The First Group of “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” Program Participants Starts Training
On 18-20 February 2017 the first group of participants of the “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” program (hereinafter – the Program) started the first training module covering the best practices in building the attorney-client relations.
The lawyers were guided through the first module sessions by professional trainer Iryna Gluschenkova and the Program expert Sergiy Goncharenko, with the support of the Ukrainian-Canadian Project “Quality and Accessible Legal Aid in Ukraine” representative Ivanna Ibragimova.
The first training sessions were opened by a Program Manager Andriy Vyshnevsky. Warm welcoming remarks also shared the President of the Ukrainian Bar Association Denys Bugay, Manager of the Project “Quality and Accessible Legal Aid in Ukraine” Oksana Kikot, professional development expert of the Canadian Bar Association Sheila Redel, Board Director of the “Bar Association of Legal Aid Providers” Victoria Mitko and the team of the “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” Program.
The feedback from participants showed that the training allowed them to mingle with like-minded people who openly shared their experiences, and thus “helping each other to achieve even higher goals”. Lawyers also noted that it was important for them to learn about the experience of colleagues, including those involved in legal aid. Training has become a platform for communicating with colleagues from different regions. According to participants, they were “…impressed with the number of true leaders per square meter…” “…felt like a part of the orchestra, where everyone is bound to become an orchestrator in our society…” “… we are all successful professionals, but now we understand that we switch to a higher league, we can achieve incredible success…”.
The participants from the first group emphasized that they plan to use the acquired knowledge and skills to practice and pass their new experience to colleagues. Thus, training allowed them to look at their practice from the other side and see opportunities for improvement. According to the participants, of the training, they are looking forward to the second module in L’viv to enjoy once again the wonderful atmosphere of teamwork.
***
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.
