Registration Open for the 9th CIS Local Counsel Forum to be Held on 27-29
June 2014 in Vienna
We are pleased to announce the opening of registration at www.rulg.com/cisforum for the 9th CIS Forum to be held on 27-29 June 2014 in Vienna. Vienna was on our agenda for many years, and we are pleased that this year it provides a venue most acceptable to all Forum delegates that will ensure a neutral, un-politicized, welcoming, and equal environment for all members of our community.
The Forum is the main platform in the CIS economic region for the annual wide-scale gathering of leading business lawyers. Over the years, it has evolved into an informal network of managing and senior partners of national law firms from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, bringing them together with partners from international law firms from around the world.
Our professional community stayed together in the good times and bad, so at present, because of the extreme geopolitical crisis focused on Ukraine, it is more important than ever to support each other and preserve our professional cooperation and personal friendship!
Together with the Vienna Host Committee (Dorda Brugger Jordis; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Graf & Pitkowitz; Lansky, Ganzger + partner) and IBA, we have prepared for you a spectacular work and social Program, focusing on what symbolizes our Host Country, Austria - the harmony between traditional and modern.
In the work Program, this symbolism will be reflected in the main topics of the Forum: traditional (DISPUTE RESOLUTION) and modern (INNOVATION & SUSTAINABILITY). It will be also reflected in our Forum venue, the Ritz-Carlton hotel, which was converted from old palaces, preserving the architectural tradition in combination with chic modern style. The same can be said about Bristol, our second hotel, where the Welcome Reception will be held, with its original Art Deco decoration and modern amenities. Our traditional Interactive Audience Panel (jointly with IBA Leadership) is devoted to the most urgent and important topic for the entire legal industry – “Global Business Moves On: How Do We Catch Up?”
This year, our delegates will enjoy a big bonus: we will be able to broaden our horizons and business opportunities through cooperation with the Balkan Legal Forum, held in Vienna right before us on 26-27 of June, and with which we will hold a joint Gala Dinner on 27 June. For those of you who, in addition to the joint Gala Dinner included in the CIS Forum registration package, would like to attend the work Program of Balkan Legal Forum, please register at www.balkanlegalforum.org Please note that the registration for Balkan Legal Forum is carried out on a first-come firstserve basis and space is limited.
Our social Program, in addition to the Gala Dinner on 27 June and Folk Dinner on 28 June, which are included in the CIS Forum registration package, offers on 29 June an optional splendid tour of Burgenland, a beautiful wine region (we will visit Esterházy Winery), with castles (we will tour of Esterházy Palace) and lakes (we will have dinner at the banks of Lake Neusiedel).
The Forum Program is posted at www.rulg.com/cisforum/forum_program.asp. The Forum is conducted in English and Russian with simultaneous translations. We have secured excellent deals with best Vienna hotels for you: The Ritz-Carlton, which is the Forum venue, and Bristol, which is the venue for the Welcome Reception. Both hotels are centrally located and are 5 minutes walk from each other. The special hotel reservation forms for our Delegates are at www.rulg.com/cisforum/index2.asp. Please make your room reservations as soon as possible - the rooms will be provided on a first-come first-serve basis.
If you need a visa to travel to Austria, a member of the Vienna Host Committee, Lansky, Ganzger + partner, kindly agreed to assit with visa suport. All relvant information is at the registration page, and only registered delgates will be provided with visa support.
In 2012, we started a philanthropic initiative of the Forum, supporting one of the leading ocean conservation organizations, the Sylvia Earle Alliance (SEA) / Mission Blue: http://mission-blue.org, which was followed in 2013 with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine in Kiev and the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra. The latter gave us an unforgettable private concert in Odessa.
In 2014 our social initiative is supporting orphanages in Eastern Ukraine. 100% of your contributions will go directly to them. As always, delegates who will support this cause will be honored at the Forum’s Social Initiatives Hall of Fame: www.rulg.com/cisforum/hall_of_fame.asp.
The information on the 9th Forum will be posted at http://www.rulg.com/cisforum/ as the preparations progress.
We look forward to seeing you in Vienna!
Co-Chair of the CIS Local Counsel Forum:
Irina Paliashvili, RULG-Ukrainian Legal Group, P.A.
