10th Anniversary of the PASO School of Young Lawyers

On March 12, the Samara Region Bar Association held a public speaking competition among young lawyers, interns and assistant lawyers, dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the PASO Young Lawyer School.

The school was founded by the Decision of the Council of the Chamber of Lawyers on December 27, 2014. After that, applications for admission were announced. The first lesson was held on March 12, 2014. According to the Decision of the Council, training at the Young Lawyer School is the only possible form of advanced training for interns, which is mandatory for them by virtue of the Standard of professional training and advanced training of lawyers and interns.

PASO became the first chamber in Russia to organize this training in the form of a systematic course lasting one year, which corresponds to the duration of the internship. In addition, the Samara Chamber was and remains the only one that admitted to this training not only interns, but also assistants to lawyers, as well as students of law schools focused on the subsequent acquisition of the status of a lawyer and even persons who have already graduated from a law school and have work experience in the profession. And finally, PASO is the only chamber where training is free for all these categories of students. Thus, from 2014 to this day, the Chamber gives a chance to acquire the status of a lawyer to students who are ready to make an intellectual effort for conscientious training.

Systematic training has increased the level of preparation of applicants taking the Qualification Exam. The Qualification Commission always notes the high level of knowledge of graduates of the School of the Young Lawyer. Enrollment in the School of both interns and other students made it possible to unite the personnel reserve and organize it. A transparent system of entry into the corporation for status applicants has been created. At the School, students not only gain extensive knowledge, but also find highly professional mentors, a place for future work, and receive a start in the profession.

During the training, candidates unfamiliar with the legal profession learn about what a lawyer's work is, and part with myths and illusions. Some students at this stage are naturally "filtered out" - either they independently decide that their choice of future profession was wrong, or they are expelled due to poor academic performance. The fact that a person decides to choose a different profession before passing the Qualification Exam, and not after several years of unsuccessful legal practice, is also a positive result. At the same time, a number of students who successfully completed the School of Young Lawyers today work not in the legal profession, but in the prosecutor's office, government authorities, the Office of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for the Samara Region, and in the judicial system. Replenishment of these bodies with specialists who have an idea of ​​the bar, the Samara Chamber and its achievements contributes to the formation of a positive image of the corporation as a whole.

Over 10 years of work, the School has graduated more than four hundred graduates, most of whom have become successful practicing lawyers in the Samara Region.

The most active graduates of recent years took part in the oratory competition, dedicated to the anniversary of the School. Participants competed not only for prizes from PASO. This competition became a selection stage for applicants wishing to become PASO delegates at the IV All-Russian Congress of Young Lawyers. The rules of the congress provide for selection stages, including an essay competition among young lawyers on the topic: "Media coverage of a lawyer. The boundaries of what is acceptable" at the regional and then federal level. The Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region decided to hold a regional selection stage in the form of a competition of oral speeches of lawyers with an essay. A mandatory condition was the preparation of a presentation. Along with lawyers, students of the Young Lawyer's School took part in the competition, for whom it became an excellent opportunity to improve their public speaking skills and the preparation of modern presentations.

The performances of seventeen participants were assessed by the jury members – the President of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region T.D. Butovchenko, the Vice-President N.Yu. Sukhova, the Chairman of the Qualification Commission A.V. Kokin, the Head of the School of Young Advocates of the PASO T.D. Ivanova and the Head of the Togliatti branch of the School V.I. Yankina.

The President of the PASO Tatyana Dmitrievna Butovchenko welcomed the participants and congratulated the School on its first round date. The working part of the event began with an excursion into the history of the School from its Head T.D. Ivanova. The jury members and contestants were interested in finding the faces of now famous and bright young lawyers who once came to the Chamber as students in photographs from classes, business games, and scientific and practical events of the School.

The theme of the competition corresponded to the theme of the upcoming All-Russian Congress of Young Advocates. The evaluation criteria were: depth of arguments, oratorical skills and fluency in the material, adherence to the speech regulations - up to 5 minutes, mandatory presentation and its quality. Speakers who read from a sheet of paper and did not prepare a presentation were automatically excluded from the number of possible prize winners. The meeting of the jury members was fundamental, since it was necessary to select high-level works. At the same time, the interns' speeches were generally not inferior to the works of practicing lawyers. As a result, the jury unanimously distributed the prizes. 1st place was shared by lawyers Simonov N.S. and Tretyakova A.M., 2nd place - lawyer Ganzhenko M.A. and trainee Chibizov A.A., third place - assistant lawyer Naumov A.A. and trainee Vorozheykina E.A.

The level of training of students and graduates of the School of Young Lawyers, their ambition and activity are the best proof of the effectiveness of the School, which over the years has become an integral part of the Bar Association of the Samara Region. The school was and remains a place of attraction for the personnel reserve and young lawyers and a platform for their joint work, participation in the life and projects of the Chamber, in solving the problems that each new day poses for the Chamber. The school has become a form of constructive participation of young people in the life of the Chamber, without which it is no longer possible to imagine the development of the professional community.

PASO Press Center