Saudi Arabian firm the Law Office of Abdulaziz H. Fahad has converted into a professional service partnership, with the aim of ensuring future partner promotions and succession planning.
The firm, which has in the past been affiliated with Western practices including Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and DLA Piper, will now be known as the Law Office of Abdulaziz H. Al Fahad and Partners.
DLA Piper broke its two-year alliance with the firm in 2008 (30 June 2008).
Since then, Abdulaziz H. Fahad has operated independently. A firm spokesperson said this was because it had “always been a staple of the Saudi market and an affiliation with a Western law office was not deemed beneficial”. The spokesperson added that the firm had always managed to attract high-profile regional and international clients as well as local and international lawyers.
The firm has converted to a partnership in response to a growing workload. The new structure means it will be able to promote lawyers who are “deemed valuable assets and pillars to the future of the organisation”.
The firm’s eponymous founder, Abdulaziz Al Fahad, will continue to act as managing partner.
Along with the conversion, the firm has promoted corporate and capital markets partner Farhad Al Arfaj to its equity. Al Arfaj has been working at the firm for the past nine years and has advised on a range of transactions across the region.
The firm’s lawyer roster also includes former DLA Piper partner Tom Travers, who is a senior counsel.
For more on the Saudi legal market, see last year’s analysis Keys to the Kingdom; and for more on the Arab region in general, see our recent report, Doing Business in the Arab World.
The post Saudi firm Abdulaziz H. Al Fahad converts to partnership to aid succession appeared first on The Lawyer | Legal News and Jobs | Advancing the business of law.