Allen & Overy (A&O) and Shearman & Sterling (Shearman) announce the appointment of David Foster as regional managing partner for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa for the combined firm A&O Shearman, effective May 1, 2024. He will serve an initial term of two years.

David’s appointment follows the recent election of Khalid Garousha as senior partner of A&O Shearman. Khalid, who will take up his role on May 1, has led A&O’s Middle East and Turkey operation since 2020.

Khalid Garousha commented: “I am delighted that David has agreed to take on this role. He epitomises the unrivalled quality and excellence of A&O Shearman in the region and will no doubt lead our combined regional practice to even greater success. From May 1, the Middle East and Turkey region will also be joined by our colleagues in Morocco and South Africa, and David will assume responsibility as the managing partner of this region.”

David Foster stated: “I would like to thank Khalid for his leadership and commitment to deepening relationships with our clients and for helping to build our Middle East and Turkey practice to the formidable position it is in today.

“I have always felt privileged to be part of the A&O regional team and am extremely excited to have the opportunity to lead one of the region’s most highly regarded full-service legal practices.

“As A&O Shearman, we’ll be able to bring together the global breadth of the world’s third largest integrated law firm, with the deep local expertise of over 200 lawyers in the META region. I look forward to continuing to work with our clients and our people to grow our regional practice to even greater heights.”

As a new industry leader with truly global capabilities, A&O Shearman will have nearly 4,000 lawyers and approximately 800 partners across 29 countries.