Abstract:
In the West, women have practiced law and advocated greater gender diversity in the legal profession for more than a century. In Qatar, concepts such as “equality of opportunity” and “diversity or inclusion in the profession” are virtually unexplored by research and only beginning to appear in casual conversations. While the number of women studying law in Qatar has significantly increased, the number of women practicing law as prosecutors, judges and lawyers has not directly correlated. During this presentation, the author will explain findings from her article, The emerging legal profession in Qatar: diversity realities and challenges, recently published by the International Journal of the Legal Profession, and will use Qatar as a case study to analyze how culture and modern development affect the feminization of Qatar’s bar and bench. Open access to the full article can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09695958.2020.1749059
Speaker:
Prof. Melissa Deehring, Clinical Assistant Professor of Law, Qatar University College of Law
Melissa is an attorney (California) and Clinical Assistant Professor of Law at Qatar University (QU) College of Law in Doha, Qatar. She was the founding director and creator of her college’s Externship Program and has taught advocacy, ethics and professionalism concepts to Qatari law students since 2011. As one of her college’s first female faculty members, Melissa has been a prominent voice encouraging women to join Qatar’s legal profession. Melissa’s research focuses on SDGs 5 (gender equality) & 16 (peace, justice & strong institutions) and how culture affects local legal professions, legal education, and professional responsibility notions. In addition, Melissa hosted Qatar’s first Women in Law Conference during March 2018, was awarded her college’s Excellence in Community Service Award during August 2018, was named a NIFTEP (National Institute for Teaching Ethics & Professionalism) fellow during December 2018, and was awarded an Education for Justice (E4J) Champion Consultancy with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) during 2019.