Covington & Burling’s Middle East alliance partner Institution Quraysh for Law & Policy (IQ) is set to launch offices in Riyadh and King Abdullah Economic City.
The two new offices, which are expected to open within the next two months, will house around two or three lawyers each and will focus on providing advice on legal and policy infrastructure as well as transactions.
Covington’s International group vice-chair John Veroneau and Middle East co-head Bruce Wilson will both be involved in the new offices and it is expected that lawyers from the US firm will join the new offices at a later stage.
“With our new focus on legal infrastructure and policy work in the Middle East, Malik Dahlan [principal of iQ] is the perfect partner. We’re really excited about the project and we sense a demand in the region for the kind of service we’re offering,” said Wilson.
King Abdullah Economic City is a $26bn project located on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast. The project was revealed by the country’s king, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, in 2005. Along with three other planned economic cities, King Abdullah Economic City is designed to help Saudi Arabia diversify its oil-based economy, attract foreign investment and create jobs.
Covington announced its exclusive alliance with IQ in November 2008. IQ is headquartered in Doha, but also has offices in Jeddah and London.