Legal Clinics of Ukraine participated in the 2020 Client Consultation Competition in Poland. The winner of the competition became the Legal Clinic of the Ukrainian Catholic University Law School. 

On January 16 -17, Krakow hosted the semifinal and final rounds of the 2020 Central European Client Consultation Competition (CECCC). The topic of this year’s competition is: “Damage to Property (Civil Law). This includes nuisance, negligence and trespass but excludes Landlord and Tenant Law”. 

Klemens Budzowski, rector of the Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University (where the CECCC took place), opened the Central European Client Consultation Competition. Professor Delaine Swenson of John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin held an online workshop on effective work with client. Mr. Swenson was also the author of the three profound Competition cases that the participants worked with in friendly, semifinal and final rounds.

“Client interviewing skills are one of the most important skills that lawyers need. And this competition helps develop and build skills. In addition, Polish-Ukrainian cooperation is beneficial for students and countries”, – Professor Delaine Swenson has commented.

The Consultation Competition is a competition among legal clinics in the world that models the process of interviewing a client in a law office with the participation of two student advisers (legal clinic participants) who act as lawyers (solicitors, attorneys, barristers) and a client whose role is fulfilled by guest actor. Participants were evaluated by judges. There were experienced lawyers and human rights defenders among them.

In overall, 7 teams took part in the Competition, including 4 Ukrainian teams and 3 teams from Poland. So, among the Ukrainian teams there were:

• Legal Clinic of the Ukrainian Catholic University Law School 
• Legal clinic “Pro bono” of the National University “Ostroh Academy” 
• Experimental Training Laboratory “Legal Clinic” of the National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”
• Laboratory of Practical Law “Legal Clinic” of the Law Faculty of Lviv Ivan Franko National University

After intense competition, the winners of the CECCC were the Legal Clinic of the Ukrainian Catholic University School of Law (from Ukraine) and the team of the Law Clinic of the A.Frycz Krakow Academy (from Poland). The winners will represent their countries at the Brown-Mosten International Client Consulting Competition which will be held in the United States of America, during April 15-18, 2020.

“We got plenty of positive experiences and emotions. Not only from the victory, but also due to the format of the competition and the high level of organization. It was very interesting to listen how the students solve such complex, interesting and extraordinary tasks. Students and their skills required at this stage of the competition were in line with the criteria established at the international level, and having experience in participating in international competitions, I would like to say that the level of teams’ performance was high. It is a good stimuli to carry on the tradition of holding such a unique contest, which has no analogues.”- emphasizes team coach of the Legal Clinic of the Ukrainian Catholic University School of Law Khrystyna Kovtsun.

The Client Consultation Competition demonstrates its practical value, as it helps participants – future professional lawyers – to improve their skills in practicing law; develop analytical and communication skills in working with the client.

“It is very difficult to organize an event of this format and scale remotely. Therefore, I am endlessly grateful to Pawel Klimek, whose inspired the idea of such joint Competition and strongly contributed to it. Also – to Prof. Delaine Swenson for meaningful, interesting and complex legal situations through which the participants were able to fully demonstrate their needed skills along each of the 11 assessment criteria. I am also very grateful to Oleh Martynenko and Olga Halchenko for providing presents for participants as well as for judging at different stages of the competition, and – to each and every one who made it succeed. Now we have to move on – to the United States of America.” – comments CECCC co-organizer, Mariia Tsypiashchuk, Coordinator of the National Client Consultation Competition of Legal Clinics of Ukraine.

To remind – in December 2019, the Association of Legal Clinics of Ukraine held quarterfinal rounds of the 2020 National Client Consultation Competition.