Firms obtain law license in KSA

• Squire Patton Boggs has obtained its law license in Saudi Arabia. Middle East Practice co-chairs Gassan Baloul and Tom Wilson commented, “The coming decade promises to be a time of immense growth and development in Saudi Arabia and this marks another exciting milestone in our Middle East expansion strategy.” The firm submitted its application for a license in the Kingdom earlier this year after signing a Cooperation Agreement with The Law Office of Looaye M. Al-Akkas, one of the leading, full-service law firms in Saudi Arabia. Recently, the firm opened an office in Beirut and also recently hired leading Corporate/M&A partner Omar Momany and Financial Services partner Nima Fath in Dubai.
• CMS has announced that it has opened an office in Riyadh following the granting of its Foreign Law Firm Licence by the Saudi Ministry of Justice.

  Formally operating in Saudi Arabia is a natural next step for CMS and its advisory capabilities in the Middle East, building on its existing, extensive footprint in the region, including offices in Morocco, Oman, Israel, Turkey and the UAE (Abu Dhabi and Dubai). The firm has been working with clients on matters relating to Saudi Arabia for some time, which it has served out of Dubai and other CMS offices.

  The firm’s new Riyadh office will be founded by Mohammed Aldowish, an experienced commercial litigation partner, who joins the firm from Clyde & Co where he led the disputes practice in Saudi Arabia and was part of the Middle East Dispute Resolution Group. Mohammed brings significant expertise advising Saudi and international clients on matters involving infrastructure and construction disputes, shareholder and JV disputes, commercial agency and distributor disputes, commercial arbitration claims and court proceedings in Saudi Arabia. He also frequently advises on construction contracts for major projects relating to the Saudi Government Tenders and Procurement Law.

  Mohammed Aldowish said, “I am delighted to be joining CMS. Saudi Arabia, with its fast-evolving economy and continued growth potential under Vision 2030, presents an enormous opportunity for the firm and its clients and it makes sound strategic sense for the firm to grow its presence in the Kingdom. I look forward to drawing on my experience in Saudi Arabia and the wider region and working alongside the talented team at CMS to deliver on the needs of our clients.”

  Adrian Bell, CMS partner and joint managing director for Asia and the Middle East added, “Having a formal presence in Saudi Arabia allows us to streamline our offering to clients, providing local law capabilities alongside a full-service and international-focused platform as well as demonstrating our continued commitment to the Middle East region.

  “With strong regional expertise and a standout reputation for disputes, Mohammed is an excellent hire for the firm and will play a critical role in building our client offering and capturing new opportunities in the region.”

  With a presence in the Middle East for over 10 years, CMS has established a strong track record in the region and longstanding client relationships, supporting clients across energy and infrastructure, financial institutions, healthcare, education, hospitality, real estate & construction and TMT.

• King & Spalding has been granted a foreign law license by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Justice, paving the way to expand its work for clients in Saudi Arabia since establishing an affiliation in early 2007.

  The license follows recent developments by the Saudi Arabian government allowing foreign law firms to officially operate in the country. The firm previously has been operating in the Kingdom in cooperation with the Law Offices of Mohammed AlAmmar, which will continue to operate as a separate firm.

  “We are committed to growing our presence in the Kingdom and the new license is an exciting and significant step for the firm,” said Robert D. Hays, chairman of King & Spalding. “We have been active in advising on outbound and inbound Middle East work for decades, having first established presences in the region in 2007 and 2008. The new Saudi licence is a natural evolution that further aligns and integrates our practice. We thank the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Investment and the Ministry of Commerce for their guidance through the licensing process.”

  Through this newly approved entity, King & Spalding’s lawyers in Riyadh will continue to partner with their colleagues in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as the firm’s 20 other offices around the world, to help clients navigate the largest and most complex corporate and M&A matters, funds, financings, restructurings, real estate, energy and infrastructure projects and a wide range of disputes in the Kingdom.

  “We have been involved in many of the region’s landmark deals, including recent pathfinder work in areas such as energy transition, REITs and insolvency.  As we look to the next chapter, we have recruited multiple Saudi national lawyers to our Riyadh office, as well as to our New York and London offices to undergo specialized training prior to returning to Riyadh.  We are also establishing a local trainee programme to help develop the next generation of Saudi lawyers,” commented Nabil Issa, managing partner of King & Spalding’s Middle East offices. “This development positions us perfectly to build on our strong platform, expand into new areas of law and continue to offer high-end legal services for our clients’ most sophisticated transactional, regulatory and disputes matters. In addition, we thank Mohammed AlAmmar and we wish him much success as we transition from our affiliation of more than 16 years.”

  In addition to the Saudi lawyers, Martin Hunt, a current King & Spalding partner, will transfer to Riyadh from the London office and will continue to focus on M&A matters in Saudi Arabia as well as representing regional clients on their global investments.

  “This license comes at an ideal time as Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 programme of investments begins to gather pace and we continue to ramp up both our inbound and outbound work related to the Kingdom,” added Zaid Al-Farisi, partner based in Riyadh.