Meeting of the Committee on Civil and Family Law of the Bar Council of Odesa region and awarding of the winners of IV Scholarship competition

On May 24, 2018 at a meeting of the Committee on Civil and Family Law of the Bar Council of Odesa region, judges and lawyers discussed issues of proof and recovery of court costs, including costs for legal aid.  

The discussion was attended by: Vladimir Zubar, chairman of the Committee on Civil and Family Law, managing partner of “Jurline”, Yegor Krasnov, judge of the Cassation Commercial Court of Supreme Court, L. Lichman, chairman of the Malinovsky District Court of Odesa, V. Granin, Deputy Chairman of the Malinovsky District Court of Odesa, M. Sidorenko, retired judge, A. Drishluk, Deputy Chairman of the Appeal Court of the Odesa Region, I. Zavalniuk, a judge-speaker of the Odesa Regional Administrative Court, as well as practicing lawyers.

It was noted that the costs of legal aid are legal costs and cannot be considered as losses, in addition, a prerequisite for reimbursement is that such expenses must be actually paid. In order to reimburse the costs of legal aid lawyers need to record the hours spent, since, according to the provisions of the new procedural codes, the cost of legal aid must be commensurate with the time spent.

According to Yegor Krasnov, a judge of the Supreme Court, during the period of the new procedural codes, only a few judgments of the Supreme Court on legal costs were adopted. In one of the judgments, the Supreme Court takes the position that the obligation to prove disproportionate costs is assigned to a party who believes that legal costs are overstated. In another ruling, the Supreme Court refused to reimburse legal costs, since the party did not file such claims in the first and appellate courts and the courts of previous instances did not consider them. He also drew attention to the fact that the practice of the ECHR proceeds from the fact that the approach to assessing the amount of fees can not be the same. When determining the amount of legal expenses that are to be recovered, one should proceed from reality, reasonableness, reasonableness, and financial condition of the party.

Also, within the framework of the event, the winners of the IV Scholarship competition of the Law Firm “Jurline” were solemnly awarded.

According to the decision of the Scholarship Committee, the winner of the competition is Anatoly Opanasenko, a master’s student of social and legal faculty of the National University “Odesa Law Academy”. The second place was taken by the graduate of the master’s programme of the faculty of civil and economic justice of the National University “Odesa Law Academy” Vadim Starosud. Third place went also to the graduate of the master’s programme of the faculty of civil and economic justice of the National University “Odesa Law Academy” Vladislav Lagosinsky.

All prize-winners of the competition will receive a half-year scholarship in the amount of 12,000 UAH, 9,000 UAH and 6,000 UAH respectively, and will also be given an opportunity to pass an internship at the Law Firm “Jurline”. Managing partner of the law firm “Jurline” Vladimir Zubar congratulated the winners and awarded them with diplomas and memorable prizes.

Jurline thanks all participants of the IV Scholarship Competition for participation and wishes professional success.