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LL.M. Students of the Month for July

We are proud to announce that our Students of the Month for July 2005 are five very talented, hardworking and enthusiastic lawyers who are Pericles ABLE Project's first graduating LL.M. class of 2005.

The graduation is a milestone for the Pericles ABLE project, marking the success of what was a pilot project conceived by Dean Marian Dent, who has now seen her goal of a highly competitive, professional and rigorous LL.M. program in English taught by qualified Western professors come to fruition. Looking back on the 2+ years of late nights and long hours of juggling work and study, the students are all sure that they received an education that helped them to land jobs as specialists in top Moscow legal positions. Here are some close up and personal highlights of our star students.

Tatiana Golubko, born in Ukraine in 1981, graduated from the Russian State Institute of Intellectual Property in 2002 with a Bachelors of Law qualification. She had worked for several firms before entering the Pericles LL.M. program, including "Pauls" and "White & Case". Currently, she is the head of the international legal department with the law firm "Patentniy Poverenny (Patent Attorney) here in Moscow . Tatiana has the distinction of graduating as "valedictorian," in other words with the highest grades in her group. As a patent lawyer, she was particularly able to make use of her Intellectual Property course at Pericles. She also enjoyed the summer courses that she took in Paris and Barcelona. As Tatiana herself says, "Even now, working in a Russian company, I find that my knowledge of the U.S. legal system is very useful to me, especially when I draft agreements for my foreign clients or provide legal advice to Russian companies who do or plan to do business in the United States."

Masha Whyte graduated from the Moscow Institute of Economics, Management and Law in 2002 and also holds a degree in linguistics from the Moscow State Institute of Foreign Languages (1982). Her professional career includes management positions in the area of finance at such firms as Terasco, Inc. ( Houston , TX ) and OAO "DMIRP" in Moscow . She is currently a partner with "Greatex" law firm, a small oil and gas specialty firm which is in the process of opening a branch office in Houston .

Konstantin Lazinin, a native of Pyatigorsk, graduated from the Pyatigorsk branch of the Moscow State Social University Law School in 2000. In addition to a degree in law, he holds a degree in German and English linguistics which he received from the Pyatigorsk State Linguistics University in 1998. Konstantin's favorite courses during his LL.M. education were Legal Writing I & II, Professional Responsibility, Business Organization Law and Civil Procedure. After meeting Masha Whyte of the "Greatex" law firm in his class, Konstantin was also invited to join that firm, which shows how the LL.M. program not only gives students a solid education base but offers a broad range of possibilities for networking and finding jobs in the competitive Moscow legal market!

Polina Tyapougina graduated with honors from the Saratov State Academy of Law in 2002. Before entering the LL.M. program at Pericles, Polina worked for the "Saratov Legal Reform Project" and the "Lema" law firm, both in Saratov , as well as completing a student internship at the European Council Information Center . In 2002, Polina also had the distinction of winning second prize at the prestigious Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition. Immediately after joining the LL.M. program, Polina took a job with "Ernst & Young" in Moscow , and now she is an associate with Piper Rudnick. Polina also took advantage of the agreement that Pericles has with the University of San Diego study abroad program, to take courses in London that she credited towards her LL.M. degree.

Irina Kalinina was born in Moscow oblast'in 1967, graduated from the Lomonosov University Law School (MGU) in 1991 and has been a practicing lawyer for more than ten years. After graduation, Irina worked for several firms, including Sovfracht, Samsung Electronics and Agropromexport. She currently working for "Russkiy Aluminii" (Rusal) as a legal advisor.

Irina believes that the Pericles LL.M. program helped her to contribute more to the company that she is now working for by expanding her outlook on the implications and applications of many issues in Western law. She particularly notes that the courses on Mergers and Acquisitions and Business Organization law proved very helpful in her work.

We heartily congratulate our first LL.M. graduates and wish them the best of success in their future endeavors. We also wish to thank the teachers who gave of their time to help make the Pericles LL.M. project a success. BRAVO and keep up the good work!!