King & Spalding Recruits Finance Lawyer Zaid Al-Farisi to Its Saudi Practice

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES and RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA--(Marketwired - May 7, 2014) -  King & Spalding has recruited Zaid Al-Farisi, a finance lawyer with substantial experience in Saudi Arabia, as a partner in its Riyadh and Dubai offices. Working closely with King & Spalding partners Jawad Ali, Nabil Issa, Rizwan Kanji and Mike Rainey, Al-Farisi will help further develop the firm's Saudi finance practice and its finance practice throughout the Middle East region. Al-Farisi is rejoining King & Spalding from Confluent Law Group, an Iraqi legal consultancy, where he was a managing partner. 

"We are pleased to welcome Zaid back to the firm. His considerable prior experience in Saudi and Iraq will enhance our finance offering in the Middle East," said Jawad I. Ali, managing partner of King & Spalding's offices in the Middle East. "Zaid's bilingual capabilities, skills and knowledge of the Saudi market will be a valuable asset to our clients in Saudi, Iraq and the rest of the Middle East."

Isam Salah, head of King & Spalding's Middle East and Islamic finance practice, said: "Zaid will work with our Middle East finance team to grow the firm's relationship and business with Saudi-based Islamic and conventional financial institutions, investment funds and family investment companies. His return to the firm brings additional strength to our bench of experienced, Western-trained bilingual finance partners based in the Middle East."

Al-Farisi was a counsel in King & Spalding's offices in New York and Riyadh from 2009 to 2011. Earlier in his career he practiced for nine years in the Riyadh and Chicago offices of an international law firm. Also, he was a visiting fellow at the International Human Rights Institute at DePaul University College of Law and a resident representative at the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences in Kabul, Afghanistan. He received a J.D. degree from the University of Chicago Law School and a B.A. degree from University of Notre Dame. 

Al-Farisi said: "I look forward to rejoining the talented Middle East and Islamic finance team at King & Spalding and contributing to the continued growth of the practice and the firm."

About King & Spalding
Celebrating more than 125 years of service, King & Spalding is an international law firm that represents a broad array of clients, including half of the Fortune Global 100, with 800 lawyers in 17 offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The firm has handled matters in over 160 countries on six continents and is consistently recognized for the results it obtains, uncompromising commitment to quality and dedication to understanding the business and culture of its clients. More information is available at www.kslaw.com.