Corporate Lawyer

Profession

A corporate lawyer is not just a legal adviser, he/she is a member of the management team, a full participant in the development of an enterprise's strategy. The role of a lawyer in a company can be compared to the role of a navigator, whose task is to navigate a ship through reefs and shallows and, without a catastrophe, with the help of a route map and navigational instruments, bring it to its destination. The task of a corporate lawyer is not to say: “Permitted” or “Prohibited.” They must develop business, make sure that activities are in line with the law, efficient, and profitable. The main difference between the concepts of “lawyer” and “corporate lawyer” is the scope of the functions performed; solving problems related to the internal settings of the organisation is the task of a corporate lawyer.

Educational Process

The programme has been worked out in such a way that the student receives only introductory data from the lecture courses. The fundamental information is mastered at the seminars dedicated to discussing the latest trends in the relevant field of legal regulation. Analysis of cases (that is, specific court decisions) makes it possible to see the application of certain provisions of legislation in practice. Students regularly take part in round table discussions, academic seminars and conferences, publish articles in academic journals and conduct research work.
The course provides an opportunity to acquire knowledge and professional skills necessary for an in-house counsel. It is possible to form an individual curriculum: the student is allowed to choose those subjects from the course module that are particularly interesting to him/her, (e.g. legal regulation of relations with government agencies, protection of intellectual property rights or dispute resolution).
Disciplines: Current Issues of Civil Substantive and Procedural Law, Legal Regulation of Credit and Settlement Relations, Legal Regulation of EU Trade Turnover, Insurance Law, Contract Law, Company Law, Mergers/Acquisitions; Insolvency in the Russian Federation and Foreign Countries, Patent Law etc.

Practice

A compulsory component of professional training for pedagogical activities in postgraduate studies is internship of training higher qualification personnel. This type of practical training of postgraduate students includes the teaching of special disciplines, the organization of students' educational activities, scientific and methodological work on the subject, the formation of the skills needed for the work of a teacher. The purpose of pedagogical internship is to study the basics of pedagogical and educational work in higher education institutions, the acquisition of pedagogical skills of teaching core disciplines of the corresponding field of study. The main task of pedagogical practice is to show the results of a complex psychological and pedagogical, socio-economic and information technology readiness of a graduate student for pedagogical activity. Postgraduate students have the opportunity to practice in government institutions, or in Russian and international companies.

Career

The graduates of the programme are sought-after by employers, since they have a variety of knowledge and skills in the field of legal support for the activities of a corporation (e.g., in resolving private law disputes and disputes arising from public law). The graduates can work in the largest transnational holdings, international law firms, such as Baker & McKenzie, Clifford Chance, Deloitte, Leroy Merlin and others.