Moscow Bar Association Council Meeting on July 28

At the beginning of the meeting 13 candidates for the advocate's status who successfully passed the qualification exam took an oath in a solemn atmosphere: Eldar Adamov, Dmitry Baranov, Dmitry Verkhovsky, Dmitry Maziashvili, Viktor Maksimov, Sergey Samsonov, Daria Spirkina, Yulia Testova, Ilya Filippov, Ekaterina Filippova, Ivan Chetyrkin, Ivan Chuvakin and Ekaterina Shabala.

Genri Reznik, the First Vice-President of the Moscow Bar Association, addressed them:
“You swear allegiance not to the state, not to civil society, but to specific people whose rights and freedoms you will protect. And your relationship with the client should be built on the principles of honesty, fair practice and proficiency. Your weapon is your word, and the Lawyer's Code of Professional Ethics is your safety technique. Love your profession and believe in your lucky star!”

In the presence of a new addition to the Moscow Bar Association, Genri Reznik, on behalf of the members of the Council, congratulated Igor Polyakov, President of the Moscow Bar Association, on his 65th birthday, noting that he had honestly and worthily traveled a long way in the profession, overcoming difficulties and mastering new frontiers. “You could make a successful career in the prosecutor's office, but you came to the bar. And the Moscow Bar Association is very lucky, we are all very lucky to have you. When the Moscow Bar Association was formed, there was still no such advocacy spirit, relations between lawyers were wary. Thanks to your professionalism, prudence, calmness and decency, this ice of distrust was melted. And we could not ignore all your merits in the Council, in which you have been working since its inception. The Council of the Moscow Bar Association unanimously decided to award Igor Poliakov the title of Honorable Member of the Moscow Bar Association, Genri Reznik said solemnly.

The Council then proceeded with 29 disciplinary proceedings against twenty-nine lawyers. Nine disciplinary proceedings were initiated on the basis of complaints from clients, nine - upon the recommendation of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for Moscow, six - upon the appeals of judges, three - on the recommendations of the Vice President of the Moscow Bar Association, one - following client's complaint and on the recommendation of the Vice President of Moscow Bar, one - following client's complaint and the presentation of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for Moscow.

The following decisions made: in nineteen proceedings - disciplinary measures to twenty lawyers for violations, including: to two lawyers in the form of a remark, to seven - in the form of a warning, eleven lawyers had their status terminated. Ten disciplinary proceedings have been terminated.

The Council discussed the issues of admission of lawyers to the members of the Moscow Bar Association and expulsion from the Bar, termination, suspension and renewal of the status of lawyers, amendments to the register of legal associations of the city of Moscow.​

The Council also considered the issues of automation of the Moscow Bar Association, provision of legal aid, participation in sports events.

The following members of the Council were present at the meeting: Igor Polyakov, President of the Moscow Bar Association; Genri Reznik, First Vice President; Sergey Zubkov, Nikolay Kipnis and Vadim Klyuvgant, Vice Presidents; Alla Zhivina, Konstantin Rivkin, Evgeniy Rubinshtein, Vladimir Riabtsev, Andrey Suchkov, Yuly Tay, Marina Titievskaya, Maxim Ustiniuk and Igor Fleishman.