Al-Khobar (April 12, 2014)

Dr. Saud Al-Ammari Law Firm in association with Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (Blakes), a leading business law firm, has announced that Mr. Graham McLeod,  a Blakes Partner based in its Al-Khobar and Bahrain offices, is the new Office Managing Partner of Blakes Middle East offices. 

Mr. McLeod is a highly regarded projects lawyer. His practice focuses on corporate/commercial as well as infrastructure and procurement transactions with a particular emphasis on the development and implementation of large-scale industrial and public-private partnership (PPP) projects, areas of growth in the Middle East. He has acted on a broad range of projects in sectors such as health care, transportation, petrochemicals, water and wastewater, solid waste disposal, and information technology systems.

Mr. McLeod has been recognized in Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business 2015 (PPP & Infrastructure/ Public Procurement). Through Mr. McLeod's experience, Blakes will bring further expertise and know-how to clients, including government entities and private-sector organizations in the Middle East.

Mr. McLeod takes over the role from Scott Burrell, who became Office Managing Partner in 2011. Mr. Burrell has relocated to the Blakes Vancouver office.

Following the announcement, Dr. Saud Al-Ammari, Chair, Saudi Arabia & Middle East Region at Blakes commented, "We wish to thank Scott for his significant contributions to our Middle East practice over the past several years, and are pleased to welcome Graham as new Office Managing Partner for the region.  Having worked closely with clients in the Middle East over the past five years, Graham's experience in a range of projects, infrastructure and related corporate work will be of great advantage to our Gulf-based clients and the Blakes global network, and will help us to deliver the highest level of service to our clients in the Middle East and around the world."

-Ends-

About Blakes
Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP (Blakes) has an office in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, through its affiliation with Dr. Saud Al Ammari Law Firm, as well as an office in Bahrain.  From these offices, Dr. Saud Al-Ammari Law Firm in association with Blakes focuses on clients with interests in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region and the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. As a top business law firm, we provide exceptional legal services to leading businesses around the world.

We have extensive experience serving sophisticated clients in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the wider GCC region and around the world. We offer a "one-stop" solution for our clients' legal needs. Our established presence in the region features experienced legal personnel who are also able to tap into the wider Blakes network of lawyers for additional subject matter expertise and experience.

We have legal professionals on the ground in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain with extensive experience in advising local and international clients and are able to provide clients timely and expert advice. Our presence in the Middle East strengthens our strategic reach and complements our offices in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and China. These offices, together with our ongoing initiatives in other parts of the world (including Africa, India and Europe), have contributed immensely to our ability to help clients capitalize on opportunities in the world's most established economies while also accessing emerging and frontier markets.

More information on Blakes is available by visiting the Firm's website at www.blakes.com or by following us on Twitter @BlakesLaw.

For media enquiries, please contact:
FinMark Communications
GCC: Zahraa Taher                
Tel: +973 39630997               
ztaher@finmarkcoms.com

U.K.: Laila Danesh                  
Tel: +44 (0)7703330024         
ldanesh@finmarkcoms.com

© Press Release 2015