The Legal Careers in Russia

Many people consider the profession of a lawyer to be one of the most popular professions in our country.

Training lawyers is the task of different higher schools and the Ural State Law Academy is one of them.

Graduates from higher legal schools are said to have a lot of options where to apply their knowledge. The choice is very wide. Lawyers with the same qualification and professional title may be doing very different kinds of work. The working conditions and pay among members of the legal profession also vary greatly.

Our graduates can work at the Bar, in the organs of the Prosecutor’s Office, in different courts, in notary offices, legal advice offices, in organs of police as well as in different companies, banks, and enterprises. They can work as advocates, judges, notaries, investigators, prosecutors, in-house lawyers, customs officers, and other workers of law enforcement agencies.

Some lawyers may work as judges. Judges preside in the courtroom, conduct legal proceedings, resolve disputes and pass judgments.

As an advocate, a lawyer acts for the client in court and out of court. The advocate’s work can include defending those accused of committing a crime.

A lawyer can work at the Prosecutor’s Office as a prosecutor or a prosecutor’s assistant. He / she should supervise the correct application and observance of the law.

He / she can also be a notary at the notary office and should be able to perform notary actions such as checking the legality of all the documents before notarizing them.

A lawyer can be appointed as an arbitrator at the Commercial court. He / she should be able to settle disputes between legal persons.

Nowadays there are many careers in law enforcement at the Police and the Investigative Committee. The main task of law enforcement is to prevent, investigate and solve crimes.

Some lawyers serve as in-house lawyers and work for companies and enterprises. They inform clients about legal matters, draft contracts and other documents, mediate and negotiate settlements.

Ex. 8 Find in the text all the derivatives from the words below and translate them into Russian:

to train

to investigate

to prosecute

to enforce

to defend

to check

to notarize

to judge

Ex.9 Grammar focus. Find modals in the text and translate the sentences with them.

Ex.10 A) Choose the correct answer.

1. What is the main idea of the text “The Legal Profession in Russia”?

a) The Ural State Law Academy trains lawyers.

b) Graduates of Russian law schools have a wide choice of career opportunities.

c) Our graduates can work at the Prosecutor’s office.

d) Lawyers inform clients about legal matters and draft contracts.

2. Which statement corresponds to the text “The Legal Profession in Russia” ?

a) Any lawyer in our country has the right to represent a person in court.

b) The profession of a lawyer is the most popular profession nowadays

c) Our graduates have the right to work only at law enforcement agencies.

d) . The work environment and salary are different in various types of legal profession

B). Complete the sentences according to the text “The Legal Profession in Russia”.

1. Judges preside in the courtroom, ……..

   1. and supervise the correct application and observance of the law.

   2. conduct legal proceedings, resolve disputes and pass judgments.

   3. and defend those accused of committing a crime

   4. mediate and negotiate settlements.

2. Advocates act for the client in court and out of court, …….

   1. conduct legal proceedings, resolve disputes and pass judgments.

   2. and supervise the correct application and observance of the law.

   3. mediate and negotiate settlements.

   4. and defend those accused of committing a crime.

3. Prosecutors and prosecutor’s assistant work at the Prosecutor’s office

   1. conduct legal proceedings, resolve disputes and pass judgments.

   2. and defend those accused of committing a crime

   3. and supervise the correct application and observance of the law.

   4. mediate and negotiate settlements.

4. In-house lawyers inform clients about legal matters, draft contracts and other documents,…

   1. conduct legal proceedings, resolve disputes and pass judgments.

   2. and defend those accused of committing a crime

   3. and supervise the correct application and observance of the law.

   4. mediate and negotiate settlements.

5. Notaries work at the notary offices and ……

   1. perform notary actions.

   2. defend those accused of committing a crime.

c) supervise the correct application and observance of the law.

d) mediate and negotiate settlements.

6. Commercial court judges work at different levels of Commercial courts and

   1. perform notary actions.

   2. defend those accused of committing a crime.

c) supervise the correct application and observance of the law.

d) settle disputes between legal entities

7. The main task of law enforcement is to prevent, investigate and

   1. defend those accused of committing a crime.

   2. supervise the correct application and observance of the law.

   3. solve crimes.

d) settle disputes between legal entities

C) Answer the questions about your future career:

1. What legal career have you chosen and why?

2. Where do you want to work after graduation from the Academy?

3. What will be your duties?

4. What do you think makes a good lawyer?

EX. 12. a) Read the words describing the qualities required for the legal profession and translate them into Russian. Use a dictionary.

experienced, accurate, flexible, honest, irreproachable, tolerant, diligent, calm, good at problem-solving, decisive, courageous, wise, independent, unbiased, highly-disciplined, laconic, strong-willed

b) What qualities do you personally have or would like to have?

Ex.13. a) Fill in the table with the information from the above text and the words from exercise 12.

legal career	Functions	qualities required for the profession
an advocate
		unbiased, decisive, wise, good at problem-solving
a prosecutor
an arbitrator
	to settle disputes between legal entities
an in-house lawyer

b) What is your future legal career? What qualities do you need for your profession?

Ex.14 Use the expressions from exercise 16 “How to make a presentation” page …. (Unit 1 “Court system of the Russian Federation” and prepare a short presentation on the following topics:

1. The choice of places of work and occupation for a lawyer.

2. The duties of an advocate, a prosecutor, an arbitrator, an in-house lawyer, a judge, a notary.

3. Your choice of a legal career.

Section 2. Types of Legal Professions in Russia.

Ex. 15 Answer the following questions.

1. What types of legal profession in England do you know?

2. What types of legal profession are there in Russia?

Ex.16. Grammar focus. Tense revision.

Read about the daily routine of law students and define the tense of the verbs. Translate the sentences.

1. We attend seminars once a week.

2. We are writing our case analyses now.

3. Sometimes I think most of us will be exhausted.

4. I bought a book on the criminal code.

5. I have already written a paper on Criminal law.

6. My friend Andrew has not taken his notes.

7. Last year I attended court trials and increased my proficiency.

8. He had worked in London before he came to our city.

9. I will represent the interests of young people in court.

Ex. 17. Choose the correct form of the words in capital letters to fill in the text and you will find out more information about types of legal professions in Russia.

Types of Legal Professions in Russia. Lawyers in private practice in Russia work mostly within colleges of advocates – self-managed cooperative-type organizations. There are about nineteen thousand advocates in more than one hundred colleges. The highest body of advocates’ self-management is the general ... of a college. The presidium headed by the chairperson is the executive board of each college. The presidium is elected by the general meeting for a term of three years.	MEET
Colleges of advocates are … in accordance with territorial subdivisions – in the cities, regions (oblasts), republics or autonomous entities. In its territory any college is represented by law firms or legal aid offices, which render all regular legal assistance to citizens: advocates counsel people, draft legal documents, represent plaintiffs or defendants in civil … , and provide defense in criminal proceedings.	FORMATION LITIGANT
There are now more and more American-type law firms in Russia functioning separately from colleges of advocates and especially involved in … private businesses.	REPRESENTATIVE
Many lawyers are … by the law offices of enterprises, ministries and agencies as an in-house counsel (a jurisconsult). These lawyers have all powers of an attorney, but they represent their single and permanent “client” – their respective … There are about twenty thousand of them in Russia, and in view of the economic reform this body is growing.	EMPLOYMENT ORGANIZATION
Of course, many in the legal profession teach or do academic research work. In Russia, there are forty … of higher education in law (either a law school attached to a university or a separate entity called a “juridical institute”). New private law schools are popping up. There are also separate research centers in law, the most prominent of which is the Institute of State and Law under the Academy of … of Russia.	INSTITUTE SCIENTIFIC

Ex. 18. Find in the text and translate all the derivatives from the words:

“to meet”, “to organize”, “to cooperate”, “to assist”, “to grow”, “to separate”, “to institute”, “to educate”, “to employ”, “to manage”, “to execute”, “to elect”.

Ex. 19.

a) Form a noun from the following verbs and translate them.

1. to employ;

2. to involve;

3. to represent;

4. to execute;

5. to elect;

6. to provide;

7. to manage.

1. Fill in the gaps using nouns and verbs from a). Translate the sentences.

1. This will give … to more people.

2. This idea was never put into…

3. Trade union representatives are chosen by …

4. The police are investigating his possible … in the crime.

5. The number of people in … has fallen.

6. The … of a new library has been of great benefit to the students.

7. “No taxation without …” means that if people pay taxes they should be in a parliament.

8. The company’s failure was mainly due to bad … .

Ex. 20. Match the words and word combinations from the text with their Russian equivalents.

college of advocates	юрисконсульт
self-managed cooperative type organisation	предоставлять
executive board	обеспечивать защиту
legal aid offices	коллегия адвокатов
render	давать рекомендации
in-house counsel	исполнительный комитет
plaintiff	независимая общественная организация
defendant	юридическая консультация
juridical	представлять истца в суде
to draft legal documents	предоставлять юридическую помощь
to represent a plaintiff	составлять юридические документы
to counsel people	юридический
to provide defence	истец
to render legal assistance	ответчик

Ex. 21 Match words in columns to make pairs of synonyms

in-house lawyer	to appear
to draft	to increase
litigation	authority
to grow	jurisconsult
to pop (up or out)	well-known (leading)
prominent	to draw up
to research	to provide
to render	trial
to employ	to hire
powers	to look into

Ex. 22 Connect the words of 2 columns, read and translate received word-combinations

Colleges of advocates	are appearing
Many lawyers	are formed in accordance with territorial subdivision
Law firms	40 institutions of higher education in law
There are	are hired as in-house counsels
New private law school	provide all regular legal assistance to citizens

Ex. 23 Answer the questions.

1. How is the college of advocates organized?

2. What does the work of advocates involve?

3. Why has зthe number of in-house counsels increased lately?

4. Why is the legal profession gaining popularity in Russia?

Ex. 24 Divide the text “Types of legal professions in Russia” into logical parts. Give a heading to each part. Make a brief summary using these headings as a plan.

Ex. 25 Speak on

1. in-house counsels and their functions;

2. advocates and their functions.

Ex. 26. Grammar focus. Complex Object. Complex Subject

1. Complex Object

N(1)…V(act) ... N(2)… Inf

Example: The attorney expected his client to give true evidence.

2. Complex Subject

N … V (pass) … Inf …

Example: He is supposed to be a key witness.

b)

N… V (act)… Inf …

Example: He turns out to be a good advocate.

c)

N … V (to be + adj.) …

Example: He is unlikely to violate a bail order.

Translate the following sentences.

1. The jury found the accused to be not guilty.

2. Many in the legal profession are likely to teach or to do academic research work.

3. The in-house counsel is likely to have all powers of an attorney.

4. The advocate wanted his client to give all information about this fact.

5. The investigator is considered to be an experienced lawyer.

6. The judge expected the jury to return an unanimous verdict.

7. He was expected to be a key witness at the trial.

8. The evidence proved to be very important.

9. The investigator expected a witness to give sufficient evidence.

Ex. 27. Look at these newspaper headlines. What do you think the stories are likely to be behind the headlines.

Example: The article is likely to be about drastic consequences of watching violent films.

Ex. 28 Write a paragraph (120-180 words) saying why you have chosen the profession of a lawyer as a perspective one. Follow the structure:

a) Write a topic sentence.

I have chosen the job of a lawyer as my future career for several reasons.

b) Give three reasons. Make use of the linking devices for listing:

Firstly,

Besides,

Furthermore,

Then,

The second reason is…

Finally,

c) To each reason give a suitable example. Make use of the linking devices for examplification:

For example,

For instance,

To prove,

d) Finish up your paragraph with a conclusion. Make use of the linking devices for conclusion.

To sum it up,

In conclusion,

To crown it up.

Ex. 29 Work out an ideal work you would like to have. Write an essay (100 words) on this topic.

GLOSSARY:

1. advocate (noun) – 1. A person who supports or speaks in favour of sb or of a public plan or action

e.g. The Chairman of the Commission is the president of the regional Chamber of Advocates.