Curtis opens office in Saudi Arabia, third in Middle East region

Curtis opens office in Saudi Arabia, third in Middle East region

The firm's latest office in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would expand its presence further in the Middle East and GCC markets

The New York-headquartered Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle has launched its office in Riyadh, the capital city of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to further expand its presence in the Middle East and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets.

The Riyadh office is the firm's third in the region. Curtis has the distinction of being the first licensed US firm to open an office in Muscat, the capital city of the Sultanate of Oman in 1973, followed by opening its office in Dubai, the financial capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in 2008.

The Riyadh office will provide Saudi and international legal services to clients based in the Kingdom and Saudi services to international clients.

"We have been active in matters relating to Saudi Arabia for some time, but we believe this step will enable us to significantly expand our activities in this very important market," Curtis' worldwide chairman George Kahale, said,

According to Kahale, the initial focus of the Riyadh office will be in line with the firm's core areas of strength -- international corporate and finance transactions, international tax, investment and investment management, trade, public and private international law, and cross-border litigation and arbitration.

Curtis associate Ali Mohammed Alqahtani will presently anchor the firm in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He will work with partners Charles Buderi and Marco Blanco, who are based in London and New York respectively. Jeremy Miocevic, Curtis' Dubai managing partner, will also be part of the Riyadh team.

Buderi and Blanco both have rich experience of the Middle East market, having acted as part of Curtis' international arbitration offering in Dubai. They handled cases before various arbitral institutions in the region including the Dubai International Arbitration Centre and the Dubai International Finance Centre.

Dubai-based Miocevic, on the other hand, focuses his practice on corporate and commercial matters in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. He joined the firm in 2010 and has been serving as the Dubai managing partner since 2018.

With the addition of Riyadh, Curtis' office and affiliates count has risen to 19 across the US, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.