My Morning Routine looks each week at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions because we simply can’t help ourselves. Extracts from our conversation this week with Bahaa Ali El Dean, one of our favorite lawyers:

Who am I? I’m Bahaa Ali El Dean, lecturer of law and managing partner of ALC, a Cairo-based law firm. I’m a graduate of Cairo University and earned my masters and PhD at King’s College London. The teaching and practice of law are my passions in life.

ALC is a corporate law firm. We’re six partners and another 40 lawyers and support staff. Our focus is on providing counsel to C-suite clients whose engagements largely involve sophisticated transactions — from national megaprojects, cross-border acquisitions, and regulatory affairs to securitized offerings, syndicated facilities, and complex litigation and arbitration cases.

We’re very proud to represent New Administrative Capital for Urban Developments Company, which is building what is likely to prove the largest construction project in Egypt’s modern history. We have served as legal adviser on one of the largest new-build nuclear power construction projects in the world: The El Dabaa project in Egypt, worth more than USD 30 bn. And we have served since 2007 as legal counsel to the USD 4.2 bn Egyptian Refining Company.

My morning routine starts with my first wake-up call at 4am. That’s when I check on my younger daughter, who’s studying in Canada. Then I go back to sleep and wake up again at 6am to start the day. I read Enterprise in bed (with one eye open) and forward interesting items to clients and colleagues at work. Then I take a 45-minute walk in the streets of Maadi. The only coffee I have is at 7:30am — it’s green tea the rest of the day.

I try to avoid any news on TV or the internet — it raises one’s blood pressure too early in the day. Netflix is a blessing … The only thing I read while having breakfast is the print edition of Al-Ahram. The hour-long journey to the office is mainly about work calls and emails.

The best thing I’ve watched lately on Netflix? Fauda, The Crown and Imposters were really interesting, each in its own way. I find shows about lawyers and law firms of special interest — take something like Suits: Mr. Harvey Specter and Mr. Mike Ross make the job look so fun and elegant. Look at them nicely dressed with their buttoned jackets sitting on their shining desks — I wish the job were like this. Some of my law students think that this is the life we’re living…

The biggest challenge of the day is how to stick to a schedule while still having the ability to attend to unforeseen matters our clients face. Doing that and finding time to live outside the office alchemy.

How is the market changing? Most of us at the top corporate law firms have training in (or have been exposed to) European and North American universities, law offices and clients. But today, we’re seeing more Russian, Indian and Chinese investors becoming active in major projects. They bring with them cultures and ways of doing things that are totally new to us. I suppose it’s too late to learn Mandarin or Russian now … All of us at the major firms are learning in our own ways the art of dealing with clients and government agencies from these three countries and how best to present Egyptian law to them. Having a translator in meeting rooms takes getting used-to. I think new graduates should be considering doing post graduate studies or legal training in these countries.

Investment law is definitely changing. New laws are being introduced, and some very well-rooted legal principles are changing. Who would have thought that we could have a charge or mortgage on moveable property with the debtor still in possession of the asset? I was taught in law school that a single-shareholder company was impossible — a company had to have at least two shareholders, otherwise it could not logically exist and be a corporate body. An updated and modern legal regulation on bankruptcy is again something worth celebrating. These developments are why I spend so much time reading on weekends..

The business of corporate law has changed in Egypt over the past few years. There is a lot of talent in the Egyptian legal market. New corporate law firms are growing and all are doing well. Unfortunately, some very talented lawyers have decided to work abroad or have moved to business.

I think the market is ready for mergers between some firms and that we are approaching the time where Egyptian firms will have regional presences. Legal services will become an Egyptian export.

What am I proud of? It’s fantastic to see greenfield projects we helped bring to life become operational, but I think the most satisfying thing is probably seeing students I taught start to come into their own as professionals after the graduate.

I collect Egyptian art when I’m not on the clock. Egyptian artists, past and present, are amazing and are not getting the local or global recognition they deserve.

I have works by Ragheb Ayad, Bekar and Seif Wanly from the older generation. Among more recent artists, I have collected Abdel Fattah El Badry, Sayed Saad El-Din, George Bahgoury and Gehan Raouf. Mohsen Aboul Azem has lovely work on the daily life of Egyptians — at school, work, before the court and at the doctor. I have gotten to know some of these artists over the years, and each one has a very interesting story to tell. And as with all artistic work, you sometimes find that the art is more interesting than the artist.

The best piece of business advice I’ve been given?  Every industry has its role models — the people you want to emulate when you start out. I think this is wrong. Oscar Wilde had the best advice in this regard when he said, “Be yourself — everyone else is taken.”