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Abdullah Mattar
August 2008
For the month of
August, the
VLP is pleased to
name
Abdullah Mattar as
our
Outstanding Law
Student
Volunteer.
Abdullah is
working
on an LL.M. in
International
Trade and Business
Law, and
has been
volunteering in the
Bankruptcy Reaffirmation
Clinic.
His
enthusiasm and genuine
desire to
learn about a wide variety of topics in the legal system make
Abdullah both a
pleasure to be around, as well as a valuable volunteer to our
program (Abdullah
is pictured with
former US Supreme
Court Justice Sandra Day
O’Connor).
Abdullah comes to
us from the city of Jeddah, located on the west coast of
Saudi Arabia.
After graduating from Cairo University in 2002, Abdullah returned
to Jeddah to
practice law. There, he worked with a number of firms and
companies
including the Saudi Economic and Development Corporation,
where he
specialized in trade and business law. Abdullah is currently
working
on a Masters at
the U of A in International Trade and Business Law and plans
on eventually
returning to Saudi Arabia with his newfound knowledge of the
American legal
system and trying to apply some of the concepts to his own
country’s system.
Although he admits
that the “judicial system in the U.S. is kind of unusual” to
him, he is
“honored” to “learn about the U.S. court systems from inside” and
to have the
opportunity of a hands-on learning experience. “I have learned a
lot,”
he said of his
volunteer experiences. “I have learned to help the society as a
lawyer rather than
just getting money from them. I helped the people who
needed my help as
a lawyer.” Abdullah is also eager to identify the many
differences
between the American system and his own, like the ability for
parties to
sometimes appear telephonically. Moreover, he noted that usually
the American
courts’ “goal was to help the people rather than punishing them.”
With his first
year at the U of A under his belt, Abdullah finds it difficult to
single
out a particular
professor as his favorite since he “loves and respects all of them.
Every one has his
own traits and his own way to deal with the students.”
However, if he has
to select one, he cites Professor Boris Kozolchyk as
particularly
influential. Abdullah said that Prof. Kozolchyk’s knowledge and
advice extend
beyond the law field. “He gave me a lot of information that can
help me as a
lawyer, father, and a good husband” he said.
In his free time,
Abdullah enjoys reading about politics, religion and law, watching
political news on
TV, eating at the Luxor Café, and visiting “quiet places with a
good landscape”
like San Diego and Washington D.C.
Abdullah is very
thankful for the opportunity to work with the Volunteer Lawyers
Program and see
law in a new way. “Before I came to the U.S.” he said, “I was
dreaming to be one
of the famous lawyers in my country, but now no more.”
Abdullah now says
that he has a new sense of responsibility and is excited to
finish his studies
here and to take what he has learned back to Saudi Arabia to
“help my
government [by] changing the economic system and developing the
country.”
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Past Outstanding Volunteer
Student Awards |
