A regal quintet for King & Spalding

KING & Spalding is rapidly boosting its presence in the Middle East with the addition of five lawyers to its offices in Dubai, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. They are counsel Mazhar Khan and associate Hassan Al Jarrah in Abu Dhabi; senior associate Phillip C. Sacks, in Dubai; and associates Sanjarbek Abdukhalilov and Martin Forster-Jones in Riyadh. Their arrival adds to King & Spalding’s strength in the areas of Islamic finance, finance, investment funds, mergers and acquisitions, as well as regulatory and corporate commercial work.

Jawad I. Ali, managing partner of King & Spalding’s offices in Dubai, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi said: “We are dedicated to providing high-quality, practical legal advice to our clients and take pride in the fact that our lawyers not only are experts in their field, but also have extensive experience and successful track records in various jurisdictions in the Middle East and North Africa. Our new colleagues bring skills and experience that make our on-the-ground capabilities in those regions even stronger.”

Mazhar Khan joined King & Spalding from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, where he was a senior associate in its corporate department. He has been involved in some of the UAE’s largest transactions advising sovereign wealth funds, private equity and financial institutions. He also has insight into leading Dubai institutions, having been seconded to Dubai Group as acting general counsel, where he assisted with the group’s restructuring and establishment of Noor Group, its Islamic banking and takaful division.

Phillip C. Sacks joined King & Spalding from Walkers, where he concentrated on funds and corporate work in the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands. He specializes in investment funds, private equity, mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures. He regularly advises leading sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions and asset managers on the corporate and regulatory aspects of structuring, establishing, re-organising and liquidating fund structures.

Sanjarbek Abdukhalilov joined King & Spalding from SNR Denton. Qualified in England and Uzbekistan, he advises clients in a wide range of sectors in relation to mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate restructurings and general corporate work.

Jarrah joined King & Spalding from Simmons & Simmons. Qualified in England and Wales, he specialises in corporate and commercial law, including mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance. He also has experience advising clients on regulatory matters, debt capital markets, banking and finance, litigation and employment law.