About

Khalid Khan enjoys a reputation among in-house counsel in the Middle East as one of the most experienced lawyers in the region. His first in-house role, after a number of senior positions at well-regarded international law firms such as Dentons, Reed Smith Richards Butler and Pinsent Masons, was an extremely prestigious one beginning in 2004 with Alshaya Group as group general counsel, and was followed by similarly impressive positions at GEMS Education, Gulf Investment Corporation, and Bukhatir Group from 2008 to 2015; this string of employments in diverse but high-profile roles are an indication of the esteem in which Khan’s capabilities are viewed by contemporaries. In his role at Zubair, Khan has helped the business with company acquisitions, win new exploration and production contracts, and ‘setting up three new oil and gas companies’. He has also been involved in negotiating ‘innovative and class-leading’ fee arrangements for new company projects. ‘Under them, external counsel charge a deeply-discounted hourly rate – capped at a maximum monthly amount – for preparation of a full suite of project documents, including any related documents or ancillary advice – giving the business the cost-certainty it requires, and ensuring that it gets the specialist project advice it needs’, Khan says. ‘The aim of these changes is to improve the service that the legal department delivers to the business, to reduce risk, and to increase quality, oversight and control’, he continues.