Fourth Group of Participants Completed the Second Module of “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” Program

On June 9-11, 2017 in Lviv the fourth group of participants of “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” Program (hereinafter – the Program) completed the second Module dedicated to building collegial relations within the justice system.

At the opening session the participants were greeted by the Program Manager Ms Darya Pysarenko and the Chairman of the Board of the Bar Association of legal Ail Providers  Ms Viktoriya Mitko. Victoria wished the participants a successful training and to permanently remain in the process of self-education and training. And so, to show respect for their profession, its independence and purpose.

The Group 4 participants were trained by a professional coach Ms Iryna Gluschenkova,  a Board Member of Transparency International Ukraine Mr Vitaliy Kasko, and a mediator and coach Ms Alyona Horova. The experts of the Program were accompanied by Ms Oleksandra Yanovska and Ms Julia Lisova. The topics of the three-day training covered the problems of complex and toxic communication; conflict of interest and anti-corruption; mediation and the role of a lawyer in the mediation process.

A pleasant surprise for the participants was the arrival of the newly elected UBA President Mr Andriy Stelmashchuk. His speech was devoted to the topic: “Lawyer’s Pleadings in Court”. Andriy talked about his practice of constructing a court speech and gave some important advice to the participants.

The expert of the group, Ms Oleksandra Yanovska, addressed the participants with the words: “In the Program we are trying not only to lift you to a new professional level, but also to make every effort for you to understand your role in the profession, in society”.

The Program participants noted that “in the Program, we are transforming not only as lawyers but also as individuals. The Program directs us and gives us valuable benchmarks for life, profession and community as a whole”. Lawyers also confirmed that they “are no longer just a group of colleagues, we are a team. This was felt in all training exercises. We no longer try to win in person, we think about the interest of the team. And this is beneficial for our entire Ukrainian legal community”.

The Program team is very pleased that the participants compared the effect of learning with the process of restoring in nature: “How does a living creature feel when it realizes that the time has come to lose old skin? What is going on in its head during the reset? And what happens in its head when it is overgrown with a new skin? For us, this process of studying in the “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” Program is very similar to the processes of resetting the old and overgrown with the new. And this is new – it is valuable, professional and opens up the opportunity for us to build roads in the future and not to erode fences in the present”.

The complete photo report of the training can be found here.

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The “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” Program is being implemented by the Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA) and the Bar Association of Legal Aid Providers (BALAP) supported by the “Quality and Accessible Legal Aid in Ukraine” (QALA) Project funded by the Government of Canada, implemented by the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) in cooperation with the Coordination Centre for Legal Aid Provision.

“Tomorrow’s Lawyer” Program — first All-Ukrainian professional development program for lawyers, intended to form a strong and active community of lawyers who are expected to become the agents of change with high ethical standards of work; introduce reforms, both at the regional and national levels; improve standards of legal aid providing and facilitate the effective implementation of self-government functions.

The Program consists of four training modules, covering the most important aspects of legal practice, namely attorney-client relations, building collateral relations in the justice system, communication within the legal society, public relations and media.