A message from Essam Al Tamimi, Chair of the IBA Dubai Host Committee and Senior Partner of Al Tamimi & Company

As we embark on the biggest conference hosted by the IBA each year, I am overwhelmed by what an achievement this has been not only for Dubai but for all involved in the legal profession in the Middle East.

We began speaking to the IBA about considering Dubai as a destination for the annual conference many years ago, and it was in 2005 that they began to really consider the value of our proposition. Since then, the UAE government and local legal community has worked very closely with the IBA to ensure a successful conference and warm welcome to all visiting Dubai during this time.

With a membership base of 45,000 individual lawyers and over 200 bar associations and law societies spanning all continents, I am excited about the diverse opportunities that this annual meeting will offer on a regional, professional and personal level. I myself have been involved with the IBA for 24 years and have attended and presented at many of their seminars and conferences around the world. The professional development opportunities that I have been exposed to are invaluable and the friendships that I have formed remain very close to me. I look forward to seeing many of the friends that I have made over the coming week as well as developing new relationships.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues of the Host Committee for their support over the past year. Together we have been able to provide 50 scholarships for young Arab lawyers from across the region to attend the conference – the first time in IBA history that such an initiative has come to fruition. I’d also like to thank Emirates Airlines and the Jumeirah Group for their generous support in providing flights and accommodation to our young scholars.

To everyone attending the conference, I hope you thoroughly enjoy the programme and, of course, the social aspect of it all. I encourage you to take some time out to enjoy our wonderful city and all that it has to offer.

Essam Al Tamimi