PASO Board Meeting

On March 24, a regular meeting of the Council of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region took place. It began with a solemn swearing in by fifteen applicants who had successfully passed the qualifying exam. PASO President T.D. Butovchenko congratulated her young colleagues and wished them to be successful in their profession and bear the title of lawyer with dignity.

The Council then proceeded to work on the agenda.

On the basis of personal statements, the status of four lawyers was suspended and the status of five lawyers was terminated.

Five lawyers were credited with professional development hours.

The Board considered four applications for early removal of disciplinary sanctions. Three of them were satisfied. The Board did not consider it possible to satisfy one application due to the fact that the lawyer, brought to disciplinary responsibility for the long non-payment of monthly deductions for the maintenance of the PASO, continues to commit similar violations.

Five lawyers were included in the SF system.

Changes were made to the register of bar associations: a new bar office was established and one was liquidated.

Acknowledgments were made to three lawyers.

At the meeting, a decision was made to amend and supplement the Decision of the Council of the PASO No. 14-11-08 / SP dated November 27, 2014, which approved the Rules of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region on the implementation of the Procedure for appointing lawyers as defenders in criminal proceedings. The requirements for lawyers participating in the LA system have undergone changes. If earlier a lawyer who had a disciplinary sanction for misconduct that was not related to the quality of providing legal assistance to the principal could participate in it, then the new version of the decision excludes the participation in the LA system of a lawyer who has any disciplinary sanction.

The PASO Council received an appeal from the lawyer Levitsyn I.G. with a request to PASO for assistance in protecting his violated professional rights. The essence of the violation was that the lawyer was not allowed to see the detainee at an unsanctioned rally for two hours. After identification, the detainee was released. The PASO Council prepared a response to the appeal and suggested that the lawyer use procedural methods to protect the violated rights of the principal. In addition, the Council decided to include a lecture on the algorithms for actions of lawyers in case of non-admission to detained clients in the PASO action plan to improve the professional level of lawyers.

DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS

The Council considered thirteen disciplinary proceedings.

One was initiated on the basis of a client's complaint about an incorrectly chosen position on the case by a lawyer. The notary refused to issue a certificate of the right to inheritance to the principal due to the impossibility of determining the shares in the inheritance property. The lawyer filed a lawsuit not to determine the shares, but to recognize the right of ownership in the order of inheritance. Evidence that the principal himself knew about this and wished to go such a long and difficult path, the lawyer could not provide. When the principal realized this, he turned to other representatives, who clarified the claim and received a positive court decision. At the meeting of the Council, the lawyer explained that the purpose of filing another claim was to subsequently challenge the size of the shares to be determined. The option chosen by the lawyer involved the filing of several lawsuits, which naturally required a long time. In the complaint, the applicant complained about such an option for protecting his rights and believed that the lawyer’s “violent activity” was aimed at obtaining additional funds and introducing him into unreasonable expenses. Under such circumstances, the Council agreed with the conclusion of the Qualification Commission that in this case the lawyer had chosen the wrong position on the case and announced a reprimand to him.

Another complaint was filed against a lawyer who received a fee from the principal and stopped communicating. He did not take any action to fulfill the order. Solely because it was the first infringement in a short career as a barrister, the Council considered it possible to confine itself to a warning of termination of status.

Two more proceedings were initiated at the request of the judges.

In one case, the lawyer, carrying out defense by agreement, did not appear at the court session after a break announced the day before. At the same time, he referred to employment in another process, where he participated on demand. The PASO Qualification Commission saw this as a violation on the part of the lawyer. In such a situation, the lawyer should have notified the SYP Center of the impossibility of appearing in the process upon request, and another lawyer was appointed. The Council agreed with the conclusion of the Commission and reprimanded the lawyer.

Another proceeding was initiated at the request of a judge of the Samara Regional Court. This is not the first time the judge has applied to PASO about the incorrect behavior of the same lawyer in a lengthy process. The new appeal contained audio recordings of the lawyer's unacceptable statements addressed to the court. The Council of PASO re-announced a warning to the lawyer about the termination of the status.

One disciplinary proceeding was terminated due to the absence of violations in the lawyer's actions.

The Council reviewed seven proceedings initiated by the Vice President of PASO in connection with the failure of lawyers to comply with the Standard for Professional Training and Professional Development. All but one, by the time of the Council meeting, had already confirmed the implementation of the Standard, in connection with which the Council limited itself to comments.

One lawyer did not do this, and besides, he has not been in contact with PASO for a long time, does not answer phone calls and messages. The Council decided to terminate her status. She will be able to retake the qualifying exam after a year.

The PASO Council considered the appeal of the fire and rescue team of one of the districts of the Samara region. The lawyer represented the interests of the PSO employee in a labor dispute. After the court ruled in favor of the principal, she recorded a video for social networks in the building of the fire station, in which, dressed in a helmet and combat clothing of a firefighter, she described in verse the subtleties of the case. The poem contained unflattering remarks about the management of the fire department and the court that heard the case. Despite the exotic nature of the situation, the PASO Council considered that such behavior of a lawyer on the Internet cannot be recognized as acceptable. During the meeting, the lawyer admitted that her publication did not meet the requirements for the behavior of a lawyer, established by the Rules of Conduct for Lawyers on the Internet Information and Telecommunication Network, approved by the Council of the FPA on September 28, 2016. The PASO Council exercised the right established by part 6 of Art. 9 KPEA and sent her a Warning about the inadmissibility of violating the requirements of the law on advocacy and the bar and the Code of Professional Ethics of a lawyer.

PASO Press Center