Internship - June 28 - July 30 and
Int'l Negotiations Class - June 28 - July 30
The Kremlin, 15th Century
In Russia one learns a new truth a minute-------Hubert Griffith
History
The University of San Diego's Moscow Institute has existed since 1979, and is the oldest U.S. law school program in Russia. USD alumni now practice in Moscow and St Petersburg Russia, Kiev Ukraine, and Almaty Kazakhstan.
Facilities
Our Russia program is based at Pericles American Business and Legal Education (ABLE) Project, a continuing education center for Russian lawyers and business people. Pericles is located at 1st Miusskaya Ulitsa, #22, bldg 3, Moscow 1025009 Russia; Classes and the program offices are on the 3rd floor. There is no elevator, so this program is not suitable for persons who cannot climb stairs. METRO: behind Mendeleevskaya metro and near Lessnaya Ul. phone number office: (7-495) 649-2273; Dean Dent mobile/cell - in Russia 8-916-600-3747; calling from outside Russia - 7-916-600-3747; e-mail: mdent@pericles.ru AND pericles_moscow@yahoo.com
Orientation
Orientation is mandatory and will be held on Sunday, May 23rd, 6pm at the ANO Pericles ABLE Training Center above. This is also where your classes will be held. The first session of law classes will begin on Monday, May 24th at 9:00am.
The International Negotiations class and the Clinic will begin on Tuesday, June 29, at 7:00pm.
St Petersburg Trip
There will be a 3-4 day weekend mid-term trip to St. Petersburg where students will be visiting legal and business sites along with their professors and experiencing the famous "White Nights" festival. ("White Nights", the month of the summer solstice, is the St. Petersburg arts festival. All the cultural events are in full swing. There are lots of concerts, dances and sports competitions. The sun barely sets, so from midnight on it looks like dusk. People chat in the cafes, groups party on the canal boats, concerts are performed in the Palace Square, lovers stroll the dawn streets and watch the bridges open and close.) Along with experiencing the modern law-oriented St. Petersburg, the trip gives you the chance to step back to the past to see the Hermitage Art Museum; Peterhoff, the opulent summer palace and gardens of Peter the Great; and other beautiful palaces and attractions from the days of Russia's Romanov dynasty. The precise dates of the trip will be fixed in the spring by the Russian program director.
The cost is $480. This includes round trip train fare and double occupancy hotel rooms. Single occupancy rooms may be available at an additional charge. As bookings must be made and paid in advance to USD-San Diego, there is no refund of this payment after April 12th.
Touring
The program will make both legal and cultural tours. On the legal side, students can expect to visit Russian courts and law offices, both in Moscow and possibly in Saint Petersburg. The program director will try to arrange a two or three day trip to a Russian law school in a small Russian town so that everyone can see some of the real, outside the tourist track, Russia. This trip hopefully should not cost extra for participants.
Legal Tours: In past years, students went to the American Embassy to talk with Tom Firestone of the Department of Justice’s mutual legal assistance projects who talked on the topic of the investigation of criminal cases and how it compared to investigation in the US; students also received a tour by Igor Kovalev who showed students around the State Duma, (the lower house of parliament) and explained the legislative process and how, with a 4/5 United Russia Party (President’s party) majority, it looked like all the Duma was doing was rubber stamping the President’s proposals, but in actual fact all the discussion of drafts went on behind the scenes in committees and party meetings; A surprise visit by Vladimir Zhironovsky’s who spoke to student's at the headquarters of the not-so-liberal and not-so-democratic Liberal Democratic Party of Russia; student's also met the Duma Deputy who is a national hero and Deputy from the Northern Caucuses who was formerly a police officer and who had lost both his arms throwing himself on a grenade to protect a mother and child; student's then had dinner in the Duma's employee cafeteria; student's also met Mr Demetrius Floudas, an Adjunct Professor at Pericles, whose day job is as Director of the EU Project for Russia’s Accession to the WTO. The students found him extremely interesting. Demetrius’s opinion, by the way, is that now the Russian economy is thriving there is no longer a strong push for Russia to join the WTO, plus he believes it is the last card the West holds over Russia because it is the last major international organization that Russia doesn’t belong to. So he thinks that it will be many years before Russia is actually made a member. This was contrary to his opinion last year—he felt that the Medvedev administration is less interested in the WTO than was the Putin administration. Students also met with Michael Cuthbert, Managing Partner of Clifford Chance Russia, and talked about pro-bono responsibilities and practices in a law firm, as well as a meeting with Carol Patterson, Managing Partner of Baker & McKenzie about how to succeed and make partner in a law firm.
In 2009 Students who were still in Moscow, signed up for the American Chamber of Commerce July 4th Extravaganza, the largest such party outside the U.S.
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In past years students also went to an IP law conference, Baker & McKenzie, the American Embassy, a Constitutional Court hearing, the EU Commission, a human rights law firm, and some attended hearings in the Khodorkovsky (Yukos President) and Frenkel (person accused of murdering the Central Bank head in 2006) trials. Plus there were two guest speakers in the office: Alexander Domrin (Federalism) and Demetrius Floudas (WTO Accession).
In past years students went to a conference given by the Legal Committee of the Association of European Business and the EC Delegation on “Intellectual Property Rights in Russia: Today and Tomorrow.” This was an all day event covering copyright, patent, trademark, franchising and trade secret protection.
Two guest speakers were: The first was Alexander Domrin, a Professor at a Russian legal think tank and former Yeltsin government appointee, who spoke on Federalism in Russia. 2007 students said he was a very intelligent speaker and it was good to hear from the perspective of someone who was in government at the time.
The second speaker, Demetrius Floudas, Director of the EU Project for Russia’s Accession to the WTO. Students found him extremely interesting, as he went into detail on the WTO information.
Cultural tours: the Kremlin, Petrodvorets (Peterhof), and the priceless art treasures of the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. The many museums of both Western and Russian art are easily accessible, and students are quick to discover the night life of both cities. Students who stay for the internship program or the negotiations course attend the American Chamber of Commerce July 4th Extravaganza, the largest such party outside the U.S.
Other Programs
After completing the Russian program, students interested in human rights may attend the Dublin program. Students interested in business advisory work may wish to participate in the London or Paris programs. Oxford is available for those who prefer intense, individual work on writing by the Oxbridge tutorial method. Or students may remain in Moscow for the International Negotiations course and/or the International Internship in law firms and public service organizations.
Enrollment
Last year, 21 persons enrolled, no USD JD candidate enrolled. However, students from other U.S. law schools, and students from Canada, Philippines and Russia were enrolled.
Guarantee
Last summer, a number of other U.S. law schools canceled their summer programs abroad because of insufficient enrollment. USD guarantees that this Institute will be held subject only to minor adjustments due to emergencies, or subject to force majeure. No minimum number of students are required for the Institute to take place. USD has never cancelled an advertised Institute.