Ashurst’s recent appetite for international expansion shows no sign of abating, with the firm announcing in November the launch of a new operation in Saudi Arabia.
The firm will soon be able to practise Saudi law after establishing a partnership with Faisal Adnan Baassiri, the former head of legal at Ashurst client Saudi Economic and Development Company (Sedco).
Baassiri has experience working in private practice: he worked at Osama S. Al-Yamani law firm in Jeddah, where the Ashurst office will open under the official name of Law Office of Faisal Baassiri in association with Ashurst.
‘Faisal was a client of ours and he said he wanted to go into private practice,’ said Joss Dare, head of Ashurst’s regional Middle East office.
‘It’s not designed as a standalone office operation and will grow over time.’
Joss Dare, Ashurst
The offering will be small initially but may expand to Riyadh in time. Baassiri will be the only partner and will be supported by a few associates and support staff. ‘We’re not going to try and go in there with hundreds of lawyers from day one, that’s just silly,’ said Dare. The office will open in January, following the launch of the firm’s new offices in Seoul and Beijing, which are due to open in December.
This will not be Ashurst’s first opening in the Middle East as it already has offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Dare believes that the Jeddah office will act as a support for the other offices in the area. ‘It’s not designed as a standalone office operation and will grow over time,’ he said.
Being in Saudi Arabia is seen as crucial to the firm due to the size of the jurisdiction and the number of international clients present on the ground there. The firm will focus on energy, transport and infrastructure matters and offering corporate services in the region, especially in Jeddah.
‘Quite a large number of our international clients are interested in looking at a new jurisdiction. Saudi Arabia is uncharted territory for them and they want to do the work with a familiar face and that’s the rationale for us being there,’ said Dare.
Ashurst also plans to take on outbound work from Saudi Arabia as this seems to be growing exponentially. ‘There’s also a large amount of outbound work from Saudi to other parts of the world,’ said Dare.
The firm posted 6% turnover growth to £322m in the LB100, not including an increase in revenues anticipated by the firm’s tie-up with Blake Dawson in Australia at the start of 2012. The recent international expansion reflects the fact that only 57% of the firm’s revenues now originate from the UK, according to managing partner James Collis.