Dr. Osama bin Saeed Al-Qahtani
Lawyer and Legal Consultant
Founder and Managing Director

Academic Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in English Company Law and International Commercial Law
  Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom - 2008–2009

   

• 

  PhD in Islamic Jurisprudence and Its Principles
  College of Education, King Saud University
  2007

• Master’s Degree in Comparative Jurisprudence
  High Judicial Institute, Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University
  2001
• Bachelor’s Degree in Sharia
  College of Sharia, Riyadh
  1998

Academic and Scholarly Experience

• Teaching Islamic jurisprudence and law at several universities
  King Saud University
  Dar Al Uloom University
  Al Faisal University
• Supervision of academic theses
• Participation in numerous official scientific conferences, seminars, and lectures

Professional and Practical Experience

• Chairman of the Board of the Saudi Bar Association Center for Settlement and Arbitration, a center affiliated with the Saudi Bar Association.

• Former General Supervisor of the Saudi Bar Association, in addition to serving as a member of the Association’s Board of Directors—chaired by His Excellency the Minister of Justice—for nearly seven years. He also chaired the Board’s Executive Committee for approximately four years. The Association is the supervisory and regulatory body for the Saudi legal profession, and it is also regarded as the key reference and academic accreditation authority for the practice of law.

• Head of the Legal Department at a major well-known joint-stock company (and the office continues to act as the company’s external legal counsel, with the same responsibilities, for more than fifteen years), as well as for its subsidiaries (currently five companies, one of which is a joint-stock company in an Arab country). These companies operate across diverse sectors, including military and civil explosives manufacturing, as well as medical manufacturing and pharmaceutical distribution through international commercial agencies, distribution agreements, and related arrangements. His responsibilities included managing all litigation and legal matters for these companies, including participation in negotiations concerning investments, partnerships, and international contracting, in addition to representing the companies in a wide range of cases before multiple courts—general, criminal, labor, commercial, administrative, financial, insurance, and customs—reflecting the breadth and diversity of the disputes involved.

• Currently: Managing a law firm (Dr. Osama Al-Qahtani Law Firm for Legal Consultancy and Arbitration) and serving as legal counsel to a number of government entities, companies, and individuals

• His work also includes drafting local and international contracts and agreements, including negotiation, correspondence, and formal communications with counterparties, as well as structuring and drafting specialized and complex contracts. The firm also assists in monitoring disclosure and corporate governance obligations for joint-stock companies listed on the financial market, following up on the Board of Directors’ obligations in this regard, reviewing all related board resolutions, drafting market disclosures, and preparing legal responses and interpretations to inquiries from the Capital Market Authority.

• By the grace of God, the firm has concluded many large, medium, and small contracts, including technology transfer agreements, international commercial partnerships, supply and procurement contracts, and two BOT (Build–Operate–Transfer) contracts—one in a Gulf country and the other in the Kingdom—as well as a number of international joint venture agreements, with contract values ranging from approximately one billion to hundreds of thousands, in addition to international commercial agency agreements.

• Participation in the execution of international commercial transactions such as acquisitions and mergers, as well as international real estate transactions, while ensuring optimal tax solutions and secure title ownership. The firm also supervised the execution of an acquisition of a licensed real estate fund for the benefit of another real estate fund.

• Participation in a number of international cases (court proceedings and arbitrations) through direct supervision and guidance.

• Advocacy and drafting of legal memoranda for numerous cases before the general (and commercial) courts, the administrative court, and quasi-judicial committees, such as the committees for the resolution of securities, banking, insurance, and customs disputes, among others.

• Participation in a number of high-profile cases covered by the media, such as the Al-Muajil Company case, which was a matter of public interest, before the Committee for the Resolution of Securities Disputes, as well as a number of cases involving joint-stock companies announced through financial market disclosures—whether relating to the companies and their operations or to individuals’ transactions in shares.

• Participation in a number of commercial arbitration matters, whether by representing clients before arbitral tribunals or by serving as a member—or chair—of a commercial arbitral tribunal.

• Participation in a number of scientific and professional seminars and training courses in the fields of law, legal practice, and arbitration.

• Member of the Supervisory Committee for the study on developing the Saudi judicial system at the Riyadh Economic Forum, held under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in 2015. The study was overseen by the Forum’s Board of Trustees, with the Ministry of Justice represented in the study, and it was presented under the patronage of His Excellency the Minister of Justice.

• Preparation of the study on developing the Saudi judiciary at the 2015 Economic Forum, which was submitted to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. In addition to an oversight role in the study, the firm was commissioned—pursuant to a contract with the Board of Trustees—to complete the study’s preparation. By the grace of God, it was completed to the highest standard and presented at the Forum under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, in the presence of many distinguished officials, judges, legal specialists, interested stakeholders, and business leaders. The study also received extensive media coverage through a number of media channels and prominent newspapers.

• Former Vice Chairman of the Board of the Saudi Society for Culture and Arts and a former board member. The Society is an independent association established in 1396 AH, with its board appointed by decision of His Excellency the Minister of Culture and Information, and it operates through branches across all regions of the Kingdom.

• Former weekly opinion columnist on the opinion page of Al-Watan newspaper for nearly seven years, with numerous publications on legal and judicial affairs, in addition to economic, intellectual, and cultural topics.

• Participation in many cultural seminars and lectures on various occasions.

• Former legal columnist for Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper, and—through the firm—supervision of the weekly “Voice of Law” page in Al-Eqtisadiah, which was at the time the first specialized weekly legal page.

 

   Professional reputation is not built with words, but through actions and honoring commitments. Legal practice is an ethical covenant before it is a profession, and sincerity, integrity, and transparency with the client are principles we live by—not slogans we repeat. Even when they conflict with our own interests, the client’s best interest comes first.  

 

   Dr. Osama bin Saeed Al-Qahtani