PILnet and Law Firm Partners Hold Flagship Ethics Course for Russian Law Students
The legal profession in Russia is largely unregulated and professional ethics are not widely taught in universities. In the last few years, however, the landscape has begun to change and there have been moves towards improved regulation of the profession.
To lend momentum to these efforts and to help instil a commitment to legal ethics in the next generation of Russian lawyers, PILnet, in collaboration with the law firms DLA Piper and White & Case, offered an intense course in business ethics for a select group of Russian law students in Moscow, 9–12 November.
The course, “Professional Responsibility and Ethics in the Global Legal Market,” covered a broad range of issues such as regulation of the legal profession, conflicts of interest, anti-corruption, corporate responsibility, and pro bono. The 30 students from across Russia who attended the program were selected based on a legal ethics essay contest sponsored by PILnet and its partners.
“During this course I understood that legal ethics are not just beautiful words," wrote one student at the end of the course. "It’s really a great part of our profession. I think that you can’t be a lawyer without knowledge of professional ethics.”
Held at Moscow State Univesity, the ethics course was taught by attorneys from PILnet, DLA Piper, White & Case, Verizon, Microsoft, and other institutions. Characterized by "both general thoughts and practical examples," as another student said, the instruction focused on the nuts and bolts of bringing ethics to bear on legal practice.
"With the considerable influence that the legal profession has in the modern world, it is inevitably subject to high ethical standards,” said Dmitry Shabelnikov, PILnet’s director for Russia. “PILnet believes that the profession must contribute to the good of society. We hope that this course will become a regular event and that it will be picked up by other Russian law schools, which do not yet pay significant attention to ethics.”
Students at the course echoed Shabelnikov's hopes for expanding the role of ethics education. In the words of one, “This course is crucial and absolutely necessary."
