Vinson & Elkin has joined the wave of international firms launching new offices in the Middle East as it opens an office in Riyadh, following similar announcements by Baker & McKenzie in May, Gates & Partners in April and McGrigors in March to set up offices in the region. These are in addition to Covington & Burlington’s Middle East dual office push in Riyadh and King Abdullah’s Economic City in January 2011.
The firm has opened its Riyadh office in association with the Law Office of Looaye M. Al-Akkas. Looaye M. Al-Akkas has joined V&E as partner and will manage the practice in Saudi Arabia effective immediately.
The Riyadh office is currently staffed with two other partners – Sami Al-Louzi and Ahmed el-Gaili – as well as associates Willam Page and Fahad AlMalki. The practice will focus on instructions in construction; infrastructure; corporate M&A; capital markets; energy; project development; and conventional and Islamic banking & finance.
According to V&E Middle East managing partner Lewis Jones, Saudi Arabia has long been an active and important market for the firm and the new office would be the firm’s third in the region after opening offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Al-Akkas specializes in advising corporate multinationals in structuring major projects and mergers and acquisitions in the Kingdom. Most recently, Mr. Al-Akkas was with Legal Advisors in Association with Baker & McKenzie in Riyadh . Mr. Al-Akkas also worked with Saudi Aramco as in-house legal counsel.
Covington & Burlington formed its Middle East alliance partnership with Institution Quraysh for Law & Policy in 2008, launching its dual offices collaboratively earlier this year. McGrigor’s new office in Qatar would be its first in the region whilst Baker & McKenzie’s new office in Doha will be its fifth. Gates & Partners announced its Middle East office push in April, poaching Dubai-based partner and senior associate Jim Edmunds and Anthony Frances from Clyde & Co to run its operations.ALB
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