Al-Khobar - Dr. Saud Al-Ammari Law Firm in association with Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (Blakes) announced the further strengthening of its team in the Middle East with the addition of Blakes Partner Graham McLeod. Mr. McLeod joins the Al-Khobar and Bahrain-based regional team from the firm's office in Toronto.

Mr. McLeod is a highly reputed lawyer within his practice focusing on infrastructure, commercial and procurement transactions with a particular emphasis on the development and implementation of public-private partnership (PPP) and alternative financing and procurement projects, areas of growth in the Middle East. He has acted on a broad range of projects in sectors such as healthcare, transportation, water and wastewater, solid waste disposal, and information technology systems. He also provides strategic and legal advice in areas such as project structuring, risk management, project finance and litigation avoidance strategies. Mr. McLeod's expertise has been recognized in Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business 2014 (PPP & Infrastructure).

Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Saud Al-Ammari, Chair Saudi Arabia & Middle East at Blakes, said:

"We are delighted to welcome Graham to our growing team of international and regional legal experts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The move of such senior partners to the region further underscores our commitment to developing our practice here and to deepening the expertise we are able to offer clients on the ground in the Middle East. Graham brings with him a wealth of experience and his move supports the knowledge transfer we aim to encourage across the Blakes network for the benefit of our clients and our ability to better serve them."

Canada has earned an international reputation as a stable and transparent market for PPP projects, and the Blakes team is recognized in Canada for having contributed to perfecting the model and developing world-class precedents. The firm, leveraging Mr. McLeod's move, will now bring this level of expertise and know-how to clients including government entities and private-sector organizations in the Middle East.

Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP (Blakes) has an office in Manama, Bahrain, as well as an office in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, through its affiliation with Dr. Saud Al Ammari Law Firm . From these offices, Dr. Saud Al Ammari Law Firm in association with Blakes focuses on clients with interests in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region and the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. As a top business law firm, we provide exceptional legal services to leading businesses around the world.