Tidiane currently works as an Associate in the Energy and Infrastructure Department in the Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) Office of Asafo & Co, an International Law firm exclusively dedicated to Africa.
The strong reputation of QMUL and its ranking among UK and other international universities were particularly attractive to me. The QMUL LLM in Paris appeared as the perfect opportunity to combine a wide range of modules, high qualified professors and an international student body, with the chance to study in Paris, which is a hotspot for arbitration. Additionally, I was convinced that the CCLS ‘stamp’ in my academic achievements will be a high-quality label recognised all over the world.
In our Arbitration (Skills and Advocacy) class, one of the assignments was the preparation of a mock arbitration hearing. I often think fondly about the preparation time with my team and the mock arbitration hearing itself.
It really was a unique opportunity to experience teamwork and to test the academic knowledge we had acquired during the class in a real life setting in front of real arbitration practitioners.
For me, being a member of the CCLS community has been an amazing opportunity to forge strong and durable bonds with legal professionals from around the world, and to maintain these bonds for years, even after the LLM.
Even now that I am living in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), I still regularly interact with friends and colleagues from Romania, Italy, the UK and Canada.
The impact my CCLS experience had on my career exceeded my expectations.
Firstly, the quality of the classes gave me the tools to rise to my employer’s expectations and to tackle the challenges of the work in international law firms.
Secondly, as expected, the reputation of CCLS and QMUL gave me access to reputable international law firms.
As previously mentioned, the network that I built at CCLS is often activated by members of such a network to obtain information about job opportunities and the work environment in Law firms and other institutions in Paris, in Europe and around the world.
I think the wide range of courses offered by CCLS and QMUL, the reputation of the professors and the chance to meet students from around the world are the main factors why any prospective student should study at CCLS. More specifically, prospective students should seize the opportunity to study any classes QMUL and CCLS offer, that they don’t have access to in their current university.
For instance, at the time of my admission, no university in Paris offered classes in petroleum law and contracts or arbitration in energy. It was therefore a unique opportunity for me to differentiate myself from other arbitration students in Paris.
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