Ayman Nour, partner at Al Tamimi: Each week, My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. Speaking to us this week is Ayman Nour (LinkedIn), partner and head of Egypt offices and corporate structuring in Egypt at Dubai-headquartered law firm Al Tamimi & Company. Edited excerpts from our conversation:

My name is Ayman Sherif Nour and I’m a 53-year-old father of three — two sons studying abroad in Boston and the UK, and a daughter who lives with me and my wife in Cairo. I was born to a family of jurists. My father was a Supreme Court justice, my uncle headed the Court of Cassation, and their cousin served as the minister of justice. I am a lawyer and a former assistant public prosecutor. Currently, I’m a partner and head of Al Tamimi’s Cairo and Port Said offices.

After graduating from law school back in 1995 and receiving my Master of Laws in 2000, I realized that a judicial career would be limiting. I gravitated towards corporate law, where the sky’s the limit on what I could achieve. I worked with two multinational law firms before setting up my own boutique law firm in 2010. By 2015, the company had doubled in size and revenues, and I had a partner and ten associates. It was then that my partner, the late Ihab Taha — who was one of the best lawyers in the country — persuaded me that we should merge into a larger law firm. Al Tamimi acquired our firm in April 2015, and I took over as the head of office in June 2016.

Al Tamimi is the largest law firm in the MENA region, with a diverse team of lawyers hailing from nearly 35 countries. It was founded in the UAE’s Sharjah more than 30 years ago by the self-made, charismatic Essam Al Tamimi. With 18 offices across the GCC and North Africa, and a vision for further expansion in Africa, the firm has grown significantly since its inception. We offer businesses and entrepreneurs the full gamut of legal solutions — including M&As, banking, finance, project finance, employment, intellectual property, corporate structuring, mitigation, mediation, and arbitration. We aim to simplify the hurdles that they face doing business.

My role is twofold: One part is professional lawyering — answering to the needs of our clients and making sure they’re happy with our services. The other is administrative — managing the operations of our Egypt offices and collaborating with my partners and colleagues across our 16 other offices.

I wake up around 6:30am in the morning. I skim through my inbox and EnterpriseAM while having a small meal of carbs before hitting the gym at 7am. I spend 45-50 minutes there, followed by another 50 minutes of swimming. This takes away all the negative energy and sets a positive tone for the day. If I don’t play sports in the morning, I go to the office in a horrible mood.

On my way to work, I spend 30-40 minutes reading my emails, distributing tasks, and reading EnterpriseAM Egypt thoroughly — thanks to my very skilled driver who was very hard to come by. Reading EnterpriseAM often sparks discussions with my business development team about potential opportunities or missed chances — particularly transactions where we weren’t involved. I also go through the headlines on the UAE and KSA editions, reading up on the topics relevant to our firm and clients in those markets.

My day at work is a mix of internal meetings with my team members and my partners — Zoom calls, usually — and external engagements, such as functions at the AmCham or other institutions. My colleagues and I start communicating via WhatsApp and email before 7am, but we all come into the office around 9:30–10:00am. I recognize that they go out of their way to work beyond normal working hours — sometimes on weekends or public holidays — so I cannot ask them to be at their desks at 8am.

My favorite way to relax after work is to spend quality time with my family. Because my sons are abroad, the five of us usually gather over FaceTime while I’m having dinner with my wife and daughter at home. I really enjoy witnessing my children’s growth, particularly their argumentation and ability to offer articulate thoughts on any topic. I really cherish it because my career consumed much of my time in my twenties and thirties, depriving us of quality time while they grew up.

Traveling with family or friends is another passion of mine. Every month I try to find around five days or so to travel. But I’m always connected; I still respond to work emails. The only time I don’t answer is when I don’t have a connection on a plane or when I’m sleeping.

Calling my mom on FaceTime is the one constant in my day. She lives in New Cairo and I’m in Sheikh Zayed, so it’s not always possible to visit her. Staying in touch everyday is a must, even when I’m traveling abroad. She once told me that my phone calls make her day, and I’ve made sure not to miss them since.

I was really inspired by Bill Clinton’s autobiography My life. He had a clear goal in mind to become the president of the US and he set specific milestones to hit, eventually reaching his target earlier than he had anticipated. If you approach your career in this manner, with a well-planned methodology, you will succeed. I’ve always liked self-help books. My library growing up was full of them, from works on psychology and personal development, to negotiation and leadership.

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