Regional powerhouse Al Tamimi & Co. has topped the first ranking of the biggest law firms in the Middle East.

The firm has 378 lawyers working across 15 locations in the area, according to research compiled by Law.com International, meaning it is several times larger than almost all of its international rivals.

International firms Clyde & Co, DLA Piper, and White & Case, made a strong showing, taking second, third and fourth places, respectively. All have a handful of offices in the region and 118 lawyers or more.

Law.com International used ALM's proprietary database Law.com Compass to draw up the data—and then checked the information with each of the firms involved.

Operating across 10 countries, Al Tamimi has almost three times as many lawyers as its nearest rival. This month, it celebrated the first anniversary of the launch of its latest office to open, in Casablanca.

"We grow into markets where our clients want us to be. We believe in our regional model. We believe in our ability to service our clients across all these markets," Samer Qudah, the firm's Dubai-based managing partner, told Law.com International.

"We have a vision to be the leading law firm in the Middle East and North Africa by 2025. We are making headway."

The other firm to be positioned in the top five was Allen & Overy, in fifth position. In 2021, Khaled Garousha, the firm's regional managing partner, explained why he believed the firm was a member of the Middle East's big-ticket elite.

Earlier this month, White & Case's capital markets partner, Sami Al-Louzi, Dubai, detailed the firm's success in the region's booming IPO market.

Four regional firms secured creditable positions in the rankings, with Hadef & Partners, a UAE-only boutique, at sixth, BSA Ahmed bin Hezeem & Associates, with eight offices in the region, at 12th, and Kuwait's Meysan Partners at 15th, in addition to Al Tamimi.

The rankings reflect a tilt towards British-headquartered firms, as opposed to U.S.-led institutions. Eleven of the top 22 have more lawyers in the U.K. than in any other single country. Five are U.S.-headquartered or firms formed through a Transatlantic merger.

Conversely, U.S. firms dominate ALM's Global 200 Big Law firms, at around 160 of the top 200 firms. With only a quarter of the ALM Global 200 owning offices in the Middle East, many expect to see the appetite to engage in the Arab world broaden in the next decade.

International law firms see increasing opportunity in the region, whether in the UAE—the traditional entry point to the region, where Dubai remains the preeminent hub due to its transport links and go-getting mentality—or Saudi Arabia, which offers infrastructure and renewables project work on a massive scale. Fresh from hosting the FIFA World Cup last year, even Qatar's popularity as a destination for law firms is on the rise, as it contemplates a near doubling of natural gas output before decade's end.

What is clear is that Saudi Arabia's headlong charge towards a new, more aggressive era, and the trade, infrastructure-development and decarbonisation challenges there and elsewhere in the region, mean that Big Law's inclination to tackle what was often seen as a remote and difficult region is on the rise.

Regional law firms often describe themselves as niche, but are also attractive to lawyers from the Levant and North Africa who wish to break into positions at firms in the Arab world's leading economic hub quickly.

Despite pervasive use of the English language in Middle East legal work, regional firms' success also underlines the importance of an Arabic-speaking capability in the region.

The rankings, based on headcount, as of March 1, 2023, are based on the number of partners, associates and other attorneys at a given firm's offices across the region.

Update: This table has been updated to include Meysan Partners and Ashurst and to include the correct figures for Al Tamimi.

The only firm not to respond to Law.com International's enquiries was Clifford Chance, which has offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and a total of 90 lawyers, according to Compass data, putting it in ninth position.

Addleshaw Goddard will soon have four locations as its opening in Riyadh is pending approval. The firm hopes to grow by around 60% in the region over the next five years, a spokesperson said.

Several firms have presences in North Africa, especially Egypt, which, if included, would skew the numbers. Since North Africa is regarded by Law.com International as a distinct set of territories, it was decided to limit the study to offices located in the Middle East as the basis for the standings.

Stuart Paterson, managing partner Middle East, Herbert Smith Freehills, which ranked joint-19th, said: "We are pleased to be included in the Top 20—we have invested in our team in the region across all practice areas to reflect the increased activity we are seeing from our clients."