Much has changed since Chahira Solh arrived for her first day of work as an attorney at the global law firm Crowell & Moring in 2006. Solh, who now helps lead the prestigious US law firm, hasn’t forgotten the challenges she experienced in those early days. Fresh out of Northwestern University School of Law, she was filled with both excitement about the future and nervousness about whether she would make it.
Fast forward 17 years later, Solh not only made it to the top but she is one of the first Arab women to serve as chair of the executive committee of an international law firm. Crowell & Moring, which is ranked among the top 100 law firms in the United States, is now also considered one of the largest international firms in Doha.
More recently, the Los Angeles Times named Solh a finalist at the Orange County (OC) Inspirational Women Forum & Leadership Awards, which recognises professionals who demonstrate exemplary leadership qualities within their companies and impact change across OC communities.
In an interview with Qatar Tribune during her recent visit to Crowell’s Doha office, Solh shared her journey on how she rose to such prominence as a female Arab lawyer on the global front, and provided practical tips to help other professional women navigate their own careers.
Solh’s story does not begin with the usual ‘ever since I was a child’ line. In fact, she initially thought she would become a doctor and only discovered her interest in law while studying economics at the University of California-Los Angeles.
As an immigrant with no lawyers in her family, she wondered how well she would do at a large law firm. During law school, when she started interviewing for jobs, she didn’t see a lot of women or people of color at most firms, but she did not let that deter her.
Solh saw law as a profession where she could make a difference in the world.
“Law was really interesting to me because I could do business law and help companies grow and figure out how they want to expand to markets; while also still being able to do public service work where I can make a difference in the communities by doing pro bono or free legal work for those who don’t have access to the legal system,” said Solh.
With specialisations in antitrust and competition law, Solh serves as a trusted advisor on such issues for a number of the world’s most recognisable companies in the auto, aviation, healthcare, and defence industries.
Looking back, Solh has come a long way. And she’s living proof that there’s always room for growth for anyone who focuses on their craft. Recalling her first day of her legal career, Solh called some of the early experiences ‘intimidating’.
“I walked in, and I felt like everybody here knew so much more than me,” Solh said. She thought: “How am I ever going to know as much as they did, and how was I ever going to make sure that I was not going to make a mistake, or that I was going to be able to get everything right.”
Solh said she learned an important lesson: you’re not going to make everything right.
“You make mistakes, you own them and you learn from them,” she said. “That’s how you get better. I realised that I can be a good lawyer, it just requires me to take the feedback and listen to people, and see how I can continue to grow and improve.”
Solh moved to the United States from Syria when she was seven. An Arab-American with ethnic roots from Lebanon and Syria, Solh said one of the challenges she faced early in her legal career was navigating social norms and forming relationships and connections across cultures. This required her to learn how to conform a little bit more to the legal culture in the US, while also grappling with how she could remain authentic to her own beliefs and cultures.
In her leadership role today, Solh prioritizes building genuine relationships with clients as well as the young lawyers who she mentors.
“I love the relationships. I get to meet such interesting people and get to learn about them, bond with them and build those relationships,” Solh said. “Another thing I love about being a lawyer is I can actually be a problem-solver. My job is not just to tell you what the law is. My job is to tell you what the law is but also figure out how that can actually help you achieve your goals and what you want to achieve. That for me is a lot of fun.”
It’s no secret that professional women in male-dominated industries continue to face an array of challenges including the “imposter syndrome,” but Solh’s path shows that you can persevere.
“Sometimes, especially when you’re not of the majority and there are not a lot who look like you in positions of leadership, you want to pretend you know everything so that they don’t think that you’re underqualified,” Solh said. “This is probably true to many of the women who are in the profession, all of us often have imposter syndrome, where we feel like we maybe don’t belong. And that feeling, it doesn’t go away completely. But it starts to go away a little bit more every time when you have success, and when you know that people around you are trying to support you and really help you succeed.”
Solh credits her mentors for helping her to find a path to success and she intends to pay that forward.
“I have been lucky at the firm to have some really great mentors who had my back,” Solh said. “They have helped me if I’ve made a mistake, they have helped me learn from those mistakes, introduced me to clients and others within the firm, and helped me raise my profile. One of the things that we don’t realize is how important it is to have those mentors who are really going to help us. Because we are not going to be able to make it on our own, none of us can do it on our own. And that was one of the ways that I was able to maintain the balance, by having these mentors who help make sure that I was doing the right things.”
But she also acknowledges that not everyone is fortunate enough to have a supportive environment. “I know there are lots of organisations and industries where it still is difficult to be a woman and to really advance,” Solh said. “In those situations, look for your allies. There are always going to be people in the organisation who do actually want to help, and do want to end that discrimination and do want to help you succeed. Look for those allies and see if you can find them to be your mentors. Also, sometimes if your particular organisation isn’t great related to that, it may be time to look for another organisation. A lot more companies and law firms are trying to advance and really create equal opportunities for people.”
Solh also encourages people to speak up about what they find most fulfilling at work. Solh said, “In the end, if you’re in this for the long haul for a career, you want to do what’s interesting and what actually keeps you intellectually stimulated. So, it’s going to be important to take up more control over that by voicing your opinion.”
As someone who works long hours every day and enjoys the work she does, Solh is continually learning how to draw boundaries. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, she has focused on spending more time with her family.
To succeed in her demanding role, Solh said she must prioritize self-care as well. “Working out actually makes a big difference in my mental health. Just that half an hour or an hour of doing something that is not on my computer--if it’s going out for a walk, doing pilates, or doing my spin bike, whatever one of those. That I think is really helpful.”
“And I think what’s really important is having relationships that fulfill you; whether it’s a significant other, your family, your friends or siblings, and people you interact with that really help you and give you that energy and different perspective. Playing with your child or your niece or nephew, I think sometimes we forget that a lot of those relationships actually help nourish your mental health and wellness as well,” she added.
Moving forward, Solh, who also serves on the firm’s management board, aspires to continue working on important client matters while also being responsive as a firm leader.
“The focus is really on creating opportunities, and making sure that people feel that their voice is heard,” Solh said. “That’s really been the most important part of being in this role, it’s being able to be that role model. I want to continue to really help pull up the people who are working with me. Just like I had been helped and people introduced me to clients, and gave me really good opportunities and feedback, my goal is to continue to do that with the people that I work with, and making sure to create opportunities for them so that they can be future leaders as well.”
In addition to providing excellent legal services and following the legal industry’s ethical code of conduct, Solh advises young lawyers to be open to criticism.
“The ability to actually absorb any sort of feedback makes a huge difference as people are building their careers and advancing,” she said.
