Clyde & Co has appointed its first female partner in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Shahd Makhafah has joined the firm’s partnership, effective November 1.
She is a Clyde & Co lifer, having joined the firm as a trainee in 2017.
Makhafah is a corporate law specialist based in Riyadh. She advises clients on mergers & acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, incorporations including regional headquarters (RHQ), restructurings, corporate governance and compliance, and capital markets.
Commenting on the appointment, Clyde & Co’s Saudi Arabia managing partner, Abdulaziz Al-Bosaily, said: “Shahd is our first female partner in Saudi Arabia and her promotion is a testament to her hard work. It also reinforces our commitment to developing female talent and delivering in-country value through our cooperative training programme which nurtures and develops the next generation of legal professionals. Shahd plays a leadership role in this programme and the development of the firm’s junior talent in the Kingdom.”
Clyde & Co is the largest international law firm in the Middle East. It opened an office in Jeddah, its second in the Kingdom, in May 2024.
Earlier this year the firm moved its regional headquarters to Saudi Arabia after securing a licence to operate in the Kingdom.
With Makhafah’s addition, Clyde & Co counts nine partners across its Riyadh and Jeddah offices.
She joins a number of prominent female partners at international law firms in the Kingdom, including Waad Alkurini, the executive partner of White & Case’s Riyadh office, and Noor Al-Fawzan, a corporate partner in the Riyadh office of Kirkland & Ellis.
White & Case, Kirkland & Ellis, and Clifford Chance each appointed a partner in Riyadh this year.
