DWF has closed its office in Saudi Arabia in favour of working with local law firms.
The UK firm was among 44 international businesses which signed a deal to set up their regional headquarters in the Kingdom in 2021 under its Future Investment Initiative.
However, a spokesperson confirmed that since earlier this year, it had been supporting its clients’ requirements “through collaboration with local independent firms, and via our colleagues elsewhere in the region”.
“In terms of the reason for the change, we are confident that we can continue to successfully support our clients through the arrangements we now have in place,” the spokesperson added.
Under the firm’s 2021 plans, it housed a business services division at its new DWF Arabia headquarters under the leadership of chief executive Mohab Khattab, who joined from Saudi Arabian Industrial Investments Company, where he was general counsel.
A legal services division, meanwhile, would operate through a tie-up with Al-Ohaly & Partners, led by Abdulrahman Al-Ohaly, a former senior associate at Clyde & Co.
However, Al-Ohaly joined HFW as a corporate commercial partner in Riyadh in November 2023, and Khattab left in February 2025 to become executive director of the legal department at NEOM, an economic and urban development project in north-western Saudi Arabia supporting the Saudi Vision 2030 strategy to diversify its economy away from oil.
DWF’s departure from Saudi Arabia bucks the trend of law firms setting up shop in the kingdom, after it liberalised its rules to allow international firms to practise local law.
Saudi Arabia awarded its first licences to foreign law firms in March 2023, with Clifford Chance, legacy Herbert Smith Freehills and Latham & Watkins among the first cohort.
According to publicly available data tracked by Pirical, 35 global 200 law firms have offices in Saudi Arabia
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