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Dubai: A Dubai-based law firm prides itself with an all-women’s team that claims it can empathise better with clients.
Kokila Alagh, who launched the firm Karm Legal at the Global Legal Forum at the Peace Palace at The Hague in August last year, said, “I was inspired to set up a company with only women in keeping with the vision of the UAE of promoting gender parity at the workplace and driving women empowerment across all spheres of business.”
Alagh, who has done her Masters in Law in Digital Economy, is an ardent fintech, technology lawyer who also advises international groups on security token offerings and cryptocurrency issuance.
She said, “The country’s tech-savvy youth, especially women, play a central role in taking the nation to the digital highway with their tech ventures. We want to encourage more women to step forward into this specialised area of entrepreneurship, ensuring that the women empowerment narrative of the UAE is fully aligned with the real needs of the world, which is shaped by digital technology.”
But more important than that, she said, “There is a certain comfort I get in working with women lawyers who are smart and tough. They can relate to and empathise better with clients.”
Her team members not only vouch for that, but say they are also better off working in an all-women environment.
Principal associate Soumya George, 35, who advises multiple medtech and insuretech clients on corporate structuring and use of niche technologies, said, “As women, we have so many tasks to juggle. But not all employers appreciate that. A little accommodation goes a long way and that is something only a woman boss and co-workers can provide.”
For chartered accountant Chandni Teckchandani, 28, it’s been a big shift working at Karm after being the only woman in her team in a Big Four company.
“In a mixed team, people don’t understand the emotions that women go through, their mood swings etc. But here, we get to work flexible hours which is of great help as some of us have small kids,” said Teckchandani, who works with the Karm advisory and provides legal advice to start-ups, besides helping them with strategic and business planning and fund raising.
Senior associate Akshata Namjoshi, 27, said, “There is a misconception that there are not many women who are adept in tech laws. So it’s a great feeling when our clients tell us we have debunked such beliefs.”
Filipinas Aileen Amaranda, a paralegal and Mary Christine Montalban in admin, said the all-women environment allows them to perform better as it is more comfortable. “We can do so much more when there’s more understanding,” added Amaranda.
