Eversheds Sutherland has developed a scheme to train the next generation of Emirati leaders in law.
The Emirati Initiatives programme enables junior legal professionals such as paralegals, trainees, and law students to learn from an international law firm.
The programme began around three years ago with upwards of 55 Emirati lawyers and students benefiting in the years since.
Emiratis only make up about 10% of the population in the UAE, with many of these nationals working in government roles. The government has set targets to improve the number of Emiratis in the private sector.
Eversheds hopes to help them see the value of working in the private sector and the legal sector, which has not been a common career option in the region. It also hopes to identify, develop, and recruit the next “rising stars in the region” as well as to help the wider legal community meet government targets.
Some 90% of people signed up are women, which is another of the programme’s aims, a spokesperson for the firm told Law Middle East, bringing more women into the legal sector.
It initially started as a week-long workshop held yearly for around five to ten legal professionals and students. Over time, it expanded to running the workshop week three times a year, including sessions on a broad range of topics, directly in response to requests, for example on contract drafting.
Eversheds legal director Roberta Wertman, who leads the initiative, said: “Our sessions on commercial contract drafting, which included a half-day workshop and then two small group practical working sessions came directly from employer/participant requests. As a result we have had amazing participation and engagement. This engagement and seeing the individuals grow through the initiative and then help it continue to evolve has been key to its success.”
The latest offering includes three seminars running through May and June 2024, with internal and external speakers delivering sessions on topics ranging from anti-bribery corruption law to labour law.
Wertman told Law Middle East she plans to create one-to-one mentoring sessions for lawyers and a legal skills competition for law students.
“We have agreed to two new initiatives—one for the students and one for legal professionals,” she said. “In the autumn we will run a legal skills competition for the students, which is likely to involve a writing exercise. We are also going to start a mentoring programme focused on career advance for the legal professionals, with mentoring undertaken by our most senior lawyers and international operations colleagues.”
“This will be a very exclusive programme limited to two participants per six-month period nominated by their employers or identified by us through the programme,” Wertman continued. “It will be a substantial investment of time, but well worth it.”
Last month a joint committee was established between the Ministry of Education and top local and international law firms to enhance the legal education and training system in the UAE. The committee aims to provide students enrolled in law programmes at local universities with practical training opportunities and encourages lawyers to take up teaching positions at law schools.
