Name Bayan Al-Zahran | ||
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Bayan Mahmoud Al-Zahran is the first female attorney in Saudi Arabia.
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Career
Al-Zahran trained as a legal consultant for three years, representing dozens of clients in family disputes, criminal and civil cases. Her initial focus was domestic violence, but she later studied the cases of financial and criminal prisoners.
In October 2013 Al-Zahran became one of the first four women licensed to practice law in Saudi Arabia. The other three women are Sara Aalamri, Jehan Qurban and Ameera Quqani. Prior to the licensing of the four Saudi women, female law graduates were only allowed to serve as legal consultants.
Al-Zahran represented a client before the General Court in Jeddah for the first time in November 2013.
On 1 January 2014 Al-Zahran founded Saudi Arabia's first all-woman law firm. She said that the purpose of her law firm was to bring Saudi women's problems before the court and to fight for their rights. Mazen Batterjee, Vice President of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce, attended the firm's opening, congratulating the women while cautioning them to follow Sharia law and court restrictions requiring that women wear hijab.
Recognition
Dubai-based magazine Arabian Business rated Al-Zahran the seventh most powerful Arab woman in its 2015 list. She was also included in Fortune magazine's 2015 list of the world's 50 greatest leaders. She is the daughter of Sheikh Mahmoud Al-Zahran.