Growing opportunities for Saudi women coming from in-house or government advisory roles have led to the appointment of another rising star to A&O Shearman’s Riyadh office.
Shaima Bakhsh joins the firm in January after leaving her role as general counsel with the $320 billion Saudi government pension fund, Hassana Investment Company, where she spent four years.
Bakhsh’s experience lies in M&A, joint ventures and strategic corporate advice.
“She will work closely with the firm’s Saudi Arabia and Middle East teams to support clients on high impact transactions aligned with Vision 2030,” the firm said.
Prior to her time at Hassana, she spent three years as an associate with Khoshaim & Associates in cooperation with legacy Allen & Overy.
“Shaima brings a rare combination of board level insight and execution experience in the Kingdom,” Hosam Ibn Ghaith, managing partner of A&O Shearman’s Riyadh office, said.
As the kingdom moves to full employment for all citizens, the move marks a steady transfer of legal know-how from the in-house, institutional, government and academic sectors to international, private practice law firms. Other similar moves underline the growing fluidity in career trajectories for Saudi lawyers—especially women.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Credit: wajdram/Adobe Stock
From GC to Partner
In March 2025, Sairah Narmah‑Alqasim joined Pinsent Masons as head of the employment practice in its newly launched Riyadh office.
She earlier held in-house and academic roles, as senior in-house counsel & head of law department at a university, and also in-house roles in the U.K. and Saudi Arabia. Before joining Pinsent Masons, she spent seven years with Dentons in Saudi Arabia, leading their employment practice there.
Two partners to join Kirkland & Ellis on the launch of its Saudi office in 2023 also came to the firm after in-house roles. Noor Al‑Fawzan earlier worked as legal counsel at the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, part of the World Bank Group. Her focus was M&A, joint ventures and general corporate matters in Saudi-related transactions.
Al-Fawzan is part of the Kirkland team advising in the largest-ever leveraged buyout as a private equity consortium acquires Nasdaq-listed games maker Electronic Arts for $55 billion. Kirkland is serving as legal counsel to the consortium, comprising Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, and is the lead adviser for PIF.
Manal Al‑Musharaf served as legal director for a major investment vehicle within the Public Investment Fund projects department in a senior in-house corporate and investment-oriented role. Her practice at Kirkland focuses on capital-markets transactions, IPOs, corporate governance, areas where her in-house experience is directly relevant.
Raya Alkhatib, Bird & Bird; Courtesy Photo
Raya Alkhatib left her role as general counsel, head of governance, and board secretary at American Express Saudi Arabia to join Bird & Bird's office as a corporate partner in 2025. She spent four years as an associate with Latham & Watkins from 2014-18 and now heads Bird & Bird's corporate practice.
Alkhatib advises clients on corporate matters, including M&A, general corporate advice, formation of companies, IPO transactions, rights issue and real estate investment funds. She is able to assist even the most demanding clients with solutions grounded in her understanding of complex Saudi legislation that is often difficult to parse.
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