Baker & McKenzie hires new partner

Baker & McKenzie has further enhanced its top tier offering in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom of Bahrain with the hire of leading banking and finance lawyer Basel Barakat as a partner.

Basel Barakat joins from Saudi Arabian firm, the Law Firm of Hassan Mahassni. He will initially divide his time between Baker & McKenzie's associated office in Riyadh and the firm's Bahrain office.

His practice is focused on project finance, Islamic finance and syndicated lending, among other transactional work. He has advised on the majority of the project financing arrangements for Saudi Arabia's IWPP and IPP programmes to date and on the project financing arrangements for some of the most prestigious Saudi Arabian infrastructure projects. He has been consistently recognised by legal directories for his banking and finance work. Barakat is ranked in Band 1 by Chambers Global for Saudi Arabian banking and finance work and is recognised as a Leading Lawyer in Saudi Arabia by IFLR1000 and as a Leading Individual by Legal 500 EMEA for banking and finance in Saudi Arabia.

Barakat is a member of the New York State Bar and holds law degrees from New York University School of Law and The University of Notre Dame Law School, and an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan.