How YAB Legal Services and GPA champion legal aid and expatriate rights

For Salam Pappinissery, leadership in the legal profession extends beyond business - it is also about ensuring that people have access to support when they need it most. For over 25 years, he has been an active presence in the legal, industrial, and social spheres of the UAE.

As CEO of YAB Legal Services, Salam leads a UAE-based legal services organisation serving individual, corporate, SME and international clients. The organisation brings together legal professionals with expertise across national and international legal matters, with an emphasis on providing solutions tailored to clients’ needs.

A native of Pappinissery in Kerala’s Kannur district, Salam arrived in the UAE 36 years ago. Even as he built a name for himself in business through hard work and determination, he remained steadfast in his belief that compassion and service must form the core of his profession.

By bringing together local Emirati lawyers and prominent legal consultants from various countries, including India, he launched YAB Legal Services, which today has offices or service networks across all seven emirates and gained international prominence.

The YAB legal team has secured justice in complex cases for thousands of individuals, with expertise spanning criminal law, corporate and commercial matters, and civil and family cases. The firm also stands at the forefront of providing free legal aid to those who are economically disadvantaged.

Alongside his professional responsibilities, Salam is the founder of the Global Pravasi Association (GPA), established in 2018 to protect the rights and welfare of expatriates, addressing issues faced by the community both abroad and back home.

His contributions have earned him wide recognition, including re-election to the 5th Loka Kerala Sabha. In 2023, he received a Social Worker Award from Sheikh Suhail Bin Hasher Al Maktoum at the HMC United International Peace Conference, and in 2018, a Legal Services Award from Sheikh Saeed Bin Tahnoun Bin Mohammed Al Nahyan at the Interfaith Happiness Conclave, among other honours including the ICF Humanitarian Excellence Award.

Through YAB Legal Services and the GPA, Salam Pappinissery represents a model of leadership where professional expertise and social responsibility work together. His philosophy remains simple yet powerful: when people face difficulties, meaningful leadership begins by stepping forward and taking action.