Dechert has boosted its presence in the Middle East with the launch of an office in Riyadh.

The new base will initially be staffed by one Dechert lawyer – counsel Husam El-Khatib, who joined the firm in July. Dechert already has ties to the Saudi Arabian market via its association with the Law Firm of Hassan Mahassni in Jeddah, which was signed last year.

The Riyadh office, which officially opened in the third week of September, is located on Al Olaya Street, a well-known commercial corridor in Riyadh. It will focus on corporate transactions, capital markets, investment funds, government work and international arbitration, according to Chris Sioufi, one of Dechert's regional co-managing partners in the Middle East.

Sioufi said Dechert and Mahassni aim to grow their team in Saudi Arabia, and he anticipates having at least five lawyers in Riyadh by the end of 2017.

"The expansion to Riyadh will assist us in providing services to our clients throughout the Kingdom and in our work with Dechert, and we are excited to have Husam work alongside us," Mahassni said.

El-Khatib, whose practice includes corporate securities and capital markets, most recently spent five years at DLA Piper, where he was a senior legal consultant.

Dechert first expanded into Saudi Arabia in September last year, when it announced the association with the Hassan Mahassni firm, which was based in Jeddah, and had a small presence in Riyadh. Hassan Mahassni, which was founded in 1970, has 10 lawyers. Its practice areas include banking and finance, M&A, joint ventures, capital markets and litigation.

Before making the association with Hassan Mahassni, Dechert had a location in Dubai that it also used to serve clients in Abu Dhabi and throughout the United Arab Emirates.

The firms have not grown their local headcount since announcing the association, Dechert CEO Henry Nassau said, but the amount of work has increased.

"We are very lucky to have the positive association with [Mahassni's] name," Nassau said.

Sioufi added that the relationship has boosted Dechert's local knowledge and expertise, while Mahassni has benefited from the larger firm's international reach and broad practice mix.

Nassau predicted Dechert would grow its presence in its existing offices in the Middle East. He expects both its Saudi Arabian outposts to grow into fully staffed offices. The Dubai office, which now has 14 lawyers, is expected to grow to about 20, he said.

A handful of other major international law firms have a presence in Riyadh, include Baker & McKenzie, DLA Piper, Norton Rose Fulbright and Latham & Watkins.