Dream big: “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” Walt Disney
When more and more women concentrate on strategic business areas, they motivate other women to shatter the glass ceiling and grow. To ensure that women receive the equal opportunity, career development, and advancement, businesses are attempting to promote and profit from their potential. In the past ten years, there have been a number of incredible female entrepreneurs who are not just transforming their industries but also the globe as a whole. Elena Schildgen, the managing partner of Meyer-Reumann & Partners, is a leader with such biblical qualities.
A highly educated and driven lawyer with over 30 years of experience practising law in the GCC region, the leading lady focuses on Wills & Probate, Family Law, Labor Law, Company Creation and Structuring, as well as managing a successful law firm. Setting her sails in 1995, Elena has played a crucial role in strategically expanding Meyer-Reumann & Partners, ensuring that it is now sized to provide advice on complex corporate legal issues, such as multijurisdictional corporate restructurings like carve-outs and mergers and acquisitions, without sacrificing the level of individualized attention provided by the attorneys working on the cases. She has developed into more than simply a successful businesswoman; she is now a role model for others and a seasoned professional in the field of international law.
Meyer-Reumann & Partners at a Glance
“We are a renowned name in the legal industry for delivering personalized legal assistance!” Elena Schildgen
Meyer-Reumann & Partners is a boutique legal company founded in 1989 that handles the majority of corporate and commercial business law issues. It was created by Mr. Rolf Meyer-Reumann, a maritime law expert who began his career in Saudi Arabia. He spent a few years working there in the 1980s before relocating to Dubai in 1989.
Meyer-Reumann & Partners acts as a legal partner and handles matters on a very individual basis, with the client always having direct access to the lawyer in charge. The firm has a small number of highly skilled and devoted lawyers who respond to the very particular needs of the client.
Clients mainly approach them if they wish to establish a legal entity, and following this, they assist them with all day-to-day legal issues such as the drafting and revision of contracts, handling employment matters, registering IP, and making sure they fulfil all the local compliance regulations. Also, they support private individuals in a variety of family, real estate, inheritance, drafting, and registration related problem.
Elena and her team’s primary focus is to ensure that clients leave their offices smiling, and this is how they measure success. In the future, they intend to diversify their clientele by adding markets like Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar.
Elena’s Begining: Towards a Victorious Endvour
Elena first arrived in Dubai in May 1990. She had initially applied for a position as a law trainee with Mr. Rolf Meyer-Reumann, the firm’s founder, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She received a response from Dubai, where he had moved the office in the interim in September 1989.
Elena applied for the internship because she had a strong interest in international private law, a subject she had always prioritized in her legal training and education because it presents a challenge in determining which law would apply when different nationalities are involved, assets are held in different countries, etc. Elena also applied for the internship because she wanted to learn more about how to become a lawyer. She was assigned a task to complete that involved an international family and inheritance as early as the first week.
From the beginning, Mr. MR and Elena got along well. He even left the office in Elena’s care while she was on an internship in 1990, and when he came back, he offered her the position to come work for him as a lawyer. A few years later, he proposed a partnership to the aspiring lady. Over the years, Mr. MR mentored Elena and also grew to be a close friend. The support that she has received from him at all times later on, including being able to combine business and family, has been amazing and invaluable.
Elena has recently taken on the role of Managing Partner, continuing to manage her own caseload while focusing on Wills & Probate. She also works to strengthen the firm’s footprint throughout the GCC region so that the team is capable of supporting local courts with their Shariah law specialists.
Diversity and Inclusion in the Company
Meyer-Reumann & Partners present a team of 11 legal professionals, where they have 6 different nationalities and 6 women; of the 7 lawyers working for M&P, there are 5 women. The firm can serve customers of all nationalities and religious backgrounds thanks to this. The firm also specializes in inheritance and family law cases where women and children need extra protection and assistance.
Jewels in the Crown
While moving along her path, the magnificent woman has helped several successful firms get started, de-registered an agency in the UAE, which was a difficult process, and won favorable outcomes for her clients in an ICC arbitration.
“I had a terrific team, and everyone was really helpful in guiding the workplace through this trying time. We got closer as a family rather than just as coworkers at the office. We worked hard on our web marketing strategy and visibility, and we established ourselves in the market”, Elena quoted.
Elena’s Take on Woman Leadership in the Male-Dominated Industry
I was able to rise in my legal career far more rapidly as a woman than I would have in Europe since I was given early responsibility for my own clients and cases.
I have always cherished Dubai’s diversity, the worldwide nature of the clientele, my involvement in a wide range of legal issues, and my interactions with people of many racial and ethnic backgrounds.
I was already a member of a group of friends when I first moved to Dubai. We were all lawyers from various nations, including Germany, Lebanon, Russia, South Africa, and Denmark. During that time, women already held in-house legal positions with national and local law companies, as well as owning their own firms. Once more, I think that Dubai’s major advantage is the fact that it offers opportunities in all spheres and industries.
Working as a lawyer, especially in Dubai, presents a challenge but also the chance to participate in what I called a “work in progress.” You are constantly involved in new legislation being introduced, new plans, new developments, and new goals, which gives you the sense that you are advancing the legal system and the community.