Sara Aalamri is an associate at the law firm Al- Ghazzawi Professional Association in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She’s also a pioneer. With quiet self-confidence and determination, Aalamri (LAW’10) became the first of four women ever to receive a license to practice law in Saudi Arabia, in October 2013.

When she began her studies 10 years ago at King Abdulaziz University in her hometown of Jeddah, Aalamri could not conceive of such a possibility, because the opportunity didn’t exist.

“I was attending the business school, and law was one of the general subjects that we studied in our first year,” she says. “I found it quite intriguing. In my second year, the university became the first in Saudi Arabia to open the law major to women, so I decided to major in law. At that point, I didn’t consider whether or not I’d have a chance to work as a lawyer, but where there’s a will, there’s a way. King Abdulaziz University is a government university. In offering us a law major, it meant that they must have had some sort of vision for the future.”

Before the first four licenses were granted, there were women lawyers in Saudi Arabia, known as legal consultants. They could work as researchers and advisors and appear in court as part of a team or, pursuant to a power of attorney, appear in the capacity of a representative. But they could not be licensed to appear before court to represent and advocate for clients in their capacity as lawyers or to open their own firms. “Now we officially have all the rights of a lawyer,” says Aalamri.

“Now we officially have all the rights of a lawyer,” says Aalamri.

She makes her journey sound like just another day at the office, despite the fact that her employment options in Saudi Arabia remain limited: women in her country account for less than 20 percent of the work force. But rather than dwell on the limitations of her current situation, Aalamri prefers to focus on the gains women have made in recent years, and says her own experience as a working woman has been exceedingly positive.

Aalamri completed a BA with honors in 2008, and received an offer from Al-Ghazzawi Professional Association, one of the country’s largest law firms, with offices in the kingdom’s three major cities. “There were no other female lawyers there,” she says. “The senior managing partner said to me, ‘We’re going to begin by training you on different aspects of the law and in the different fields that we practice here at the firm. And you’ll be treated the same as your male colleagues.’”

To comply with Saudi law, Aalamri was given a separate office from the men—which, she says, she “didn’t allow to become a barrier”—but in every other way she did, in fact, receive the same treatment, and was quickly accepted by her colleagues. “This is a highly professional firm, and they look at a person’s level of competence. They saw how hard I was willing to work and how much I wanted to learn. And when the partners and senior associates saw some of the research and analyses that I did, they started sharing more and more work with me.”

Initially, Aalamri worked on company incorporations and trademarks, but eventually became involved in everything from environmental law to inheritance law — “whatever the clients needed.” She is particularly fascinated by financial law. “The Capital Market Authority, which regulates securities, the stock exchange, and investment funds, was coming out with all these new laws, and I wanted a better understanding of these regulations so that I could invest in myself, grow as a lawyer, and play a bigger role in the firm,” she says. “At that point women still weren’t permitted to have a license, but we could see the road taking us there. So I applied to the King Abdullah Scholarship Program, and I was awarded a scholarship to study for my master’s degree in the States. BU LAW’s Graduate Program in Banking & Financial Law was just what I was looking for.”

“They saw how hard I was willing to work and how much I wanted to learn. And when the partners and senior associates saw some of the research and analyses that I did, they started sharing more and more work with me.”

After earning an LLM, Aalamri was welcomed back to Al-Ghazzawi as an associate. “I’ve worked on mergers and acquisitions, dispute resolution, due diligences, notes of advice, and several matters related to foreign judgment enforcement and bankruptcy,” she says. “Most of my clients are corporate, so I generally work with their in-house counsel, who is usually a man. International clients find it completely normal to be dealing with a woman, but when I’ve attended meetings with some local companies, they looked surprised. They didn’t hesitate to ask me questions about my background and whether I was qualified as a lawyer. But it never got in the way of working together.”

Aalamri says that King Abdullah has issued many regulations that support women and give them more opportunities to work. Last year, 30 women were seated on the Shura Council, the country’s advisory board. “There are other things: it’s a small step, perhaps, but women are able to work as cashiers at grocery stores and different stores in the mall,” she says. “It’s making everyone get used to seeing women everywhere. And that helps bring about change. Women are inspiring each other and, most important, we’re inspiring children. When they grow up seeing men and women working equally, the gender gap won’t exist for them.”

She realizes, though, that not everyone is ready to accept women in the business world, and that includes her chosen field. “There are still many law firms that are not prepared to have female lawyers,” she says, “which makes it harder for a woman to get a job. Finding the right opportunity is difficult.”

Aalamri plans to continue working. “I enjoy it so much,” she says. “A woman might have a bigger role in raising children, but if you prioritize, find the right balance, hopefully you can be a wife and mother and have a career.”

Despite the sound of it, Aalamri rejects the feminist label. “I don’t want to be categorized,” she says. “That’s even true of the field of practice that I chose. I didn’t want to restrict myself to handling matters for female clients only. I did my studies as well as anyone and received my license, so I could choose whichever field I wanted.

“People can be very discouraging; they will tell you, ‘It won’t happen any time soon,’ or ‘It’s too difficult.’ That is what I heard about women getting licensed in Saudi Arabia,” she says. “So I think of myself as an example of what can happen if you ignore those who try to discourage you.”

This article originally appeared in the School of Law’s The Record.