Advice To My Younger Self
Alumna Lubna Qassim left her private practice to take on the task of overseeing the legal passage of groundbreaking economic reforms in the United Arab Emirates. Now chief Group General Counsel and company Secretary of banking conglomerate Emirates NBD, she reflects on how solid training, a fearless approach and relentless ambition have driven her story of success.
You know how they say you have to be very careful what you wish for? My burning desire, upon (someday) retiring from private practice, was to shape the legal landscape of my home country. That wish was granted much earlier than expected when the Dubai government asked me to leave my firm while still a young lawyer and build a suite of economic legislations to attract foreign direct investment and strengthen the legal infrastructure of the UAE.
Suddenly, I was in the public sector, and my client was the government. It was not just about being a lawyer, but about diplomacy and navigating various languages in serving the government and public sector. This is not the sort of skillset that you learn from a manual or an academy. But having worked at a top international law firm, I had the ability to think creatively outside the box, on the spot and under pressure.
