We had a chance to sit with Ludmila Yamalova, Founder & Managing Partner of LYLaw, HPL Yamalova & Plewka DMCC.

Ludmila is the founder and Managing Partner of the Firm, actively managing and practicing since 2009.  She is a U.S. qualified attorney, licensed by the State Bar of California.  Ludmila has fifteen years of legal experience, six of which was in the Silicon Valley, plus three years of business experience in the same area.

Prior to moving to Dubai and setting up her practice, Ludmila was Associate General Counsel of a NASDAQ listed company in Silicon Valley, California – Finisar Corporation, a fiber optics company, managing high profile patent litigation and global corporate matters.

Before Finisar, Ludmila practiced with DLA Piper in the San Franisco Bay area, specializing in intellectual property litigation and bankruptcy.

Ludmila also interned at Howrey Simon & White and Legal Strategies Group, both in the San Francisco Bay area.

Ludmila grew up in the former Soviet Union and moved to the United States in the early 90s.  Ludmila’s native languages are Russian and Ukrainian.  She is also fluent in English and conversational in French.

Most recently, Ludmila is the host of the MENA region’s first legal podcast, Lawgical with LYLAW.  On the podcast, Ludmila provides insight, commentary, and updates covering a wide variety of legal topics relating to the U.A.E. and the MENA region.

During this episode, she shared her insights into the evolving legal system of the UAE and regulations are adapting to an ever-changing global market.

Enjoy the show!

Published on March 13, 2019

Show Notes:

• 1:30 – Ludmila’s background from the Soviet Union to the United States

• 2:30 – Practicing litigation during the Dot Com bust at DLA Piper

• 4:15 – Being Associate General Counsel at Finisar, a Nasdaq listed

• 7:45 – Starting to help people with legal advice in Dubai and eventually setup a law firm

• 9:30 – On remote working culture

• 11:00 – Copyright and IP licensing agreement and royalties (Porsche example)

• 16:45 – LYLaw evolution of area of practice

• 24:15 – The Lawgical Podcast by LYLaw

• 29:00 – Legal Questions: The differences between Mainland (Department of Economic Development) and Free Zone licenses in the UAE

• 33:30 – Business activities requiring a business entity / license

• 36:45 – Selling digital software online within the UAE from abroad

• 38:30 – Blurring the legal lines when local contractors are involved

• 39:45 – The UAE’s commitment to AI and new regulations & laws around it

• 42:45 – The Dubai Now app : one app for all government services

• 46:30 – The UAE residence visa and the new longer term visas that are coming

• 49:15 – Outsourcing their development and copywriting their software

• 51:45 – Ludmila’s mentors and role models

• 54:30 – The importance of building a strong team to support you

• 56:30 – Days being dictated by young children

• 58:00 – Traveling with kids; from danger zones to kid friendly locales

• 60:30 – “Being in the thick of history in the making”

• 63:30 – Being cautious about hearing overnight success stories and expecting the same