King & Spalding Adds Three Senior Lawyers in Middle East

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA, and DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES--(Marketwire - April 1, 2008) - King & Spalding, a leading international law firm, announced today the continued expansion of its thriving Middle East practice with the addition of a partner and two counsel to its offices in Riyadh and Dubai. The addition of these three senior practitioners to the firm's Middle East team brings the total number of King & Spalding lawyers on the ground in its Riyadh and Dubai offices to 18, making King & Spalding one of the largest U.S. firms in the region.

Joining King & Spalding as a finance partner in its Riyadh affiliate office, The Law Office of Mohammad Al-Ammar, is Michael Dunphy. Mr. Dunphy brings more than 18 years' experience in finance and project finance, notably in the energy and infrastructure sectors, to the firm's Middle East team. He comes to King & Spalding from the Bahrain office of Norton Rose, where he advised clients on numerous project financings in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He received his law degree from the University of New Zealand and is qualified to practice in New Zealand and Hong Kong.

In Dubai, King & Spalding is adding Elias R. Chedid as a counsel in its mergers and acquisitions practice and Jonathan Law as a counsel in its private equity and funds practice.

Mr. Chedid joins King & Spalding from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, in Paris, with over 10 years' experience advising clients on their corporate and investment activities, with concentration on the acquisition, disposition, financing and development of real estate assets in the Middle East, Europe and United States. He received his law degree from Université Paris Sorbonne, his master of laws from Harvard University and is admitted to practice law in Lebanon, France and New York.

Mr. Law comes to King & Spalding from Appleby, in the Cayman Islands, and has more than 10 years' experience advising clients on fund formation and private equity transactions in the Middle East, Europe and United States. He received his law degree from the University of Edinburgh and is qualified to practice law in England, Wales, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.

"We are extremely pleased to welcome these highly-regarded lawyers to King & Spalding," said Philip R. Weems, managing partner of King & Spalding's Middle East offices and head of the firm's energy practice. "Michael, Jonathan and Elias are joining a King & Spalding team that has extensive on-the-ground experience in this region across a range of practice areas. Their specialized legal and business skills will help us to further our mission of providing superior legal counsel to our clients in the Middle East and those who do business here."

King & Spalding's Middle East practice focuses on Islamic finance, project finance, energy, private equity, mergers and acquisitions, real estate and international arbitration. Its offices in Dubai and Riyadh specialize in complex corporate, real estate, energy and financial transactions and international arbitration across the globe. King & Spalding is a leader in the area of Islamic finance and pioneered many Shari'ah-complaint financial products that are in wide use today. The firm is also recognized worldwide for its energy work -- especially in the area of liquefied natural gas -- and has a strong practice base in power, petrochemicals and renewable energy. Its corporate practice group provides a complete range of services to global clients in multiple jurisdictions. American Lawyer's Focus Europe magazine has ranked King & Spalding's international arbitration practice as No. 2 in the world.

About King & Spalding

King & Spalding is an international law firm with more than 800 lawyers in Atlanta, Charlotte, Dubai, Frankfurt, Houston, London, New York, Riyadh (affiliated office), San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. The firm represents half of the Fortune 100 and in a Corporate Counsel survey in September 2007 was among the top firms representing Fortune 250 companies. For additional information, visit www.kslaw.com.

Contact Information: Contact: Matt Hyams King & Spalding Ph: +1 212 827 4057