Simmons & Simmons and its Saudi Arabian alliance firm Hammad & Al-Mehdar have expanded their offering in that country with the opening of a second office in the capital of Riyadh.

The UK-headquartered firm entered Saudi Arabia by forming an alliance with the Jeddah-based Hammad & Al-Mehdar in May 2011.

"Saudi Arabia is a G20 member and the largest economy in the GCC,” said Andrew Wingfield, partner and regional head for Simmons & Simmons in the Middle East. “The development of this new office in Riyadh was naturally the next step in building on our alliance in the kingdom as many of the firm's clients already have operations in Riyadh.”

Aside from its Saudi presence, Simmons & Simmons also has offices in Abu Dhabi (opened 1994), Doha (2003) and Dubai (2005).