Today I am going to share a bit of a personal post.
Last year, my mum fell ill. I was on secondment from Clifford Chance’s Dubai office to their London office. (For anyone who does not know, a secondment is a temporary transfer of an official or worker to another position of employment e.g. to a client, a firm’s office abroad or to another office where they can hone additional skills).
I had been a trainee in the firm for four months. Given my mother’s health, I really wanted to be home (Kenya) with my family. To support me, the firm allowed me to work from Kenya for some time. I then needed to stay on for longer, so the firm sent me on a one-of-a-kind secondment in Kenya for three months. This was all to make sure my training contract journey was not interrupted. Extending such a gesture for someone as junior as a trainee really speaks volumes about the ethos of the firm.
After my mother’s health improved (thankfully), I moved back to London.
I am now leaving the London office to return to the Dubai office, but before I leave, I wanted to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Michael Bates, Emma Matebalavu, Jennifer Mbaluto, Toni June and Lauren Daly (and anyone else from the firm who assisted behind the scenes) for their unmatched level of kindness and compassion during trying times. I will never forget it.
Separately, a huge thank you to my Clifford Chance London colleagues for teaching and guiding me over the last year. I am so excited to be joining the Clifford Chance Middle East office, to keep learning, and to keep growing. If any of my connections are based in Dubai, it would be great to catch up over coffee.