Jenifer Abu Nasr Dit Assad LLM International Dispute Resolution Law (Dubai)

LLM International Dispute Resolution student Jenifer Abu Nasr Dit Assad says she enjoyed the practical nature of the LLM. We found out more about her experience as an LLM student at the University of Birmingham in Dubai.

How did you find the LLM learning experience at the University of Birmingham in Dubai?

The majority of my learning experience is in British learning and so for me, I joined the LLM by Birmingham to expand and get a new experience from a different university. I’ve covered a great variety of subjects on this LLM. On this LLM you mainly focus on things that you could use as a practicing lawyer, or legal consultant.

The different types of subjects that we’ve covered are for instance international oil and gas which is a very important topic in the Middle East. In this module we covered the laws and relevant legislation that would apply to oil and gas contracts and how any disputes arising out of these contracts would be resolved.

I took the international module because currently work in the field of DIFC courts and arbitration, so most of my subjects were pertaining to international areas of law. We studied English and international sale of goods laws and international dispute resolution, which mainly focused on arbitration itself. I’m a little biased, but that was my favourite module from our subjects! We also studied conflict of laws, mergers, and acquisitions. I studied full time, so I covered six modules and those are five of the modules I’ve taken.

I would also like to highlight, and I did not know this was a thing before I joined, but when we took the mergers and acquisitions module the course was mainly based on practical work. You would prepare a legal letter, and information memorandums as your final assessment which would both be used in practice, rather than going over the theoretical aspects. Our professor, Paul McConnell, went through everything we would need to work as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer.

What is it like to approach your professors at Birmingham Law School?

I’d say for my cohort of students, we were like one big family, so it was very easy for us to come up to our professors and ask them if we had any queries. The professors are very welcoming! They won’t make you feel silly or anything like that, they’re there to support you through the process.

They also took a lot of steps to ensure all students understood legal aspects because they recognised not everyone has the same legal background. For instance, I came from an English legal background but for the students who came from a civil legal background, they had the BLS academy to help them, with sessions that were dedicated to the way the English legal system works, how the whole precedent system works and how common law systems work.

Those were taught outside the teaching modules, so it wasn’t taking away from what we studied in class, it was an additional offering if you needed it. And the same thing with all our exams, everything is supported- you’re not left in the dark or anything, you’re very supported throughout the process.  

How would you describe the social life in Dubai and at Birmingham Law School at the University of Birmingham in Dubai?

Dubai is very open. You can find friends very easily. There’s a lot of people from different areas and you will always find some form of common ground with people here. I’m introverted by nature, so I don’t really like talking to anybody. I came to Birmingham Law School with the expectation that I would just stay quiet and not talk to anyone, but everyone in our class was very nice. We all merged together, and it was a very easy process.

The professors offer a lot of outings together, we’ve had two or three dinners, so plenty of bonding time with the professors. To me, this broke down that authoritative figure of the professors and made it feel more relaxing. I also had a group of friends where we would go get coffee or talk about class and a ladies night was planned where we all the girls went out together. Overall, it was a very easy social experience for me.

Find out more about our LLM International Dispute Resolution programme at the University of Birmingham in Dubai on our course pages.