Jones Day is set to launch three associate offices in Saudi Arabia during 2011 through an informal tie-up with local law firm Alsulaim Alawaji & Partners.

The offices will be located in Riyadh, Jeddah and Alkhobar, and will bring the total number of Jones Day locations to 37.

The Riyadh office was the first to open its doors earlier this month (1 January), and will be overseen by projects partner Yusuf Giansiracusa, who rejoined Jones Day after stints at Alsulaim Alawaji and as Winston & Strawn's Riyadh managing partner.

Giansiracusa represents several of the leading commercial and industrial families and has a broad range of experience in commercial and corporate transactions, industrial and infrastructure projects, as well as private client matters.

Jones Day and Alsulaim Alawaji will open offices in Jeddah and in Alkhobar later in the year, with these bases focusing on project finance, M&A and dispute resolution.

The Jeddah managing partner will be litigation partner Fahad Habib, who will relocate from the US firm's Washington office when the office launches. Habib's expertise includes litigation, international arbitration and international trade.

The third new office in Alkhobar will be overseen by corporate partner Oliver Passavant, who is currently located in Jones Day's Frankfurt office. Passavant's practice focuses on energy, M&A, finance, restructuring and intellectual property.

Firmwide managing partner Stephen Brogan said: "We are delighted to welcome Yusuf back to the firm and we know that he will make a real contribution in Riyadh, where he is one of the most senior Western lawyers. We are also very pleased to re-establish our relationship with Alsulaim Alawaji, a first-class firm with whom we have had a long and very positive working relationship."

He added: "Saudi Arabia is the centre of economic activity in the Middle East and by far the largest economy. Opening associate offices in Riyadh, Jeddah and Alkhobar is a natural next step as we seek to serve our clients' needs in each of the three quite different and very important commercial centres in the Kingdom."