DLA PIPER ANNOUNCED THE RESULTS OF THE SEMIFINAL OF THE ALL-UKRAINE SCHOLARSHIP COMPETITION FOR LAW STUDENTS 2008

22 July 2008. Kyiv – Lawyers of the Kyiv office of DLA Piper, a global legal services provider, finalized the initial evaluation of the students’ papers, submitted in the first round of the DLA Piper All-Ukraine Scholarship Competition for Law Students 2008.  As a result of the 1st round, semifinalists of this year Competition are: Alina Bas, Kateryna Berko, Oleksandra Karpenko, Liliya Kostuchenko, Olga Kroytor, Vadym Lygin, Julia Muravska, Oleksandr Pankiv, Iryna Popika, Olena Popova, Oleksandra Sandulenko, Andriy Snitko, Iryna Fedorovych, Oleh Fedusiv, Fatima Khanieva, Vitaliy Khilko.

"According to the conditions of the Competition, we had to identify 20 best papers from the whole mass which was submitted, but we had only chose 16 for semifinal.  Half of these were dedicated to the problems of land relations in Ukraine and the second half – to controversial issues of corporate law of Ukraine.  Papers on financial issues and on IP were quite weak, so we declined them in semifinal”, comments Margarita Karpenko, Managing Partner of DLA Piper in Kyiv.

"We explain this by the weak practical background of the students, and this year we chose exactly practical topics for the Competition papers.  We intended to evaluate practical skills being obtained by students in universities.  And now we can say for sure that practical background of students leaves much to be desired”, adds Margarita.

Semifinalists of this year represent the following universities:

• Ivan Franko Lviv National University
• Yaroslav the Wise National Law Academy of Ukraine
• Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University
• Odessa National Academy of Law
• Illya Mechnykov Odessa National University
• Kyiv National Linguistic University
• Donetsk National University
• Dnipropetrovsk National University
• Bar Academy of Ukraine
• International Scientific and Technical University

At the next stage, the semifinalists’ papers will be evaluated by the Judging Panel of the Competition, where only 4 winners, finalists, will be chosen.  The lucky three will be awarded with an internship in one of DLA Piper’s international offices.  The winner obtaining 4th award will be receiving a monetary scholarship during the next university year.

Judging panel of the Competition 2008 includes Nigel Knowles, Managing Partner of DLA Piper UK LLP and Joint Chief Executive Officer of DLA Piper; Margarita Karpenko, Managing Partner of DLA Piper Ukraine LLC; and also:

• Inna Bogoslovska, Attorney at Law, MP of Ukraine
• Kateryna Chala, Legal Advisor, Kvazar Micro
• Vadym Fesenko, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Performance of Obligations Service LLC
• Iryna Ivanchuk, Vice Head of the Department of Coordination of Legal Work and Legal Education, Head of the Legal Education Sector of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine
• Dmytro Kukhnyuk, Attorney at Law, General Counsel, Farlep-Invest OJSC
• Tetyana Kyryk, Legal Director, BBH Group in Ukraine
• Iryna Musiychuk, Head of Legal Department, OBI Ukraine Franchise Center LLC
• Ruslan Stephanchuk, the Member of Coordination Council of Young Lawyers at the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine

The 2008 All-Ukraine Scholarship Competition for Law Students is supported by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine as well as Coordination Council of Young Lawyers at the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.  The Competition is also supported by the European Business Association in Ukraine and prominent Ukrainian media like The Yuridicheskaya Practika Weekly, The Investgazeta Weekly, Delo Daily, information agency Interfax Ukraine, The Ukrainian Journal of Business Law, Ukrainsky Advokat Magazine, Ukrainsky Yuryst Magazine and Sudovy Vypusk Magazine.  VAGNER insurance broker is also supporting the Competition, going to provide insurances for winners of the completion, traveling abroad.

Nataliya Tkachenko, Marketing Manager, DLA Piper Ukraine LLC, Tel: +380 44 490 9579 or Email: nataliya.tkachenko@dlapiper.com

1. DLA Piper Ukraine LLC is part of DLA Piper, the largest global legal services organisation.  The Kyiv team comprises more than 40 lawyers and is headed by Managing Partner Margarita Karpenko.
2. The All-Ukraine Scholarship Competition for Law Students is running second year in a row now, and is one of the DLA Piper’s CSR initiatives within the frames of its global CSR Education, Employability & Enterprise platform. Besides this one, DLA Piper globally directs its CSR efforts to Pro Bono, People & Communities and Sustainability platforms.  Last year winners of the Competition represented the following Ukrainian educational institutions: Odessa National Academy of Law, Ivan Franko Lviv National University, Yaroslav the Wise National Law Academy of Ukraine, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
3. DLA Piper is the largest global legal services organisation with offices across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the US.  Over 3,700 lawyers across 64 offices and 25 countries provide a broad range of legal services to businesses that operate on a local, regional and global level.  DLA Piper is relationship driven and committed to meeting the ongoing legal needs of its clients.
4. For further information about our organisation and services, please visit our website: www.dlapiper.com.