Which way, Western lawyer?
Simmons & Simmons has defended itself from accusations that its plans to expand in Saudi Arabia undermine its stated commitment to LGBT rights.
Following changes to the rules governing the operation of foreign law firms in Saudi Arabia, Simmons & Simmons has applied to open a new office in Riyadh. It will be the firm’s third in the region alongside offices in Qatar and Dubai.
But same-sex relationships are criminalised in Saudi Arabia, where gay people must live in secret and the ultimate possible sanction for homosexual activity is death.
The regime’s intolerance is at odds with the values espoused by Simmons. Presenting itself as a bastion of proactive LGBT support, the firm states that “We are proud to be a Stonewall Top Global Employer for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people” and boasts that “we are at the forefront of driving LGBT+ inclusion in the workplace”.
Chasing the dollar in a country where homosexuality is banned risks being perceived as a contradiction of such claims, so the firm produced an internal FAQ sheet for staff to address any discomfort around the opening.
“Does this really align with the firm's purpose and values, especially in terms of LGBTQ+ rights?” posed the firm.
“We feel confident in saying that this is the right thing to do for our business and our clients, they need us to have a presence in Riyadh”, it responded.
“If we are to be a credible international firm, we have to be truly international - that does not mean we agree with all the customs or laws in the countries in which we operate. It is also important to note that discussions around LGBTQ+ rights in Saudi Arabia are complex and often involve a delicate balance between cultural traditions, religious beliefs and international human rights standards”.
Eagle-eyed readers will spot that the response hasn’t yet answered the question. It continued:
“We are dedicated to upholding diversity and inclusion values within our own offices and practices, and we encourage open conversations to understand and address any concerns - our goal is to work towards positive change, advocate for inclusivity and contribute to a more diverse and accepting legal landscape. Our new Business Acceptance Committee continues to refuse work that does not align with our values and that will aways be the case”.
Some gay staff concluded from the explanation that the Riyadh opening did not in fact align with the firm’s LGBTQ+ values, but they had been superseded by commercial priorities.
“Despite having months to plan for the launch of a new office in Riyadh, it fails to answer a question that should have been easily anticipated — how do you square a ‘commitment to inclusion’ as a next generation law firm with a new office in KSA?” said one solicitor.
“Apparently by determining that this is a ‘complex’ issue in a jurisdiction that routinely utilises capital punishment for members of its queer community”, they said.
Although homosexuality can be met with the death penalty in Saudi, it’s disputed whether people in recent years have been executed for being gay, and the kingdom recently updated its own FAQs on tourism to state that LGBT visitors were “welcome” to visit Saudi.
However, the regime's embrace of gay people contained a caveat requiring that “they follow and respect our culture, traditions and laws, as you would when visiting any other country in the world”. Critics accuse the country of whitewashing the unplesant reality for LGBT people in the country as it seeks to burnish its image on the international stage.
Asked to comment on the internal consternation from gay staff, and to specify how the firm was working towards public change in the region, a spokesperson for Simmons & Simmons said, “The move is consistent with the firm’s purpose and values. As with most international law firms, we operate in a number of diverse regions, some with different local customs and laws. We have strict processes in place to ensure that all mandates we take on align with our values and those same processes will be applied here”.
"We are proud of the firm’s longstanding commitment to LGBT+ equality and are dedicated to upholding diversity and inclusion values within our own offices and practices. We are advocates for inclusivity and rightly recognised as such”.
"Our goal is to work towards positive change and contribute to a more diverse and inclusive legal profession", said the spokesperson.
Saudi Arabia’s rule changes on how international law firms are permitted to operate requires them to either employ a significant proportion of Saudi lawyers or avoid advising on Saudi law as part of a drive to keep fees in the country and support the native legal community.
Clifford Chance, Herbies and Latham & Watkins obtained the first licences last year, while Addleshaw Goddard, Mishcon de Reya, Gibson Dunn and Simmons are among a second wave of firms aiming to take advantage of the lucrative market, and never mind the bone saws.
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Comments
61
1
All the associates complaining about this also complain about wanting to be paid more in line with other bigger firms. You can't have it both ways.
140
0
Bit unfair to pick on Simmons tbf. Most of the major firms already have Riyadh offices, or are opening them.
Also:
Things That Law Firms Care About (in order of importance)
1. Money.
2. Presenting values in a way that appeals to clients and helps to make more money.
....
108. Values.
35
1
I love that they say that to be a "credible international law firm you have to be truly international" yet their presence in the states is like 1 lawyer.
76
0
Ah yes, the delicate and complex ethical question of whether it's ok to do business in a territory that chops the heads off of homosexuals if it detects their presence. A real puzzler.
42
1
Yeah alright, but that's all a bit old hat for LGBTQIA+ issues these days. The real question is what is the Saudi position on whether men can turn into women or not? Is that in line with S&S's DEI standards?
18
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Hardly partnership material lol
89
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In Saudi, homosexuals live under the threat of the death penalty. There is also no press freedom, and any criticism of the regime can lead to extreme punishment, including state-sanctioned murder. And women who are perceived as failing to dress with appropriate "modesty" are frequently spat at and verbally abused in the street. That is part of the culture of Saudi Arabia. However, there is a limit to which you can point to "cultural differences" to justify your association with certain countries. If Simmons were intending to open in Berlin in the 1930s/1940s, would they have said, "In Germany, they make Jews walk in the gutter, prevent them from owning businesses, and murder them. They also execute disabled people. It is not the British way. But it is what Germans do. And we are an international firm and operate internationally"?
20
1
Change isn’t acheived by ostracising the Saudis.
Rather let them work with people who are both gay and straight. In time they will see these people as individuals rather than groups.
43
1
"In Germany, they make Jews walk in the gutter, prevent them from owning businesses, and murder them" .
Now now, let's not rush to judgement about S&S's new Berlin office, it's a diverse region with different customs and laws, we need to think about the country's treatment of Jewish people as a complex and delicate one in which there is a balance to be struck between local cultural traditions, beliefs and international human rights standards.
Now, gimmie that sweet Volkswagen dolla.
18
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@09:26 - that's right, they're the real victims here. Amazing that the World's most persecuted people of all time didn't even get an acknowledgement from the writer. As if their existence could just be denied and ignored.
21
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Given homosexuals can get strung up for coming out I'm not sure how the Saudi prince would ever know that the nice man who does his Kensington pad leases is gay, and have a damascene conversion, anon 9:45. I certainly wouldn't risk telling him...
37
1
I was previously at Simmons and they only 'care' about LGBT+ to the extent it wins them awards. Everything they did was about ticking boxes for Stonewall, not about the people in the firm.
31
1
Everyone does it. Also see offices in other nasty jurisdictions (esp Africa and Asia). The irony of all this D&I push is that you cannot actually have it all (Eg islam and LGBT, Israel and Muslims). Clue for the woke brigade: money speaks, and law firms only care about that. If you don't agree, please resign.
19
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"you cannot actually have it all (Eg islam and LGBT, Israel and Muslims)". Well quite. Let's just accept reality and let Israel have the place already. The other lot have been trying for 70 odd years and have made a right hash of it. Bus them off to Yemen and stop looking for a compromise that doesn't exist. Sure, they'll be hopping mad for a couple of weeks but bung them a bit of IMF cash and they'll soon realise that they're better off out of it.
23
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How are they supposed to answer the question? With the truth? "Yes it's rubbish but we need the money money money."
20
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9.04 I’m guessing rof ‘picked on’ Simmons as it’s the first time it’s become known that gay people within a firm have complained about it. More should have at other firms imo
19
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If you don’t like it, it may be best to go elsewhere.
24
1
Addleshaws did the same thing in 2023.
Apparently it's ok because the (very carefully selected) women who senior management spoke to said they were treated very well.
Obviously the LGBT issue wasn't a priority. Despite the rainbow lanyards and screensaver with every pride flag going on it (which I doubt will appear in the new office, or in Oman etc). But yay women.
62
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That is terrible - how could Simmons & Simmons associate with such a group of intolerant, fanatic and dictatorial people? They should immediately distance themselves from Stonewall.
15
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"If you don’t like it, it may be best to go elsewhere." - It's the most obvious solution to the Gaza question, I agree. Though you can see why the Saudis are a little cautious of saying it too loudly in public.
21
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Hypocritical. It’s questionable to operate in the USA - the biggest warmonger in history (and their lapdog us; the UK).
39
1
Love this. My firm acts for huge polluters, dodgy African nations, Eastern European oligarchs etc etc but employs an army of HR bods to instruct us on Diversity and Inclusion and the importance of “sustainability”. HR is now effectively a Soviet Commissar division embedded in the corporate world, responsible for the political re-education of employees. It’s even one of the criteria for partnership now, “firm values” involving D&I. Utter joke.
18
1
Can’t even police the Red Sea and stop the English Channel boats and dreaming about ethnic cleansing!!!
30
1
Funny how if you speak out against the LGBTQ agenda in the office, Simmons would no doubt fire you yet it’s completely fine for them to open an office in a country which is notoriously anti-LGBTQ
29
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Rof inadvertently bumping into the biggest problem the modern corporate world has stored up for itself - its shallow ethicwashing being questioned by the kids who truly Believe it
20
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@13:47 - am pretty sure that the Israelis could stop the English Channel boats if we outsourced the job to them.
TBF - that would probably be quite a good option for most of the UK's failing public services actually. Sack the old hands and just bring in some Israeli talent to not fuck about and to ignore the invariable hand-wringing of progressives who had years at the wheel but failed to do the job themselves. The job would be done before the schools break up for summer.
We could sell it to the public as "Out with the DEI, in with the IDF" or something. Get it in the manifesto Keir.
22
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I'm sure the same people whose knickers are in a twist hated Boris, Trump etc and felt they were evil, nasty and against all 'progressive' ideology. So why did they continue to work with firms who trade in the US and UK?
Perhaps they should only work for firms who trade in those progressive bastions, China and Russia. Oh, wait...
20
1
Lol - like law firms care a damn about people's rights!
BTW - what does HR in a law firm actually do?
19
1
Yes this is bad. But you don't have to operate in a country where liberal values are illegal to still be the kind of firm that only shows lip service to them. Let's take the example of a particular magenta firm that protected slappo...
19
1
Why are Simmons being singled out? They’re all at it
20
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Some of the comments from The Andrew Tate fan club, notably anons on 2February at 12.30 and 17.21 are quite pathetic. Clearly sociopaths and don’t have much going on in the bedroom for them all married to Lucrezia Borgia and raising two children as cabbages….. Wouldn’t know what empathy was, if it ever struck them, that one of their kids may be affected by this harm, simply because it doesn’t affect them. What poorly brought up people the law still attracts.
18
1
Lol - like law firms care a damn about people's rights!
BTW - what does HR in a law firm actually do?
20
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Jamal Khashoggi.
Ring a bell, anyone. People seem to forget that. PLCs, UK Govt. Big Law.
Even without that evil regime's stance on LGBT rights, this is blatant hypocrisy.
17
1
Simmons has a terrible record on DEI - look at their partnership - it's mainly old, straight, white guys, even though they have jad focussed searches for female partners for a long time. Simmons KSA will probably not be open long anyway if it's anything like UAE - associates are majorly unhappy and there is a very high attrition rate and low morale.
20
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“Wouldn’t know what empathy was, if it ever struck them, that one of their kids may be affected by this harm, simply because it doesn’t affect them.”
What is “this harm” you are referring to? The death penalty for homosexuality in backwards oil-rich countries which hypocritical firms are happy to operate in? How is it sociopathic behaviour to criticise corporate hypocrisy? Your attitude is the sociopathic one. You see nothing wrong with firms preaching morality to staff while acting for amoral (sometimes highly immoral) clients. You throw out puerile insults about children as cabbages and bad upbringing whilst failing to make a coherent point, all under your actual name. What an embarrassment.
12
1
Lol - like law firms care a damn about people's rights!
BTW - what does HR in a law firm actually do?
16
1
DEI comes under the ESG umbrella - environment, social and governance. DEI falls under 'social.' Adherence to ESG policies and practices ensures long-term access to funding. It's all a con.
16
1
@SecularJurist The real hypocrisy here is the fact that people raised in a country which has built its wealth and international standing on the back of slavery and imperialism feel they have the right to lecture the rest of the world about morality....
20
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"people raised in a country which has built its wealth and international standing on the back of slavery and imperialism" - Your regular friendly reminder that: (a) Britain's imperial wealth was built on industrialisation, as the first nation to adopt widescale use of steam power, with slavery making up a very small percentage of its GDP both pre and post industrialisation, (b) the Gulf states took more slaves from Africa each year than European nations did throughout the entire course of the 'triangle trade', with a thriving Eastern slaving route existing for centuries (though admittedly they got a head start on us in the middle-ages, and then ended the practice later), and (c) all modern gulf states are themselves the products of Imperialism (and slavery) which took place from the middle ages onwards and saw ethnic populations all across the Middle East (North Africa, and Indian sub-continent) wiped out by Arab invaders exporting their new religion. Unlike the British, the Arabs didn't leave enough of the original inhabitants alive to engage in any kind of 'decolonialism'.
So this may not be the best thread in which to huff and puff about imperialism related moral high-ground.
10
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@So, I actually live in the region... 05 February 24 10:46
it's not hypocrisy: it's called progress - realising that you can't keep doing an immoral thing, and moving with the times. And even though I'm not British by birth, or an apologist for "empire" (my people suffered under, and fought armed conflicts against, British rule):
1) Britain outlawed slavery more than 200 years ago, and fought to eradicate it pretty much ever since
2) Slavery (and empires) have existed in all cultures, and for millenia.
4
1
How is this story and most of the comments following it not being directed at all the "western based" international firms operating in KSA in one form or another?