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Vinson & Elkins Adds Two Partners to Middle East Practice
Vinson & Elkins Adds Two Partners to Middle East Practice
January 26, 2010 – The international law firm Vinson & Elkins LLP is expanding its Middle East practice by adding two new partners with extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), international energy transactions, project and corporate finance, and securities.
The two new partners — Sami Al-Louzi and Ahmed T. el-Gaili — significantly strengthen V&E’s capabilities to represent public and private corporations and financial institutions throughout the Middle East, particularly in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Firm Managing Partner, Joseph Dilg, noted that the addition of the two partners “underscores V&E’s strong commitment to the Middle East market and to remaining one of the premier international law firms serving clients both located in and doing business in the region.”
“Since opening a Dubai office in 2003, V&E has sought talented lawyers who enable the firm to expand our expertise, experience and reach in the MENA region. In Sami and Ahmed, we have landed two of the best and brightest,” said Lewis Jones, Managing Partner of V&E’s Abu Dhabi and Dubai offices. “Both Sami and Ahmed have strong experience, as well as deep personal and professional connections in the region, and share a significant interest in Saudi Arabia, which is a key market where we intend to grow our practice. We are also delighted that, with the addition of these two talented lawyers, our group now uniquely includes four native Arabic speaking partners with significant international experience.”
- Sami Al-Louzi joins Vinson & Elkins from White & Case where he was a partner. Sami was resident in the firm’s Riyadh office for six years and in the UAE for the past two years, prior to which he spent six years at one of Jordan’s leading law firms. Sami specializes in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, privatization, and project finance. He has represented clients in the banking, private equity, capital markets, energy, and telecommunication sectors in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and elsewhere in the Middle East. Sami received his law degree from Jordan University in 1993 and received his LLM in International Business Law from King’s College London in 1995.
- Ahmed el-Gaili joins Vinson & Elkins from Sullivan & Cromwell where he was an attorney in the firm’s London office. He has extensive experience in energy project development and financing. Ahmed has advised on a number of landmark energy project financing transactions in the Middle East and Caspian region, including the Dolphin gas project between Qatar and the UAE, Yemen LNG in Yemen, and Tengizchevroil in Kazakhstan. He has also advised on a number of M&A, private equity, and joint venture transactions in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East. His M&A experience includes working at Morgan Stanley’s Global Energy Group in New York, where he provided investment banking advice on mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures for major oil companies. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Ahmed is a native Arabic speaker and previously lived in Saudi Arabia for more than 16 years.
Vinson & Elkins is an international law firm with more than 770 lawyers across 14 offices worldwide, including 19 lawyers in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. For more information, please contact Jacqueline Martin in Vinson & Elkins’ Dubai office at +971.4.403.6233 or via e-mail at jdmartin@velaw.com.
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