Morgan Lewis Deepens Middle East Presence with Riyadh Office Launch

RIYADH, November 3, 2025: Bolstering its longstanding investment in the Middle East, Morgan Lewis today opens an office in Riyadh—reinforcing its commitment to an on-the-ground presence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and bringing added power to its delivery of integrated, full-service counsel aligned with the region’s evolving legal and business needs.

The Riyadh office launches with a full team of six top-tier practitioners. Market-leading M&A and capital markets lawyers Dr. Sultan Almasoud, former co-managing partner of A&O Shearman in Saudi Arabia, and Sanjarbek Abdukhalilov, a legacy Shearman & Sterling corporate partner and consultant at A&O Shearman’s PeerPoint, join the firm as partners. Seasoned Saudi dispute resolution lawyer Saeed Alqahtani has also recently joined as of counsel from Al Tamimi & Company. The team will also encompass preeminent Morgan Lewis lawyers including Saudi veteran practitioners Sara K. Aranjo—leader of the firm’s dispute resolution and international arbitration practice across the Middle East and Africa regions— and Ayman A. Khaleq, who co-leads the firm’s Middle East Practice; as well as finance partner Sourabh Bhattacharya. Dr. Sultan Almasoud will serve as Managing Partner of the Riyadh office and lead the Saudi practice.

“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, its people, and its future,” said Firm Chair Jami McKeon. “This is not a new market for us—it’s a continuation of decades of trusted client relationships. With Dr. Sultan, Sanjarbek, and Saeed joining our established regional team, we’re fortifying our commitment by supporting Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 objectives and delivering the very best full-service counsel to clients in the Kingdom and beyond.”

With more than four decades advising clients in the Middle East and over a decade of an established regional footprint, Morgan Lewis is one of the few global firms with offices in all three major Gulf hubs: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and now Riyadh. Drawing on the resources and talents of Morgan Lewis’s global platform, the Riyadh office will strengthen and complement the firm’s advice to institutional investors—including sovereign wealth funds and state-owned entities, asset managers, family offices, and multinational corporations on cross-border transactions, financings, and disputes—while deepening relationships with Saudi-based clients across fast-evolving sectors including digital infrastructure, energy, funds, aviation, and emerging technologies such as AI. Morgan Lewis’s continued investment aligns meaningfully with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 legal and regulatory reforms, which are accelerating foreign investment, innovation, and long-term economic growth.

“Our Riyadh office represents a significant extension of our firm’s longstanding commitment in Saudi Arabia and the broader region,” said Firm Managing Partner Steven Wall. “Our opening in Riyadh will uplift existing relationships and forge new ones—further honing our ability to tactically deliver solutions that are locally attuned and globally informed. With deep market insight and the full breadth of our international platform, our team is equipped to help clients confront and overcome complexity and be dexterous amid evolutions in the Kingdom’s legal, regulatory, cultural, and commercial landscape.”