Robert Thoms > The Law Firm of Salah Al-Hejailan in association with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer > Riyadh, Saudi Arabia > Lawyer Profile

Robert Thoms

Position

Senior Attorney

Career

Robert has practiced law in the Middle East for the past three decades, first in Kuwait in 1980 and since 1986 in Saudi Arabia, and is a graduate of Harvard Law School in the United States.  He is the managing attorney at LFSH and his experience, from more than 25 years in Saudi Arabia, is substantial.

In recent years, Robert has been involved in transactions relating to construction and project development, privatization, joint venture agreements and international commercial contracts.  He also specialises in arbitration, mediation, litigation and dispute resolution. Recent experience has included

• Advising on a claim against the Ministry of Justice and The Ministry of Commerce for a Spanish-based general contractor which provides engineering, procurement and construction of industrial and power generation plants in the oil and gas sector

• KIA Motors in an agency dispute before the Saudi courts

• Advising a client on sovereign immunity issues with respect to derivative transactions and collateral agreements involving the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

• Samsung CT Corporation (as EPC contractor) in connection with the the financing of its work as Construction Contractor on the Qurayyah independent power project.

• Foster Wheeler in connection with a Saudi Aramco general engineering services plus (GES+) initiative.

• GDF Suez in connection with its bid to build Qurayyah IPP 1, a 2,100-megawatt gas-fired power plant.

• Selex Galileo in connection with its corporate restructuring in Saudi Arabia.

• Alvarez & Marsal in connection with preparing an expert report and rebuttal on the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Saudi Arabia in the context of A&M’s application under the LCIA Rules for security for its multi-million USD claim against a Saudi airline company.

• El-Seif Development Company on their Joint Venture with GE Medical.

• Nokia Siemens Networks as general legal counsel for their operations in Saudi Arabia.

• Selex Sensors and Airborne Systems Limited – advising on the entering into of the Saudi market and in relation to the supply of electronic works by the sub-contractor for the Major Typhoon project.

• Citibank Private Bank in relation to its assessment of the Saudi legal and regulatory framework applicable to private banking and wealth management activities conducted on a cross-border basis by several of its retail businesses with residents of Saudi Arabia.

Languages

English

Memberships

American Bar Association

New York State Bar Association

Association of the Bar of the City of New York

Education

Harvard Law School (J.D. 1976)

Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. (B.A. Philosophy 1970)