdown, domain name dispute resolution, and protection of trade secrets and non-compete restrictions.
3.6.4 IP risk management in technology import/export and licensing cooperation.
3.7 Employment and Human Resources Legal Services: USD 300 – USD 28,000
3.7.1 Drafting and compliance review of trilingual (Chinese, Arabic, English) employment contracts, employee handbooks and rules and regulations.
3.7.2 Application, renewal and change of work permits and family visas for foreign employees.
3.7.3 Egyptian employment quota planning, localised employment scheme design, and illegal employment risk prevention.
3.7.4 Employee dismissal, labour dispute resolution, and labour arbitration and litigation representation.
3.7.5 Annual audit of enterprise employment compliance, and response to human resources department inspections.
3.8 Cross-border Dispute Resolution and Award Enforcement Legal Services: USD 1,800 – USD 520,000
3.8.1 Mediation and settlement of Sino-Egyptian commercial contract disputes and investment disputes.
3.8.2 Full representation in civil, commercial and administrative litigation cases at all levels of Egyptian courts.
3.8.3 Representation in arbitration cases before local Egyptian and international arbitration institutions.
3.8.4 Cross-border recognition and enforcement of Chinese and Egyptian court judgments and arbitral awards.
3.8.5 Representation in cross-border debt collection, property preservation and enforcement proceedings.
Special Note: For cases involving major cross-border economic crimes, transnational financial violations, or serious criminal offences, there is no fixed fee cap. A customised quotation will be provided based on the complexity of the case, scope of cross-border collaboration, difficulty of evidence collection, and required resource input.
4. Key Factors Affecting Service Fees
The final service fee charged by Guozun Cathay Associates Egypt Office shall be reasonably adjusted on the basis of the benchmark price, taking into comprehensive consideration the following factors:
4.1 Complexity of cross-border services
For cases involving the application of both Chinese and Egyptian laws, cross-border evidence collection, or multi-party collaboration across jurisdictions, fees shall be increased accordingly based on the level of complexity.
4.2 Industry professional requirements
Fees for sectors with strict regulation and high professional barriers, such as energy, infrastructure, finance and telecommunications, are higher than those for general civil and commercial legal services.
4.3 Difficulty of case handling
For matters such as major litigation and arbitration, difficult cross-border enforcement, and special government regulatory response, fees shall be dynamically adjusted based on the actual workload.
4.4 Service time requirements
Urgent services, and services provided on holidays or at night, shall strictly be subject to the standard urgent service surcharge, with no room for negotiation.
4.5 Scale and duration of cooperation
Clients signing an annual retainer agreement or purchasing multiple services at one time may enjoy a comprehensive fee discount of 10%–20%.
4.6 Service team configuration
For a joint service team composed of multiple senior partners, headquarters specialists and local lawyers, fees shall be adjusted accordingly based on the team composition.
4.7 Degree of case risk
For conditional fee cases, the fee ratio shall be directly linked to the probability of success of the case, difficulty of payment recovery, service cycle and risks borne by the lawyers.
5. Third-Party Fees Payable Separately
The following fees are not included in the scope of legal service fees, and shall be reimbursed at the official Egyptian rates or actual amounts incurred. Guozun Cathay Associates does not charge any form of agency fee or price difference for these items:
5.1 Government administrative fees: Including company registration fees, visa application fees, court litigation fees, arbitration fees, intellectual property official fees, industry licence filing fees, etc.
5.2 Notarisation and authentication fees: Fees for local Egyptian notarisation, Apostille certification, and consular legalisation between China and Egypt, charged at the official rates of relevant authorities.
5.3 Professional translation fees: Fees for legal document translation, court simultaneous interpretation, conference interpretation, etc., charged in accordance with Egyptian translation industry standards.
5.4 Third-party professional service fees: Fees charged by institutions such as forensic appraisal firms, asset valuation firms, financial audit firms and commercial due diligence providers.
5.5 Travel expenses: Transportation, accommodation, catering and other expenses incurred by lawyers in handling cases, reimbursed against valid receipts.
5.6 Financial transaction fees: Bank charges arising from cross-border remittance, currency exchange, etc., shall be borne by the client.
5.7 Other miscellaneous expenses: Actual expenses incurred for document copying, courier services, communications, etc.