PILnet Co-sponsors Ethics Essay Competition for Russian Law Students

Update: Competition Winners Announced!

 Russian law students are invited to submit papers on the subject of legal ethics for an essay competition. Thirty winners will be selected for an intensive training to be held in Moscow 9-12 November 2011, entitled Professional Responsibility and Ethics in the Global Legal Market.

The competition and the November training are co-sponsored by Moscow State University Law Faculty and PILnet, in collaboration with the global law firms DLA Piper and White & Case. The four-day program will be an intensive course covering a broad range of issues concerning the field of professional ethics and professional responsibility—issues that face any legal practice, both in Russia and internationally. The sessions will address such concerns as regulation of the legal profession, conflicts of interest, confidentiality and disclosure, anti-corruption, corporate social responsibility and pro bono, and “lawyers as officers of the court.”

The instruction language is English and essays should be drafted in English, addressing some or all of the following questions in the context of the program’s theme:

1. What does it mean, in your opinion, to be a responsible and ethical legal professional?
2. Do you think that all lawyers in Russia should be governed by special professional responsibility rules? Why or why not?
3. Please describe one or more situations representing a professional ethics issue/dilemma (please elaborate on each example rather than just list them)?
4. What are the responsibilities of the legal professionals vis-à-vis the society? Why do legal professionals have these responsibilities?

UPDATE, 18 October: For the list of winners, click here.

For more information about essay submission, course content, and other details, click here.

For this information in Russian, click here.