Although Islamic finance has been around for many years, the major law firms and investment banks have only recently expanded into the practice. Traditionally Islamic finance was a niche area practised by a small group of commercial firms with interests in the Middle East. Today, financial institutions, banks and other corporations are taking a greater interest in hitherto overlooked parts of the world, especially emerging markets such as Malaysia and oil-rich countries such as the United Arab Emirates, so lawyers who work in Islamic finance are picking up more and more business.

The term refers to a system of banking that is consistent with sharia law. In particular, interest is prohibited, as is investing in businesses considered unlawful, such as those which trade in pork or in products that are contrary to Islamic values.

Abradat Kamalpour is a partner at international firm Ashurst. Abradat initially completed a construction management degree and, having enjoyed the legal topics it covered, he took the plunge and did a law degree at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Upon graduating he trained at Mallesons Stephen Jaques, the Antipodes' largest law firm. He saw a range of work, from banking and finance to corporate, litigation to real estate. When he moved to Norton Rose in 2003, Islamic finance was becoming an emerging feature of the bond and structured finance market. With experience in banking, Abradat was primed for a move into this burgeoning field. Abradat moved to Ashurst in 2008 from Dechert.

Islamic finance is still a relatively new area, as Abradat explains: "It's not repeat business; most of the deals involve innovative thinking so it's very intellectually challenging. Islamic finance has really involved and complex structures - that's something a lot of people find very attractive."

Unsurprisingly, there are still misconceptions about what Islamic finance actually is. Abradat puts it simply: "A lot of people think it means that the documents are governed by sharia law. That's not the case. The documents are governed by English law, but the structure implemented in the transaction is considered acceptable by the sharia scholars signing off on the transaction. You're looking at a transaction and what the economic effects of the transaction are and trying to achieve a structure that works from a sharia-compliant perspective."

By way of example, at Dechert Abradat advised Dresdner Kleinwort and HSBC on the establishment of a $1 billion programme for Gulf Finance House BSC, one of the large Bahraini banks. The programme was listed on the London Stock Exchange and won an award for deal of the year. "There isn't precedence on this kind of thing," explains Abradat. "That particular deal was highly involved because we were working day and night to help the clients structure the transaction. People are working out new ways of doing things all the time. So we're always looking into new ways of doing things and, as a result, we're always working on something new." The Gulf Finance deal was particularly innovative because of the clients' type of assets. They had never before been used for an Islamic bond so Abradat and his colleagues were breaking new ground.

Islamic finance is, by definition, an international practice, which means that lawyers often get to travel across the world. Developing, largely unregulated, jurisdictions such as the United Arab Emirates prove fruitful when it comes to picking up work. Indeed, travelling is one of Abradat's favourite things. "It's great," he enthuses. "You get to experience different cultures, make new friends - and that's terrific."

In Abradat's view, the key to being a good Islamic finance solicitor is having robust banking skills as a foundation - and those skills are always better learnt in practice than in the classroom. "Having an academic background in Islamic finance is terrific. Some people do a master's or a PhD. That shows a commitment and interest in the area that always goes down well, but it's not a prerequisite. You're going to learn most of the skills on the job. So what you should do is spend two or three years doing good banking work across the board, while doing Islamic finance as part of that. You'll develop good banking skills and not be too specialised early on."

But that's not all. Reflecting the nature of the practice area, you'll also "need to be innovative and understand that people are looking for solutions," he advises. "Clients don't want to hear that you can't do this or that. You have to understand what the client wants and come up with ideas that help the client achieve that."

The market for financial products compliant with Islamic law is estimated at $265 billion, a fraction of the entire sector. However, its market share is expected to soar by 12% to 15% per year over the next 10 years – an impressive growth rate. At a recent conference on Islamic finance held in Dubai, it was revealed that there are 270 Islamic banks operating in 75 countries with investments worth more than $400 billion. And, due to their investment strategies, most have been untouched by the global financial downturn. Abradat and other lawyers specialising in the area are indeed forwardthinking: it looks like Islamic finance is here to stay.