American Bar Association program hosts Ukrainian bar leaders (02/25/96)

American Bar Association program hosts Ukrainian bar leaders

by Kyra Buchko and Stacey King

Fifteen Ukrainian legal professionals traveled to the United States to participate in a Ukrainian Bar Association Development Training Program held November 4-19, 1995. Sponsored by the American Bar Association's Central and East European Law Initiative (CEELI), this two-week program was conducted in Washington, Chicago, and Detroit and Lansing, Mich.

The CEELI joined forces with the State Bar of Michigan (SBM) to provide participants training on the organization, administration, and activities of independent professional associations, with comparisons between a national bar association such as the ABA and a state bar such as SBM.

The delegation included Ukrainian judges, lawyers, law professors, and government agency (ministry) officials from most of the major cities in Ukraine.

Donald Reisig, the CEELI's liaison to Ukraine since June 1995, has been spearheading the CEELI's bar association development efforts in Ukraine and is responsible for implementing technical legal assistance programs in other substantive areas as well. To that end, Mr. Reisig has forged cooperative relationships with key legal reformers involved with creating new professional and student legal associations and continuing legal education programs for practicing lawyers.

Following his arrival in Ukraine, Mr. Reisig continued the efforts of previous CEELI volunteers. In cooperation with the Ukrainian Legal Foundation, the CEELI's local partner, Mr. Reisig began a series of six regional workshops on bar association development and organization throughout Ukraine. With the involvement of Canadian, French and American lawyers, the workshops provided a comparative perspective on the nature and advantages of independent lawyers' associations.

From these regional seminars, Mr. Reisig recruited and selected the training program participants who will likely form the leadership of the first independent, national association of legal professionals in Ukraine. The 15 participants included officials from Ukraine's Ministry of Justice, the dean of one of the oldest law schools in the country, law school professors, and several attorneys newly engaged in private practice.

Through meetings with officials from state and local bar associations, visits to county, state and district courts, as well as local universities, the Ukrainian participants gained a greater understanding of the U.S. legal system. "Many of us had studied the U.S. system and knew a fair amount about its operation," commented Prof. Vasyl Nor, dean of the Law Faculty of Lviv State University. "But nothing compares to experiencing firsthand how a system works in practical terms."

Indeed, providing practical information that could be readily applied by participants upon their return to Ukraine was one of CEELI's top priorities in organizing the training program.

Throughout the Washington portion of the program, participants met with ABA officials to learn about the organization and management of a voluntary bar association and its interaction with Congress. The organization and presentation of continuing legal education programs was also discussed in detail, as was the role of the ABA in law school accreditation.

Through meetings with officials from the Library of Congress, Capitol Hill, the District of Columbia Bar, and sections of the ABA, participants had the opportunity to closely examine the functions of a bar association. Judge Bohdan Futey of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims also met with the delegation to discuss the role of judges' associations in the United States.

The delegation then traveled to Chicago for discussions on ABA membership services and outreach, fund-raising techniques, and the creation, distribution and use of association publications. They also learned how the ABA develops and implements standards of professional conduct for both judges and lawyers. At the Attorney Registration Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois, the delegation observed appellate arguments in an ongoing disciplinary proceeding. Participants also met with the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation to discuss the activities of organizations that assist the indigent.

The Michigan portion of the program focused on the operation and organization of the State Bar of Michigan and its relationship to local bar associations. Discussions on relations between county and state bars, pro bono assistance programs, and the role of members of the bar were enhanced by the diverse professional legal associations in the Detroit, Ann Arbor and Lansing areas. The delegation also talked with members of ethnic and minority bars regarding the purpose of a special interest bar to serve the needs of a particular minority in areas such as: professional development, providing role models, networking and community involvement, and the advancement of members in the legal profession and others in society. These sessions with representatives from myriad organizations enabled the Ukrainians to better understand the diverse roles and purposes of professional associations.

Examination of the U.S. legal education system and continuing legal education programs was emphasized in Michigan. Participants met with officials from Thomas Cooley Law School, the Institute for Continuing Legal Education and Wayne State University Law School to discuss curriculum, activities of student bar associations and clinical education programs. Participants visited officials in U.S. district and state courts to discuss the roles of court administrators and U.S. attorneys in the American legal system, with a special emphasis on trial by jury.

The Michigan Supreme Court also hosted the delegation. Justice Conrad Mallett discussed the role of the Supreme Court in determining the constitutionality of actions and laws, and its role in creating rules of procedure of the courts, stressing that the courts play no role in the implementation of laws. On this note, he addressed the struggle for control between the various branches of government, an area of keen interest to participants, who were familiar with similar power struggles in Ukraine.

The participation of the Ukrainian American communities in Chicago and in Michigan was a wonderful aspect of the training program. The delegation was extremely impressed by the Ukrainian Bar Association's emergence from its beginnings as a few Ukrainian lawyers in Michigan meeting regularly in a restaurant to discuss mutual concerns and interests to its current membership of approximately 50 lawyers who specialize in a variety of practice areas.

This oasis of Ukrainian lawyers was a great inspiration to participants seeking to build an organization from the ground. In fact, Danylo Kurdelchuk of the Union of Advocates in Kyiv commented that his cynicism regarding the ability and willingness of Ukrainians to organize a national, independent bar association greatly diminished upon meeting with these bar officials and hearing the history of the Ukrainian Bar Association.

The delegation's training program suitably concluded with the group's observation of an SBM Board of Commissioners' meeting, which encompassed all topics discussed throughout the program. The official procedures and protocol of the meeting, the discussion of issues (ranging from legislation and lobbying to continued support and funding of community legal assistance), and the voting and dialogue on these issues exemplified the organization, efficiency and mission of an independent, professional association of lawyers.

Upon their return to Kyiv, the CEELI will continue to work with members of the delegation as they establish the new organization that will represent the interests of the profession. Creating and maintaining such an entity will, of course, take time and determination. But if the caliber of Ukrainian lawyers who visited the U.S. is any indication, the organization will grow and flourish, and with it the esteem of the profession.

For further information regarding the CEELI program, please call 1-800-88-CEELI.

Kyra Buchko is director of the NIS Program of the ABA's Central and East European Law Initiative. Stacey King is a program assistant of that program.

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