New life chapter opened

Lawyer Huda Al Falamarzi is encouraging others to get in the habit of lifelong reading. Reem Mohammed / The National

A European train ride inspired a love of reading in a young lawyer who has now initiated incentives for others to pick up a book.

DUBAI // Huda Al Falamarzi can pinpoint the exact moment when she developed a love of reading.

The 27-year-old lawyer was on a long, boring train ride from Switzerland to France with her mother in December 2013 when her mind began to wander.

“We were on a four-hour journey, where I spent more than an hour looking out the window at the snow and the breathtaking scenery,” she recalls.

“There was an old woman sitting right in front of me holding a book and reading. She looked at me several times as the journey went on.”

Ms Al Falamarzi soon became bored of the views and began to get restless.

“The old woman saw me looking around, then reached to her bag, picked out a book and handed it to me,” she says.

“She told me reading was essential in life and can do me good and I should read as much as I can,” says Ms Al Falamarzi.

Since that day, the Emirati has been a dedicated bookworm. In fact, she describes books as her “best friends”.

“Books take you where nothing else can,” she says.

“Reading gives you the opportunity to live different lives.”

She now encourages her friends, family and colleagues to read as much as they can.

Recently, she came up with an idea to get her clients to read by offering to cut their fees if they finished a book.

At first she thought her employer, Mohammed Murtada Al Hashimi, would be against the idea.

“I said it spontaneously without thinking. When I thought of it, I was scared for a minute that Mr Mohammed wouldn’t approve it, but he was supportive and I loved that,” she says.

Since then, she has even suggested books about law to clients to help them with their cases.

“People rarely read books about law, therefore when a client reads something about his charges, he or she will certainly speak to others of their knowledge and it will educate them,” Ms Al Falamarzi says.

While it is not compulsory for her clients to read the books, the incentive of a reduction in legal fees often means they agree.

Ms Al Falamarzi graduated with a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Sharjah, then enrolled in an international arbitration course.

She has a master’s degree in private law and this year hopes to complete a doctorate in the subject.