An innate sense of duty informs not just Maha Bin Hendi’s personal and professional life, but also serves as the very foundation upon which everything she has achieved and continues to strive for has been built in the legal sphere she has comfortably made her home.

“I feel that I’m here to serve people and my country,” she says with equanimity. “I see that, when I do those things and solve issues and problems, that gives me a sense of purposefulness – and it is one of the reasons I enjoy what I do.” 

Graduating in 2003 from the Latifa School for Girls with distinction, Maha received the EDAAD Scholarship awarded by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai and Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE. This allowed her to continue her studies pretty much anywhere in the world, and she was quickly accepted into London’s School of Oriental and African Studies Foundation in Law. 

Seeking not only a challenge but a diversion from the business management degrees her peers were doing, Maha embarked on completing her Bachelors of Laws (LLB), graduating in 2008. Thereafter, she continued with her Masters of Law (LLM) from Fordham Law School in New York.

Now, 12 years later, she heads up the commercial boutique law firm that bears her name – the first established at Dubai Design District – employing a hand-picked core team of eight people.

“Law is a peoples’ business,” she says. “Every day is a challenge, and you are only as good as your team – there is no firm that is a one-size-fits-all.”

Practicing law in the UAE means engaging with one of the most progressive legal systems in the region, a place where opportunity meets responsibility. Few cities match Dubai’s blend of ambition, modernity, and global relevance, truly making it one of the greatest cities in the world. 

When Maha is not working, her downtime passions include travelling, food, art and tennis, with a recent gladiatorial battle at the French Open final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner being a standout. 

“As a proud Emirati, I hold the highest respect and appreciation for the government of the UAE, whose visionary leadership, steadfast commitment, and dedication to the welfare of its people continue to shape a future rooted in stability, progress and national pride,” she shares.

Her advice to the next generation of Emirati lawyers? “The courtroom may test your skills, but life will test your values. Build a practice that reflects who you are, not just what you know.”