Breaking Barriers: Bringing a new, modern and progressive model for international law firms in the UAE

Despite our strong legacy, Yungo Law is all about the future – bringing a new, modern and progressive model for international law firms in the UAE. I believe that creating a human-centric, caring law firm, with a truly flexible working culture where everyone can thrive, is not only good for our people but good for business and clients too.

As our founder, I’m on a mission, along with the rest of our people: to empower women in the Middle East to reach their potential by creating equality through an inclusive culture and embracing new ways of working.

It’s business, but it’s personal.

My background is an Italian qualified lawyer who has worked in international firms in Dubai and as a consultant lawyer. However, my personal journey as a woman forging a career in the traditional legal industry has been challenging and frustrating in equal measure. As a pregnant woman and then mother, I really found the lack of support and discrimination in the workplace deeply disappointing.

Despite meeting my targets and making sacrifices in my personal life, I realised that many women were still fighting an uphill battle when it came to promotion and opportunities as a result of trying to manage their legal careers with their families.

I wanted to create a law firm where women’s talents could be recognised and rewarded, where their needs as humans with a personal life and family commitments came first – a place where they could succeed and do fantastic work for clients on their own terms without apology.

Taking over my great-grandfather’s firm, Yungo Law, established in 1895, gave me a fantastic opportunity to do just this.

A new way of working based on trust and values.

The way Yungo Law looks today is born from a collective vision of supporting other women in law to become leaders in their profession. We’re fully flexible and hybrid in model. Lawyers can work from home two to three days a week or come to the office if they prefer. It’s a personal choice for our lawyers to consider how they work most productively and what allows them to feel fulfilled in all aspects of life.

We recently introduced a 4.5 working day week, with Friday as a day that everyone works from home. This means everyone has the chance to refresh and take a genuine break before the start of a new week which is so important. Employees are encouraged not to respond to work emails and messages after working hours or when they are on leave. Respecting these boundaries is key to creating genuine culture change. I know that if it’s not authentic, it becomes meaningless.

Being inclusive is not a once-a-year initiative. It requires a shift in priorities and putting employees at the centre of what the firm does. And it is a continuous journey. I created this model to support women in caring roles primarily and ensure they had an opportunity to forge a career as a senior lawyer whilst balancing family life, however the way we work applies to every single employee who now joins us. This way we can ensure we are prioritising and supporting well-being and that our lawyers enjoy their work and love what they do, something our clients notice and appreciate.

As a result of working in a flexible, empowered way, I believe our lawyers at Yungo Law are more productive. Turnover of our employees is extremely low, keeping valuable knowhow and experience with us, which in turn provides continuity for our clients and ultimately economic benefit for all. The reduction in working hours means we’ve focused on ways of working smarter – not harder – investing in technology that helps our lawyers and clients to be more efficient.

At Yungo Law, we’ve been able to build a team of exceptional women leaders who truly support each other and the people and businesses that work with us and I’m so proud of that. We wanted to create a legacy for the next generation of women in law in the UAE and lead by example with a law firm model that is genuinely different and empowers them to be the best lawyers they can be, with the supportive working structures they need.

It simply makes no sense for talented and experienced lawyers to feel excluded and undervalued just because traditional law firms haven’t evolved fast enough to meet their needs. I know from the team that the structure we have put in place is helping both women and men in law continue to build their careers without having to sacrifice other parts of their life and that work-sharing leads to better diversity, growth, innovation and productivity. Our focus on adoption of new technologies and methodologies gives everyone the opportunity to learn new skills and constantly evolve. The biggest winners though are our clients, because we truly enjoy what we do and the results speak for themselves.

I hope that, in the future, a much more flexible law firm becomes the norm. And Yungo Law will continue to lead from the front in driving this change.

 

Yungo Law is your legal partner in the UAE and EU. We can draw on over a hundred years of experience of supporting private clients and corporations in the UAE, Italy and France to support you. No matter what your legal challenge, the team at Yungo Law has the expertise to tackle it head-on. If you are a client in the Middle East or Europe looking for support, or a lawyer looking for a different way to work, get in touch with Clotilde Iaia Polak on clotilde@yungo.ae.

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