Nudrat E Piracha – first Pakistani woman to earn Doctorate of Juridical Science
USA: Dr Nudrat E. Piracha has become the first female lawyer from Pakistan to earn a Doctorate of Juridical Science .
Abbreviated as SJD and equivalent to a research doctorate, the qualification is considered the most advanced degree in law. It is awarded primarily in the United States to candidates with exceptional academic and professional credentials.
Dr Piracha is one of few women across the globe to have earned the qualification. She is also the first Pakistani woman to be appointed as a member of an Ad Hoc Committee of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, and the first Pakistani lawyer to become a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in the UK.
For 17 years, Piracha has practiced in the largely male-dominated field of international commercial arbitration and construction and investment disputes, representing the Government of Pakistan and many prominent international corporations.
An alumna of the London School of Economics and Political Science, Piracha comes from a family of civil servants in Pakistan — two of her sisters and her father have all served in various government agencies. Expected to join civil services like her sisters, Piracha decided to go into law instead, partly because it was among the limited careers permitted by her family.
“I was also inspired by the role played by lawyers in the development of countries,” Piracha recalled. “When I started studying law, I came to appreciate its interconnectivity with development issues and immense power to touch the lives of others.”
She began her career in Islamabad, where she rose to partnership at a leading law firm, Samdani and Qureshi, before receiving a Fulbright scholarship for George Washington University School of Law.
The interplay of law and policymaking mesmerized Piracha, who sees immense potential for social and political change in Pakistan through legal reforms. But when she started her career as an intern, she quickly realized that the Pakistani court was largely a man’s world.