Rallying The Youth
Yann Mrazek, Dubai office managing partner of law firm Cramer Salamian and UAE representative of the International Association of Young Lawyers, talks to Kathryn Young about the global organisation’s upcoming event in Dubai.
At the end of March, the International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA) will host its inaugural event in the Middle East when it holds a seminar on Expatriate Issues in the Emerging Markets at The Palace Hotel in Old Town Dubai. The two-day event from March 27 to 29 has attracted high-profile speakers from across the globe and organisers hope that lively and informed debate will focus on the various tax, labour and immigration law issues associated with international expatriates and their employers. But what exactly is the AIJA and what role does it have in the current international legal landscape?
The International Association of Young Lawyers was founded in 1962 and is the only global organisation for private practice lawyers and in-house counsel aged 45 and under. Boasting more than 3,000 members from 85 countries, the AIJA’s main aim is to facilitate networking opportunities between career-building legal professionals through a wide range of meetings, seminars and conferences. Underlying this purpose are AIJA’s strategic goals to:
● Be the foremost representative organisation for career-building lawyers and in-house counsels globally (membership development and growth).
● Be the leading voice for the next generation of legal professionals (advocacy).
● Offer AIJA members up-to-date information and opportunities to exchange knowledge (learning and development).
● Be the leading organisation for career-building legal professionals to connect (networking).
What is it doing to achieve them?
AIJA is addressing its strategic goals on a large scale over the coming years. Special investments are foreseen in the development of membership and membership support, especially in regions where access to legal content is challenging and/or expensive. AIJA’s new scholarship fund is continuously under review to address challenges faced by young lawyers globally. Furthermore, AIJA’s learning events are being monitored and observed in order to guarantee quality and accuracy of content and usefulness of events.
What has the AIJA achieved since its establishment in 1962?
Up to the early 1990s, AIJA was mainly a networking organisation and mostly Euro-centric despite international membership. Its real development and unfolding of its full potential started when former leadership felt that there was a need for a more professional approach to organising events and development of membership if the association was to establish itself among the small circle of international legal associations.
