For the month of June we would like to honor our 2006 LL.M. graduating class, who celebrated graduation on June 24.

This outstanding group of students worked for two plus years to complete 36 units of classes in topics such as Contract Law, Business Organizations, Contract Drafting, Securities Regulation, Property Law and others. They deserve all our respect for their successful efforts.

The students are, left to right,

Anton Maltsev came to us two years ago from a trade law practice in Khabarovsk , and now is a junior lawyer at Baker & McKenzie. He thrives on challenges, deciding in one year to get married, give up his job, move to Moscow , and take both an LL.M. degree at Pericles and a Candidate Degree at the Institute of Private Law at the same time. Anton is the valedictorian of the class of 2006, graduating with the highest grades of all the students in the class.

Svetlana Kim also went through some major life changes while studying at Pericles, although her changes were more of a personal nature. Within her period of study she also got married and had a baby. Quite an effort Sveta! When Svetlana took a year off to take care of her baby we really despaired whether she would come back and finish, as it is so hard to return to studying after taking a break. But it is a credit to Svetlana's persistence that she struggled through and finished the program while both working and taking care of her new child. Svetlana works as a lawyer for Universal Music.

Elizabeth Wallace graduates with a red honors diploma for being in the top 20% of students in the LL.M. program. Elizabeth took the most advantage of her LL.M., studying for a summer in our exchange program with the University of San Diego Institute of International Law in Paris . (Summer in Paris , hmmm, and we gave her law school credits for that?!?!) Elizabeth is also known among the class for her excellent writing skills, having earned the top grades in both Legal Writing I and Legal Writing II courses. She heads the legal department for Zirat Bank in Moscow .

Tatiana Makavchik is a lawyer with Systema Hals. Tatiana originally told us that she wanted to study at Pericles to improve her English. We thought that the LL.M. was perhaps a bit of overkill for that modest goal, but Tanya proclaimed continuing enjoyment at not only studying in English and improving her language skills but also developing analytical thinking skills and learning to cope with what she admits was a very large amount of completely new information in English. Given her successful study results, we think Tatiana achieved her goals.

Maria Kosova, another red diploma earner, is one of the few students who came into our LL.M. program directly from law school, without any previous work experience. Although it must have been tough being in classes with people who had a lot more experience, she studied hard to get the top grades in several of her courses. It really paid off for her, as during her first year of the LL.M. program she was noticed by Professor Chris Moore for her outstanding performance in his Contract Law course, and was hired to work for his law firm. Thus, Maria is currently an associate at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliff.

Nikita Vats , last but not least, is one of our most unusual LL.M. students because he did not have a Russian law degree to start with. He works in marketing, and took the LL.M. program for personal interest. Nikita is one of the most popular participants of the program and was chosen by his fellow students to make a graduation speech on their behalf. He also made the most of study abroad opportunities, spending his summers studying with the University of San Diego programs in Florence and Oxford .

Congratulations to all our 2006 LL.M. graduates on the end of sleepless nights and last minute cramming for exams, the end of spending evenings in class instead of with family, but hopefully not the end of shared experiences and warm and long-term friendships among you all. Most of all, congratulations on a job well done!