Tamimi Gram November by Al Tamimi & Company

Issue 006 | November 2021

NOT JUST

ANOTHER

NEWSLETTER

Hello and welcome to the November issue of Tamimi Gram. This is your regular dose of getting to know your colleagues, feeling more connected and learning about each other. In this issue Wassim Mahmoud is answering 21 questions and in our Meet at Tamimi segment, Ali Zakaria is in the quick-fire hot seat. In the Where I am From segment Natalia Ratkevicius introduces us to her Slovakia. We have pictures from the recent Dubai Run where Team Tamimi participated and Christine Maksoud shares her favorite bake.

21 Questions with Wassim Mahmoud

Meet @ Tamimi: Ali Zakaria

Did You Know?

Where I Am From: My Slovakia

This month’s review comes courtesy of Barbara KoenenGeerdink and Matthew Heaton tells us about his recent vacation.

Health & Fitness: Dubai Run

We have another Tamimi Totts for you, can you guess your colleagues from their baby pictures?

Tamimi Cooks: Christine Maksoud

New Joiners

New ways of working

Recommendations and reviews

My Travels: Matthew Heaton

Tamimi Tots

LOL

There’s loads more for you in this edition, so happy reading. The Tamimi Gram working group

Wassim Mahmoud Ali Zakaria, Senior Associate 1. What do you want to do differently in your new role as a lawyer? I want to experience the other side of the legal; processes after being in Public prosecution and Judiciary for 12 years. Being a lawyer requires more creativity and proactivity, which is something I value. Additionally, the business side of the profession will enforce my communication and networking skills.

7. What motivates you to work? What are you really good at, but never want to do anymore?

I want to be a better networker and team player who can work with people from different walks of life and nationalities. I also want to be a better mediator between couples to minimize the number of marriages that end up with divorce.

Aspiration, I am eager to learn and grow constantly. A big part of being happy is having a sense of growth; that is why I take advantage of every opportunity to learn.

Al Tamimi is a very diverse firm that includes people from different nationalities while keeping Its middle eastern edge; that makes it the best firm to join after working in government for a very long time. 4. Among the people you›ve worked with, who do you admire and why? There are many lovely people in this firm, but I could say Khateeb in the IT team if I have to mention. I have asked him more than 100 questions since I joined, and still welcoming and helpful. 5. Tell me about a time you took the unexpected initiative. I conducted safe space sessions where people could attend and talk about whatever they wanted without judgment; it was called a Space to Be. 6. Tell us about the recent book you wrote – What inspired you?

Besides, I found out that happiness is the ultimate goal for every human being if he looks close to his motives, so why not take the shortcut and study it. The book is called “The Forgotten Art of Happiness.”

2. Imagine yourself in three years. What do you hope will be different about you then compared to now?

3. Why did you choose Al Tamimi?

have everything to make me happy. Still, I’m not, so I decided to study happiness closely, and writing a book was the thing that pushed me to research happiness.

Since I was at college, I have had a passion for personnel development. After working in Public prosecution for three years, I discovered that I

8. What would you choose as your top 5 songs of all time? 1. Something I need – One republic 2. Put your head on my shoulder - Paul Anka 3. Keane - everybody changing 4. Frank Sinatra - My way 5. Delerium - Silence (ft. Sarah McLachlan) 9. What›s something that always confuses you about the work we do here? DMS, I am getting used to it. 10. What would your superhero costume look like? A black T-shirt with the quote “do what is hard to make your life easier.” 11. What talent would you show off in a talent show? Stand-up comedy 12. What is your most-used emoji? The smiling face 13. Favorite food? Do you cook? What is your favourite workplace snack? I love tabouleh. I eat it every day. I don›t cook; unfortunately, I love eating fruits at the office; it makes me feel alive.

Benjamin Franklin wished the turkey was the national bird In a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin wrote, “For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country...For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird.” And although Franklin didn’t have his wish granted, his letter inspired a song performed in 1776, the Tony-winning musical about the drafting of the Declaration of Independence.

“Jingle Bells” was originally a Thanksgiving Day song Before becoming a Christmas anthem, “Jingle Bells” was an 1857 song titled “One Horse Open Sleigh,” and its composer, James Pierpont, intended it to be a Thanksgiving Day song. But it became so popular around December 25 that in 1859 the title was changed to “Jingle Bells” and the rest is history!

Who was the first president to pardon a turkey? Starting in the 1940s, farmers would gift the president with some plump birds for roast turkey over the holidays, which the first family would invariably eat. While President John F. Kennedy was the first American president to spare a turkey’s life (“We’ll just let this one grow,” JFK quipped in 1963. “It’s our Thanksgiving present to him.”) the annual White House tradition of “pardoning” a turkey officially started with George H.W. Bush in 1989.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is known as “Drinksgiving The holiday season is a time of celebration, which means toasts upon toasts are made. Before the annual feast even begins, there’s the night before Thanksgiving—which has come to be known as one of the booziest days of the year. It’s even dubbed “Black Wednesday” in some places. Bars aren’t the only businesses that experience a boom on the eve of Thanksgiving; Uber has even offered free rides on that night over the past few years.

#3 Cultural Heritage

My Slovakia

We may be a young country, but our history and culture are rich. Slovakia’s cities are hundreds of years old. The way of life in the past used to vary in every Slovak region, so their local culture, folk costumes, and traditional dances differ from village to village and town to town. (picture of national dress). You don’t need a time machine to travel back in time. Just visit one of our traditional villages with picturesque wooden houses and decorative paintings and you will suddenly find yourself in a fairy tale. (picture of traditional village)

by Natalia Ratkevicius, Office Manager

#4 Mountains

I come from Slovakia, a small colourful country in Central Europe, bordering with Czech Republic, Austria, Poland, Ukraine and Hungary. Slovakia has only five and a half million people, the population of Barcelona or Alexandria.

Slovakia is bestowed with ample and diverse natural assets. The varied natural landscape is typical for Slovakia, including virtually virgin areas that remain intact. The most of the landscape is covered by different mountain ranges. In summer they offer great hikes for all types of adventurers – easier or more challenging ones, and during winter they turn into a white wonderland with great slopes for downhill and paths for cross-country skiing. The most famous mountains that are also referred to as mini-Alps are High Tatras and are the most attractive tourist range in Slovakia. #5 Caves

#1 Bratislava and Kosice Bratislava is the capital city and it spreads along both banks of Danube River. The history of the city dates back two thousand years when its territory was settled by ancient Celts known for building protective, military camps and minting Biatec coins. Bratislava was also the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary (1536-1783) and became the coronation city of Hungarian rulers of the Habsburg family (1563-1830). (picture of Bratislava’s castle) It saw its greatest expansion during the reign of Maria Theresa, who was crowned in St. Martin’s Cathedral in 1741. The coronation tradition is kept alive every year by the Coronation Days with a live procession and attractions; symbolic tiles in the streets of the city centre mark the route followed by the procession in the past. (picture of coronation)

Caves, some of them of world significance, are highly attractive phenomena. The underground cave system was inscribed in UNESCO World Heritage and sixteen of them are open to public.

#6 did you know? •

Sygic is a popular navigation system from Slovakia. The company was established in 2004 and today its GPS software is available in 30 languages, on sale all over the world.

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The first public human autopsy was performed in 16 century by Jan Jesenius, a famous doctor, politician and philosopher of Slovak origin.

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Andy Warhol, Americal painter, filmmaker and the biggest name in Pop Art is of Slovak origin, his parents lived in astern part of Slovakia. The Andy Warhol’s Museum of Modern Art was open in Medzilaborce and it’s the firstof its kind and the only one to be found in Europe.

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The first skyscraper in China was built in Shanghai and was designed by Slovak architect Ladislav Hudec who also designed Shanghai’s famous Park Hotel. The hotel was the tallest building in Asia until 1952.

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Slovakia has good genes. These world-famous people have Slovak parents or grandparents:

I come from Kosice, the metropolis of Eastern Slovakia, with its famous Gothic temple – Cathedral of Saint Elisabeth from the 14th century. (Pic of Cathedral) #2 Castles There are more than 100 castles in the country, mostly built as forts or urban castles. Unfortunately, because of a lack of maintenance, there are just 120 castles with visible remains, and even most of those are largely in ruins. Luckily for visitors, there are still dozens of castles to tour, replete with their former majesty and cold beauty. (pictures of castles) 8

Angelina Jolie (grandfather) Audrey Hepburn (grandmother Paul Newman (mother) Jon Bon Jovi (grandmother)

Health & Fitness DUBAI RUN On November 26 our colleagues participated in the annual Dubai Run along Shiekh Zayed Road. #TeamTamimi participated in the 5km and 10km routes. Well done to you for completing Dubai Run.

Photo from L to R: Amit Joshi, Mostafa Darwish, Patrick Guevarra, Randa Fakhoury, Inhye Park, Mehamood Khairudeen,

Inhye Park 10

Method In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients until combined, just roughly gather the dough until everything comes together. Don’t play with it too much because it’ll be too sticky. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth. Perform 4 steps of stretch and fold. The first two at 15 minute intervals and the last two are at 30 minute intervals. To stretch and fold your dough, pick up one side of the dough from the corner and fold it over to the other side. Repeat on all four corners. After the folds, allow the dough to increase in volume by 1/3, so basically almost doubled in size. This may take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour depending on the weather, let your eyes judge. Once risen, transfer onto your floured work surface. Line a deep cereal bowl with a kitchen towel. Generously dust the towel with a mix of flour and semolina. If you don’t have semolina, just flour works fine. I sometimes use ground rice powder as well. Now, shape the dough, bringing in all four corners to the center. Rustic Break: Large Loaf Place the dough, seam side up, smooth side facing down into the towel lined bowl. Cover with a damp towel and refrigerate for 2 hours. In the final 30 minutes, preheat the oven with a cast iron pot to the highest it can I enjoy baking and my go to bread I recently started a new job opportunity with Al Tamimi & Company recipe is by Dania Kazah Ammache, go. Usually 20 degrees with convection. - Sharjah office. from her book “I’m Still Not a Chief”. Why joining this firm? It’s a rustic recipe that is simple and Well, joining a company with an outstanding reputation with many accolades, with such a long history and expansion in the Middle East uses basic ingredients and tools. I reached out to Dania and she was pleased to share her recipe with you. So, here it is… Ingredients

would definitely be an added value to my career.

It was clearly a great opportunity for me and I was excited to start, but many questions got to my mind preciously that I am relocating from my country and a new challenge is waiting for me. On my first day here, I was greeted by my manager and my colleagues, welcomed by the office manager and employees from other departments.

Using mitts, very • 1oven ¾ cup water • 1 tablespoon salt e oven. Now, flip the dough onto parchment paper. Using a serrated • ½ teaspoon instant yeast You can ignore this step if it makes you nervous. This is why I show Method a large bowl, mix all the ingredients until how Incombined, an unscored loaf can still rise look asdegrees. beautiful. Place just roughly gather the dough To bake, turnand down heat to 230 Using oven mitts, very your bowl. Cover with a damp towel and refrigerate until everything comes together. Don’t play carefully remove the cast iron pot from the oven. Now, flip the dough onto parchment paper. Using a serrated for 2 hours. In the final 30 minutes, preheat it too much because it’ll be too sticky. w placewith your cast iron pot on to a baking tray, this isYou to avoid the loafyou nervous. This is why I show the oven a cast iron to the highest it knife, slash yourwith dough down thepot middle. can ignore this step if it makes Cover the bowl with a damp cloth. Perform can go. Usually 20 degrees with convection. 4 steps of stretch and fold. The first two at you two pictures in the book, to show you how an unscored loaf can still rise and look as beautiful. Place your minutes covered. Remove lid and lower the temperature 200 To bake, turn down heatcover. to 230Now degrees. Using 15 minute intervals and the last two are atthe bread in the cast iron pot and place your cast iron potto on to a baking tray, this is to avoid the loaf oven mitts, very carefully remove the cast 30 minute intervals. To stretch and fold your from bottom and bake for 20the minutes covered. Remove the lid and lower the temperature to 200 iron potthe from the oven. Now, flip dough dough, pick up one side of the dough from burning minutes until crust is dark and golden. Cool for at least 30 isminutes onto parchment paper. Using a20 serrated Continue baking for another minutesknife, until crust dark and golden. Cool for at least 30 minutes the corner and fold it over to the other side. degrees. •

3 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Following the completion of my educational journey in the United Kingdom, I set my eyes on qualifying as a solicitor (in England & Wales) whilst being based in the Middle East. Being originally from Yemen and having spent almost half my life in the United Kingdom I was looking for the balance of dealing with English as well as Arabic laws and getting to grip with the region’s legal systems. Working at a firm that was founded in the region and as a result has a strong understanding of MENA’s history and geography, whilst at the same time allowing me to qualify as a solicitor, fully aligns with my goals and makes Al Tamimi & Company the perfect fit for me. My time at Al Tamimi & Company has been very insightful into the way the legal industry operates, in practice, in the United Arab Emirates and similarly in the region, I have over the past month received vast exposure into many aspects of the law and have, with the support of the Transport & Insurance teams, been provided with resources and was put into situations that have enhanced my skills greatly in such a short span of time. I look forward to the years to follow and I’m excited for what lies ahead. Fares Abdullah, Trainee Solicitor

Additionally, I was able to log in and start work on the first day… and everything worked: e-mail, phone, settings, and programs I would need; it was all seamless and efficient. Day after day, my manager and my colleagues show more support in many different situations. The company was not only ready for me to start, they made sure I understood that I was valued, welcomed and a significant part of the organization. I knew my confidence in the company was at a high level and it told me I made the right choice to join this company!

We also welcome the following to the firm:

Briefly, it was certainly worth the move. The results of these first impressions made me not only glad I had made the move to this company, but made me want to truly work as hard for the company as they had worked to make me feel welcome at home.

Alex Layden

Associate

DIFC

Fatina Hadla

Executive Secretary

DIFC

Ahmed Mohamed

Associate - Consultant

Cairo

Faisal Al Ashkar

Trainee Solicitor

DIFC

Trainee Solicitor

DIFC

Trainee Solicitor

DIFC

Trainee Solicitor

Jordan

Trainee Solicitor

DIFC

Trainee Solicitor

DIFC

Secretary

DIFC

Trainee Solicitor

DIFC

Associate

DIFC

Senior Counsel

Riyadh

Imad El Ess

Associate

Riyadh/Jeddah

Abdulelah Al Dossari

Associate

Riyadh

Christopher Basalo

Office Assistant

DIFC

Melissa Marie Younan

Real Estate

DIFC

your dough down the middle. You can Repeat on all four corners. After the folds, beforeslash Fares Abdullah slicing. ignore this step if it makes you nervous. This allow the dough to increase in volume by Marianna Margaritidou is why I show you two pictures in the book, to 3/1, so basically almost doubled in size. This may take anywhere from 45 minutes to an NOTE show you how an unscored loaf can still rise Omar Al Juneidi look asWITH beautiful. Place your bread inBE the hour depending on the weather, let your eyesWHILEand WORKING THE DOUGH, IT SHOULD COVERED AT ALL TIMES USING A DAMP KITCHEN TOWEL. Malavika Vijayan cast iron pot and cover. Now place your cast judge. Once risen, transfer onto your floured SEEDS ONto THE CRUST,tray, LIGHTLY THEthe DOUGH WITH WATER AND GENEROUSLY SPRINKLE SEEDS iron pot on a baking this isBRUSH to avoid work surface. Line a deep cereal bowl with a TO ADD Omar Sharief ON TOP BEFORE INVERTING THEand BOWL TOfor PROOF loaf burning from theINTO bottom bake 20 IN THE FRIDGE. kitchen towel. Generously dust the towel with Maricel Franco minutes covered. Remove the lid and lower a mix of flour and semolina. If you don’t have the temperature to 200 degrees. Continue semolina, just flour works fine. I sometimes Darya Mojaveri baking for another 20 minutes until crust is use ground rice powder as well. Now, shape dark and golden. Cool for at least 30 minutes Ahmed Abdelnabi the dough, bringing in all four corners to before slicing. the center. Place the dough, seam side up, Simon Stokes smooth side facing down into the towel lined

HOULD BE COVERED AT ALL TIMES USING A DAMP KITCHEN TOWEL. RUSH THE DOUGH WITH WATER AND GENEROUSLY SPRINKLE SEEDS WL TO PROOF IN THE FRIDGE. NOTE: WHILE WORKING WITH THE DOUGH, IT SHOULD BE COVERED AT ALL TIMES USING A DAMP KITCHEN TOWEL.TO ADD SEEDS ON THE CRUST, LIGHTLY BRUSH THE DOUGH WITH WATER AND GENEROUSLY SPRINKLE SEEDS ON TOP BEFORE INVERTING INTO THE BOWL TO PROOF IN THE FRIDGE.

Aya Toutayo Credit Controller

Four ways the new office booking system is making you a better person by Ali Zakaria, Senior Associate Change comes with resistance. At first, everything is hard until it becomes second nature. Transforming from a fixed office to the new hybrid system might be hectic and chaotic initially, but let us look at the bright side of the game. This new system can enhance your positive traits as follows: Firstly, the new system obliges us to be more environmentally friendly. We tend to use less paper as we don’t have a fixed place inside our office to store documents other than the lockers. Secondly, working from different areas within the office promotes flexibility and adaptability as we work in another location with a different setting, view and colleagues. Thirdly, as we are eligible to work in different neighborhoods of the office, we are more likely to meet other colleagues, find new ways to do business, and exchange knowledge and expertise with them, and most importantly, make new friends. Lastly, minimalism is the new way of living, and simplicity it is the art of living more and possessing less. If you are changing your office every week or two weeks, you probably won’t have a lot of belongings in your office, and you have more time to focus on what is essential, given that you do not have a lot of possessions to take care of. Finally, as a new joiner, this new system allowed me to meet and talk with some fantastic colleagues, and I learned a lot from them.

Book Recommendations by Barbara Koenen-Geerdink, Business Development & Marketing Director

For those who also think there is too little time in a day, diaries packed with appointments, too much information to be consumed and simply no time or appetite to read a whole book, I have the perfect solution. So as much as this supposed to be a book recommendation, and it will be, don’t worry, this is also a plug for the app called Blinkist. I have no benefit from promoting the app, trust me, this is simply an amazing app which I wanted to share, especially with the busy people amongst us. For me personally, I love to learn, read about things that interest me and that can help me grow on both a personal and professional level. I am a big fan of management books but I do not always read, sometimes I do not have the time to sit down, relax and enjoy a book. What I do instead, I combine exercising (walking for example) with audio books but I do prefer information to come to me in a concise, condensed format, so it is easy to digest yet leaves me with the feeling that I have learned something. Blinkist does just that. Once you sign up, you can enjoy thousands of book summaries, which you can listen to or read from your screen. The audible option is what I prefer. You can choose by topic of interest or search by title. Many popular titles are covered and gives you a good enough summary that it almost feels like as if you read the full book, but in 15 minutes. Which is why I love it. My Blinkist recommendations therefore are the following:

The 5AM Club, which talks about how successful people start their day at 5AM with a regime during the first hour of the day which is broken down into three sections of 20 min. One for meditation, one for exercise and one for thinking/creativity. The book motivates you to start your day at 5AM, listing the benefits such as increased productivity levels, less stress, better mental wellbeing and much more.

To Sell is Human, which is essentially a perfect guide for fee earners who need to “sell” their services. It makes us understand that we are constantly selling things to people throughout the day. Whether that is to your kids, persuading your boss, convincing your friends etc. The whole point of the book is that selling shouldn’t be scary and should be done taking a soft approach and that hard-core selling principles are pretty much overrated and will not achieve anything.

The Surprising Science of Meetings, which gives you ideas of how to run the most effective and efficient meetings. From playing music to stimulate the mind to ensuring you find the right time for your meetings and limiting meetings to a specific duration to encourage the best output. Preparation for each meeting is key. Ideas for meeting setups are all based on psychological research. Enjoy the read/listen!

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But travel we did, and we had an amazing time. Non-GCC weather, some tall green things (natural trees, I think they were called) and a complete absence of white Land Cruisers. We had a brilliant time.

by Matthew Heaton, Partner, Head of Office - Qatar

Robert Louis Stevenson, the Scottish novelist, famously said: “It is better to travel hopefully, than to arrive.” Clearly the big man never travelled in the time of Covid, where arrival (or even permission to check-in) is the goal, with most sense of hope abandoned when that swab is inserted deep into your nasal cavity up to 72 hours before departure. This is supposed to be a blog about some recent travel. I could share with you tales

of white sandy beaches, turquoise seas and rainbow fish (all of which are true), but this is a travel blog of the age. This is a blog about travelling in Covid. It’s easy to forget how simple travel used to be. We booked a family holiday in September 2019, to travel in Spring 2020. We’d made the reservation whilst away for a weekend break to Europe, in the days when you could pop to the airport and, delays and occasional cancellation aside, you were always pretty sure that you’d get to where you were going. We were excitedly counting the weeks down until we left. Covid struck, so we delayed it until October 2020. Covid was still sticking, so we moved it again to April 2021. Nope, so we moved it one more time to October 2021. We had waited so long, the hotel we were staying in had changed ownership and brand had been refurbished twice.

The moral of this blog? Living in this region with lots airlines and amazing destinations within a few hours’ flight, I think we took travel for granted. We could pop somewhere for a weekend and not really think twice about it. I think Covid has changed that. For me, it reminded me of the utter joy of going somewhere different, of seeing a new place and experiencing an aternative culture. Because of the uncertainty of travel now, we appreciate much more fully the joy of being on holiday. So look at it this way. Next time you are in an airport, and the airline staff behind the desk is questioning the clarity of your PCR QR code or challenging whether you really do have the correct permission to travel, don’t be angry. Thank him or her, because indirectly the uncertainty, the bureaucracy and the slight feeling of rising panic that you won’t actually be getting on that plane will make you really, really appreciate the sensation of landing somewhere different. At least until you have to book your PCR for the return trip.

Our first post-Covid travel (after 20 months in Qatar) was a trip to Europe. Despite being exceptionally careful about travel requirements (I even called the Ministry of Tourism in Madrid to confirm the requirements), we were almost not allowed to board because the airline’s computer system did not match the updated travel requirements. Similarly with our most recent trip, it was touch-and-go whether we would be allowed to travel because the person checking us in seemed to be free-styling with the travel permits needed.

All photos are by the author 17

HINT: You can find this team member conducting training in One Place?

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HINT: This colleague is an author and has recently completed a Dubai sprint triathlon.

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If you have any suggestions or would like to contribute, please email a.joshi@tamimi.com 20