We spoke to LLM International Commercial Law student Omphemetse Pitse about her experiences during her studies at the University of Birmingham Dubai
"I was admitted as an attorney in South Africa and moved to the UAE in 2019 to pursue an international legal career. I chose the LLM International Commercial Law degree because I believe that the subjects covered in the course such as International Arbitration Law, Commercial Conflicts of Laws and International Trade Law and Policy will help me transition from a local South African lawyer into an international corporate lawyer. Moreover, it was important to me to get my LLM from a top internationally recognized University and the University of Birmingham Dubai was therefore an obvious choice as it is a top 100 University.
Although most of our classes were online due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, I was still able to interact with other students through the seminars and assigned group activities. I was therefore able to become acquainted with people from various parts of the world who have a wide range of academic and professional backgrounds that I may otherwise have never gotten the opportunity to meet.
In addition, a lot of our lecturers are also practicing lawyers and I enjoyed the fact that the courses were taught from both an academic and a practical perspective. Furthermore, although it would have been ideal to have our seminars in person, our lecturers were able to create an environment where there was effective student engagement in the online sessions. We also had access to a great deal of academic resources online such as journal articles, cases and textbooks through the University which were easy to navigate through.
I have really enjoyed my time as a student of Birmingham University Dubai. One of my highlights has been to be involved in the Barclays Black Student Mentoring Program for Birmingham students. The program will run for six months where senior Barclays employees are assigned as mentors to each participating Birmingham student. I believe that this experience will be invaluable to my career and personal development. What’s more, the University also provides students with career advice and has partnered up with several law firms to create internship opportunities for law students.
For anyone considering studying the LLM in Dubai, I would advise you to really engage with your courses, lecturers and fellow students as this truly is a once in a life time experience."