PRAGUE – 20 May 2010. The Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA) in conjunction with Kinstellar (Prague) with the financial support of Konnov & Sozanovsky (Kiev) and First Law International held an international round table “Employment Conditions for Advocates: How It Works in Practice?”.

Among the participants there were representatives of the legal business of Ukraine and Czech Republic. The Ukrainian Bar Association management was represented by the UBA President Sergei Konnov and the UBA Board member Alexei Ivanov.

During the round table participants discussed various aspects of employment conditions for advocates in Czech Republic, namely: general regulations of employing advocate by a law firm, how to guarantee the rights and independence of an employed advocate and what makes an employed advocate different from an “ordinary employee” in a law firm setting.

Kamil Blažek (Kinstellar, Prague) explained that notwithstanding the fact that Czech lawyers have the possibility to work on the basis of a labor contact, they remain reluctant to use it, in particular due to taxation issues. In addiction to that Jan Kohout (PRK Partners, Prague) added that lawyers choose private practice because they prefer to stay independent from anybody. 

”The experience of Czech Republic proves that organizational forms of advocacy should be established with the due regard to taxation issues, this being of high importance in the process of the Bar reform in Ukraine” – Sergei Konnov quoted as saying.

The Ukrainian Bar Association expresses its sincere appreciation to the partners of the international round table: Kinstellar (Prague), Konnov & Sozanovsky (Kiev) and First Law International network.