Minister of Justice HE Dr Hassan Lahdan Saqr al-Mohannadi, Khalid bin Khalifa al-Attiyah, founder of Khalid al-Attiyah Consultant & Attorney and its general manager Ahmed Saeed al-Hassan at the conference.
By Salman Siddiqui
The Prae Legal network’s second annual conference that opened yesterday has brought together law firms and their legal experts from all over the world in Doha.
Minister of Justice HE Dr Hassan Lahdan Saqr al-Mohannadi was the chief guest at the event held under the patronage of Prime Minister and Minister of Interior HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani.
This is the first time Doha is hosting the Prae Legal conference with Khalid al-Attiyah Legal Consultant & Attorney firm as the official hosts, and it is only the second Prae Legal general assembly. The first Prae Legal conference was held in Istanbul last year.
The first day of the conference began by highlighting Doha’s robust economic performance. Members of the network were told that Qatar’s economic progress even during the severe global financial crisis remained impressive. The country today is one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
A short video on Qatar and Prae Legal was also shown, in which it was said that Qatar was a place where people came to work under ‘world standard labour conditions.’
It was also mentioned that Doha’s hosting of the forum was a testament to the Qatari leadership’s continued support for international trade, investment and legal co-operation.
Ahmed Saeed al-Hassan, general manager of Khalid al-Attiyah Legal Consultant & Attorney, and director of the event’s organising committee, said civilisations and countries advanced only when there was a rule of law in their lands, where the rights of individuals as well as organisations were respected.
He emphasised on key aspects of Qatar’s judicial system and how the state ensured that justice prevailed in the country.
“We try to guarantee the rights of all residents, including expats in accordance with the Qatar National Vision 2030,” al-Hassan said. He added that everyone in Qatar understood the importance of maintaining high national standards in its justice system. He said the Prae Legal conference was an important platform to exchange ideas with leading attorneys and law firms from all over the world and explore opportunities for collaboration.
Prae Legal general manager Fahri Toga presented a shield to HE the Minister of Justice.
Later, the general assembly was opened during which members shared their views on global law practices and their individual experiences as partners with the Prae Legal network.
Some of the themes explored during the first day of the conference centred on how one can find an attorney and law firms in new emerging markets. Some lawyers opined that searching through Google might not be the best way to look for the ‘right lawyer’.
Also, the morning session debated the need for lawyers to learn more foreign languages, perhaps as many as eight, including Arabic, Chinese and Russian, as law firms expand their businesses worldwide.
The Prae Legal annual conference is considered one of the world’s foremost legal co-operation forums, which caters to a diverse global client base across its vast network in strategic trade centres.