The Law Firm of Salah Al-Hejailan LLC. (LFSH) in association with Freshfields is Saudi Arabia’s leading law firm. As a full-service law firm LFSH comprises of more than 35 lawyers along with a total staff of over 60 staff spread across three offices located in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Al Khobar . LFSH has an established history of representing leading national and multi-national clients – Governmental, privatizing, and private sector – including banks and other financial institutions, defence industry and offset companies, oil & gas producers, utilities, heavy industry manufacturers and educational institutions, as well as oilfield services, infrastructure, project development, construction, telecommunications, insurance and other types of companies.
Areas of specialisation include corporate and commercial, banking and finance, capital markets, regulatory, projects and infrastructure, government contracts, intellectual property, and dispute resolution.
Sheikh Salah Al-Hejailan CBE, founder and principal of LFSH, is regarded as one of the leading attorneys and legal consultants in Saudi Arabia. Sheikh Salah established the practice in 1968. In February 2004, he was awarded the honour of Commander of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for services rendered, as Honorary Counsel, to successive British Ambassadors and to the British business community in Saudi Arabia.
Our Riyadh office is managed jointly by Robert Thoms, who has over twenty-five years’ experience in Saudi Arabia, and Hussam Al-Hejailan, who heads the firm’s Saudi litigation practice.
Other key attorneys in the office include Dr. Maher Seddawy, a senior professor of law specialising in government contracting, who previously acted as a legal advisor to the Saudi Development Fund, Dr. Yehya Al-Samaan, a leading Saudi and international arbitration expert who previously acted as a legal adviser to the Council of Ministers, Jean-Benoît Zegers, who advises major French corporate clients and specialises in dispute resolution and Marcus Latta, who has strong commercial regulatory and corporate law experience, and advises major German companies.
Our Jeddah office is managed jointly by Dr. Saeed Yehya, a senior professor of law, specialising in foreign investment and joint ventures, and Sultan Al-Hejailan who specialises in commercial litigation. Dr. Yehya and Sultan are supported by a team of experienced and dedicated corporate lawyers, professors of Islamic law, and commercial litigators.
LFSH works jointly with the Freshfields team in its Riyadh office. Fares Al-Hejailan, who is admitted to practice in the UK and in Saudi Arabia, currently co-heads the Saudi corporate practice at Freshfields in Saudi Arabia and has considerable Saudi capital markets experience.
Founded in 1968
50 people in their team
We are part of a very select group of law firms which have a truly market-leading corporate practice with a wealth of experience in joint ventures in Saudi Arabia. We advise on partnership and alliance agreements and corporate and commercial joint venture agreements.
The objectives and time frames of joint ventures vary from client to client, across sectors and industries. Whether the objective is to access new markets or distribution channels, to further penetrate existing ones, to gain access to intellectual property, technology and know how, or to increase capacity and resource, we can assist on all relevant issues whether the joint venture is for a specific project or on a longer-term basis including negotiating and drafting the documentation, the establishment of the joint venture itself, as well as assisting in any financing that may be required.
We advise on a number of issues in relation to participating in a joint venture. This could be on a jurisdictional specific level – ensuring compliance with national laws, including finance and foreign exchange controls and expatriation of foreign currency, or on a local level – obtaining approval from local government/regulators and central banks.
We advise on establishing the legal obligations surrounding cash or resource commitments, cost allocation, appraisal of invested assets and capital verification, equity/debt ratio, capital contributions and dividend distribution policy; and on operational and senior management – determining who should be given what authority and rights.
Joint Ventures are a core part of our business and we have worked across all of the core sectors in Saudi Arabia advising both regional and international clients on the structuring and implementation of their joint ventures over many different industry sectors. As such we are fully aware of all the local and international issues that may arise, and how best to address them. Some of the best known international names in their respective fields have come to us for advise on their market entry into Saudi Arabia by way of joint ventures.
We ensure our clients’ IP rights work for them.
Our clients rely on us to solve their most complex, business – critical IP, data and commercial issues.
On major transactions, you need lawyers that can quickly resolve difficult IP, data and commercial issues. We have advised on many IP-heavy deals; including but not limited to, M&A transactions, IPOs, franchisings and corporate re-structurings.
We also assert or defend your rights in court through the coordination of raids by Saudi regulatory authorities and by liaison with customs officials to prevent the import of counterfeit goods. Our IP practice has also assisted clients over many years in the registration and renewal of their IP rights in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
Seamless employment law advice.
Our employment team advises on all types of employment related legal issues from termination of employment and whistle-blowing claims, thefts of confidential information and enforcement of restrictive covenants, to the drafting of, and advising on employment contracts.
Our priority in employment disputes is to help you stay out of the court room, but we are perfectly placed to assist you if you do end up in court. We will match the right blend of skills to the litigation and we will track progress to budget, ensuring our advice is both cost-effective and of the highest quality.
In terms of advice, we ensure your employment contracts are legally sound, protect your interests and reflect your business requirements.
Our Saudi Arabian litigation practice
Our disputes practice combines the knowledge of Saudi law and the practicalities of doing business in Saudi Arabia within LFSH (one of the largest and oldest firms in Saudi Arabia) with the global reach and expertise of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. We believe that the size of our team and the strong history behind our association provides one of the strongest platforms in Saudi Arabia for both local and international clients.
LFSH is a leading dispute resolution law firm in Saudi Arabia with extensive litigation experience before the Saudi Courts and quasi-judicial committees. The LFSH team represents clients in Saudi and international commercial arbitrations, as well as in mediated settlements and enforcement proceedings. LFSH is the first law firm in Saudi Arabia to successfully enforce a foreign judgment. Our team is headed by its founder and principal, Sheikh Salah Al Hejailan CBE, and comprises two partners, Hussam Al Hejailan (Head of Litigation, Riyadh) and Sultan Al-Hejailan (Head of Litigation, Jeddah and Al Khobar), supported by 10 lawyers, whose practice encompasses major Saudi and foreign clients, including banks, insurance companies, defence contractors, heavy industry corporations and construction companies. We also represent significant members of the Saudi Royal family, involved in litigation and arbitration within and outside the Kingdom, including advising on, and successfully enforcing, arbitral awards.
The International Arbitration Group
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is the pre-eminent international arbitration practice. It has consistently topped the legal directories’ surveys of leading international arbitration practices, both worldwide and in the MENA region. No other law firm can match its breadth of experience or depth of international arbitration expertise.
With market-leading teams in the UAE, Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, New York, Washington, Singapore, Frankfurt and Moscow, the truly global nature of our practice sets us apart. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer conducts arbitrations all over the world, whatever the governing law of the dispute, the language, or the arbitration rules under which the dispute is to be resolved.
The Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer team comprises some of the world’s most prominent arbitration practitioners, who hold high-profile positions in the major arbitration institutions, governmental organisations and professional associations. In addition, senior members of the group selectively accept appointments as arbitrators, and are particularly well qualified to advise clients on the optimal arbitration strategy for their cases.
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