Morgan Lewis opens in Riyadh, hiring from A&O Shearman and AL Tamimi amid legal market surge
Morgan Lewis has become the latest international law firm to establish a presence in Saudi Arabia, opening a new Riyadh office with a six-lawyer team that includes high-profile recruits from A&O Shearman and Al Tamimi & Company.
The launch marks another milestone in the ongoing wave of international firms entering the Kingdom’s legal market following regulatory reforms that have loosened restrictions on foreign practices.
The new base will be led by Sultan Almasoud, who joins as managing partner after leaving his role as co-managing partner of A&O Shearman’s Riyadh office. He will be joined by M&A partner Sanjarbek Abdukhalilov, formerly a consultant with PeerPoint, A&O Shearman’s flexible resourcing arm, and dispute resolution specialist Saeed Algahtani, who moves from Al Tamimi as of counsel.
Completing the team are existing Morgan Lewis partners Sara Aranjo, head of dispute resolution for the Middle East and Africa, Ayman Khaleq, the firm’s Middle East co-head and dispute resolution partner, and Sourabh Bhattacharya, a finance partner.
Chair of Morgan Lewis, Jami McKeon, said the Riyadh office reflects a long-standing investment in the region:
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“Saudi Arabia has long been a vital part of our firm’s global practice, and our physical presence in Riyadh reflects a deepened investment in the country. This is not a new market for us – it is a continuation of decades of trusted client relationships.”
McKeon added that the new arrivals would strengthen the firm’s alignment with the Saudi Vision 2030 economic diversification plan.
“With Sultan, Sanjarbek and Saeed joining our established regional team, we are fortifying our commitment by supporting Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 objectives and delivering the best full-service counsel to clients in the Kingdom and beyond.”
Almasoud brings more than a decade of experience managing legacy Shearman & Sterling’s Riyadh operations before its merger to form A&O Shearman. Widely recognised as a leading expert on Saudi corporate law, he has advised some of the country’s largest entities, including the Public Investment Fund (PIF), NEOM Company, and multinational clients such as Dow Chemical and Jacobs Engineering.
At Shearman, he advised PIF on several major transactions, including a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Jacobs Engineering, as well as NEOM’s $8.4bn green energy partnership with ACWA Power and Air Products.
An A&O Shearman spokesperson thanked Almasoud for his contribution, saying:
“We thank Sultan Almasoud for the contribution he has made to the firm and wish him all the best for the future.”
The Riyadh office becomes Morgan Lewis’ third in the Middle East, following its launches in Dubai (2013) and Abu Dhabi (2019). Together, the firm’s regional offices now house around 40 lawyers.
According to Morgan Lewis, the new office will focus on M&A, finance, capital markets, and dispute resolution, serving sovereign wealth funds, state-owned entities, asset managers, family offices, and multinational corporations. Practice areas will include digital infrastructure, energy, aviation, investment funds, and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
The expansion comes as Saudi Arabia continues to liberalise its legal services market. In 2023, the Kingdom revised its Code of Law Practice to permit foreign law firms to open their own offices without requiring local partnerships, subject to specific conditions—most notably that 70% of lawyers must be Saudi nationals.
The regulatory change has triggered a surge of global interest. Over the past 18 months, firms including Latham & Watkins, Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Freshfields, Reed Smith, and Akin have all opened offices or announced plans to enter the Kingdom. UK firm Stephenson Harwood recently launched operations in both Riyadh and Al Khobar.
With the Saudi government investing more than $1.3 trillion in infrastructure and real estate projects under Vision 2030, the country has rapidly become a legal hub for major cross-border transactions.
For Morgan Lewis, the Riyadh opening marks not only a strategic expansion but also a reaffirmation of its long-term commitment to the Gulf region.