Marian Kaldas, Executive Director, Egyptian Center for Arbitration and Settlement of Non-Banking Financial Disputes (ECAS): 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 Marian Kaldas (LinkedIn), executive Director of the Egyptian Center for Arbitration and Settlement of Non-Banking Financial Disputes. Edited excerpts from our conversation:

My name is Marian Kaldes, I am a wife, mother of two, and the executive director of the Egyptian Center for Arbitration and Settlement of Non-Banking Financial Disputes. I am also a lecturer at the Administrative Control Authority’s National Anti Corruption Academy, the FRA’s Financial Services Institute and the Egyptians for Investment & Urban Development. I first studied business administration at the American University in Cairo.

Law was always a big part of my family, with my father and grandfather both being judges. I am also the great granddaughter of Makram Ebied, but unfortunately, my father did not believe that women could succeed in the field of law. After his passing, I decided to pursue law at Cairo University and worked at the Administrative Prosecution Authority and the Justice Ministry. I went on to get my master’s and a PHD in law and was nominated for my current role at ECAS in 2021. I love what I do and I am glad I work in this field, even if I started later in life.

My daily responsibilities differ depending on whether I am at ECAS or teaching. My life at ECAS consists of three main aspects: managing and brainstorming with my team, connecting with investors and businessmen, and observing the legal and business updates in the non-banking financial sector. My time as a lecturer is my favorite part of the week — I teach, interact with, and learn from professionals in both the public and private sectors. I feel that I am able to make a change by contributing to fighting corruption.

Established by a presidential decree, ECAS is an independent center specialized in resolving NBF disputes — the first of its kind in Egypt. The center provides efficient dispute resolution mechanisms and employs specialized arbitrators and mediators to handle with NBF cases. Meaning, instead of having to go to court, businesses can resort to experts to resolve their issues.

There is no single contract in the world without a dispute resolution clause, it's too important to everyone in this field to be aware of conflict resolution. We design and organize training courses for NBFS professionals and lawyers that combine comprehensive legal and business aspects. We invite regulators, lawyers, and dispute resolution experts to give these courses. It's a very effective communication tool to know how to resort to arbitration and what are the alternative dispute resolution tools.

The largest trend in the legal industry right now is definitely green arbitration. The legal sector now reflects a growing commitment to incorporate sustainable practices in arbitration proceedings. Green arbitration encourages practitioners to minimize travel, organize virtual hearings, reduce paper usage through digital and electronic submissions, and promote energy efficient practices during hearings.

I’m an early riser. I like to start my day by connecting with God and praying. After which I take care of my family obligations — meal planning, grocery shopping and so on. I then have a cup of tea while getting ready. My hour-long drive to Smart Village is when I get most of my day planning done. I read EnterpriseAM Egypt to keep up with business updates, check my emails, and make some follow up calls.

The one constant in my day is checking in on my family members. I spend most of my day at work, and so it’s important to check in on my family through a message or a call. At work, I always have a daily check in with my team, they are the pillar of success, so it's essential for me to connect with them and maintain open lines of communication and collaboration and to ensure our goals are aligned.

No two workdays are the same. Since the center is newly established and I am the first director, my responsibilities change day-in-day out. My team and I enjoy taking part in initiatives, including the Young ECAS initiative, where we support young professionals through capacity building and awareness on the available job opportunities in the NBFS sector, and the family businesses initiative, where we support family businesses by encouraging those businesses to draft their family constitution, succession plan among other governance measures, and helping them discover the funding opportunities offered by NBFIs.

On a professional level, I am looking to extend ECAS’ outreach and influence in the arbitration industry in the near future and to raise awareness for the NBFS sector in terms of tools and funding opportunities. I really believe the NBF dispute resolution sector is a hidden gem and businesses have yet to explore the full potential of this sector.

After my work day is over, I love to bake, cook, and read to switch off. Cooking for my family and having the smell of fresh baked goods in my house is something I really enjoy. I also like to allocate 15-20 minutes of my day to read — either a book or an article. Similar to the medical field, I believe reading is especially important for people in the legal field, if we are not updated on the legal and business developments, then we cannot excel in our work.

Books that provide advice on how to be productive and organized while managing stress are my go to. I recommend ones like Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport, and Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen.

The best piece of advice I’ve ever gotten came from my family. They taught me to be a woman of integrity, and told me to make integrity my trademark. Another piece of advice that I live by was given to me from Jean-François Gaudreault-DesBiens the dean of the University of Montreal — when I was pursuing my PHD in law. He told us that in order to excel in the legal field, we should never be over-specialized, that we should instead be exposed to economic, political, social and all fields.

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