How Yasmeen Moollajie advocates for change with the help of Mac
Amplifying the stories and voices of those in our communities who need it most is no easy task. Watch as Yasmeen Moollajie, a lawyer by day and full-time mom, shares how she strives to uplift women in her community through legal education while keeping track of it all with Mac.
Amplifying the stories and voices of those in our communities who need it most is no easy task – especially when tackling heavy legal issues and cases about gender-based violence (GBV) or domestic violence.
From detailed sensitive paperwork to having cases airtight to secure a win for survivors – there are a lot of things to take into consideration while also navigating these cases with delicacy and empathy. This is why Yasmeen Moollajie, a lawyer by day and full-time mom, puts her trust in the support from Mac and Apple products to handle and secure the sensitive data she collects.
Heading up her own law firm – Moollajie Associates, Yasmeen is driven by the pursuit of helping empower women in impossible situations to know their legal rights and opportunities.
Watch as she shares what a day in the life of advocating for those who need it looks like and how her Mac products help her continue with her incredible work.
Yasmeen founded her own law firm driven by the desire to empower women with knowledge and agency over their rights in the legal system – especially in cases of GBV and domestic violence.
“I am an attorney and director at Moollajie Associates. I specialise in family law, domestic violence, and children’s court matters,” shares Yasmeen.
“I started my own legal firm to essentially help the community more. I found that working in corporate, you don’t get a chance to, you know, do much pro bono work – and that’s really where my passion lies, to help the community and women who need the education and resources”
Her passion for justice lies in advocating against GBV – she finds her past experience helps give her not only insight but empathy when navigating these cases.
“I’m really passionate about advocating against domestic violence – which is why I decided to go into this line of work. I do feel that because of my personal story and experience, I can provide a more effective approach to my clients.”
One of the biggest issues Yasmeen has found in communities is the lack of education about legal support for people who are survivors of GBV and domestic violence. Serving as a legal arm of Les Femmes Holistic Wellness Centre in Wynberg, Yasmeen has been working closely with their team on providing legal advice and education to the community.
Les Femmes is a women’s wellness centre with a dedicated team of psychologists, social workers, as well as massage therapists who serve the surrounding community of their location in Wynberg.
“They work holistically with women to help them in every aspect,” Yasmeen elaborates. “One of the only legs they don’t have, and they are working on now is a legal education leg, which is where we come in.”
This education Yasmeen feels is vital to empowering women to be able to seek help and know their rights when they see an issue in their household or community.
“It’s evident that a lot of women in our community don’t have the necessary education in order to protect themselves,” she explains. “So, I’ve been working with the Les Femmes Holistic Wellness Centre to start a legal clinic to educate women on their rights and the processes that they have available to them at the courts.”
The legal team at Les Femme will be hosting educational workshops for the women in the community to learn more about the agency they hold.
“Our first workshop is going to be in May. We will host a legal education session for women in the community to attend and learn more about their rights and which processes and resources they have available to them,” shares Yasmeen.
As for what inspired the single mom to pursue a career in law, it was a vocation born initially out of a practical decision for her future but has since altered courses to reflect where her heart lies for legal justice.
“When I decided to study law, I initially wanted to go into insolvency and liquidation, which is what my parents do,” Yasmeen says. “But, because of my history and my story, I’ve been exposed to the effects that domestic violence can have on women – and children especially. That’s where I decided this is the area of law I want to go into.”
Fighting heavy and emotionally taxing cases like these requires a lot of data collection and record-keeping – which in turn needs a device that can keep up. This is where Yasmeen’s power suite of Apple devices comes in handy.
While Yasmeen conducts some of her meetings at Les Femmes, she also works a lot on the move – which is where her MacBook Pro and iPad shine best.
“I do go to coffee shops a lot. I find that networking is really important… I will walk there and meet people and, you know, have a chat with different people from all walks of life,” she explains. “I love going to different coffee shops and sitting in different environments.”
As for her other daily tasks, Yasmeen finds herself doing a lot of administrative tasks and paperwork.
“A lot of my tasks involve drafting affidavits, agreements, and contracts,” Yasmeen shares. “I also do a lot of phone calls and follow up with my clients to find out how they’re doing in that week – updating them on any developments in their case. So, it’s just a lot of admin tasks – but, it’s necessary.”
While her MacBook, iPhone, and iPad can help her swiftly move between devices when setting up drafts, calls, and meeting schedules, Yasmeen also makes use of her Apple Watch to help her stay on the pulse of her schedule without all of her bigger devices on hand.
“I use a MacBook, I use an iPad, my Apple Watch is a big part of my daily life, and then, obviously, my iPhone,” Yasmeen shares enthusiastically.
“I love that all my apps – especially the Apple apps, sync across devices. So, my MacBook, iPad, and iPhone will all have the same notes that I’m going to make.”
Since Yasmeen relies on taking detailed notes while networking or meeting with clients, Apple’s Notes app works like a charm as it syncs seamlessly across her devices. She also interchangeably uses other notetaking software compatible with Apple – Pages and Microsoft Word documents which she can easily AirDrop between her devices as well.
“So, the AirDrop feature between my MacBook, iPad, and my iPhone is a really important feature. Because I do tend to get a lot of documents from my clients on WhatsApp,” she explains. “So, it’s easy to just AirDrop them to my MacBook and if I need to edit a document quickly, or if it’s an image, I actually just AirDrop it to my iPad and use my Apple Pencil which is really useful.”
Working across a full suite of Apple devices means that Yasmeen touches base with her local iStore whenever she may need a fix or device upgrade - an experience, she explains, that has been great and seamless.
“The iStore is great. I actually went to the iStore to get my MacBook – I absolutely love the customer service,” she enthuses.
“They [iStore] are really knowledgeable about the different products and helped me actually choose the MacBook Air as opposed to the Pro, it was a really good experience.”
As for what’s next for the mom and lawyer, Yasmeen hopes to continue growing the reach of her practice so she can continue making a positive impact on women’s lives in her community and beyond.
“I definitely intend to grow my practice, so that I can appoint more personnel, whether it is candidate attorneys or other associate attorneys – in order for us to take on more scope of work,” explains Yasmeen.
“I find that as a one-woman show – I can’t help everyone. So, hopefully, I do get enough work in order to employ more people and help the community more.”
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