Canadian Lawyer

September 2009

The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers

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regional wrap-up Blakes fi rst Canadian fi rm to hang shingle in Saudi Arabia will open offices this fall in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Heading up the Persian Gulf initia- F tive will be Blakes' newest partner Saud Al-Ammari and Calgary-based partner Dan Fournier. Al-Ammari had pre- viously served for 10 years as special counsel and later general attorney for Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia's national oil company and the world's largest oil producer. He says his decision to partner with a Canadian firm was less about location and more about complimentary skills and vision. "It is really more about the fit than the geography," says Al-Ammari. "I've worked with North American and European firms and I've always been impressed with the quality of work that Canadian lawyers provide. "So when I came to Canada I saw first-hand the expertise, the vision of Blakes, and started talking with them. And we found out our joint expertise, skills, and business contacts complement one another." Al-Ammari studied law in the United States and received his LLM from Harvard Law School. He is licensed to practise law in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, and is a member of the Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., bars. ollowing the needs of its clients into the growing markets of the Middle East, Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP Fournier has been with Blakes for 25 years and is the senior energy and finance partner in the firm's Calgary office. In addition to his role as chairman of the Persian Gulf initiative, he will con- tinue to be available to advise on financ- ings both domestically and abroad. Blakes will initial- ly have five lawyers in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia and an additional three lawyers in Bahrain. Both offices will open in the fall. The range of ser- vices will initially focus on energy law, branching out into areas of infra- structure, and Islamic law financing. "I don't think we are going to be all things to all people," says Fournier. The genesis of the partnership between will assist in advising us on local matters and Saudi matters that will require a local expertise." Al-Ammari says the foreign law Saudi Arabian lawyer Saud Al-Ammari will be integral in Blakes' Persian Gulf initiative. Blakes and Al-Ammari was through a mutual client and friend, says Fournier. After the initial meetings and discussions on what the Saudi-based lawyer was seek- ing to establish, the firm began the process of creating the offices. In all, the process took about 10 months. "The current plan is to have Blakes lawyers on the ground in both offices," says Fournier. "Both offices will also have a mix- ture of western-trained Saudi and Bahraini lawyers and also some local lawyers who office phenomenon in Saudi Arabia is not new. Blakes, which opened its first Asian office in Beijing 10 years ago, joins interna- tional law firms such as Norton Rose LLP, Baker & McKenzie, Clifford Chance, and White & Case LLP, which have a presence in the Gulf. Calgary-based firm Macleod Dixon LLP is already taking advantage of the burgeoning energy and financing markets in that part of the world with an office in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Al-Ammari points to the vast potential for investments in Canada through financial vehicles including sovereign wealth funds and the Saudi oilfields. "These two areas have become increasingly important to our global economy," he says. "These vast financial resources would allow stake- holders in the Gulf to make substantial investments abroad in North America, Canada included." — KELLY HARRIS kharris@clbmedia.ca BANKING ON CORPORATE Bryan haynes, co-leader of Bennett Jones LLP's commercial transaction group, gives us his take on Business Law. Read it in every issue of Canadian Lawyer 10 SEPTEMBER 2009 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com Coming next month

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