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Leading Ukraine’s Law Firms to Cooperate with Ukraine 3000 Fund and Children’s Hospital of the Future Fund on Pro Bono Basis

December 19, 2007, UNIAN Press Agency hosted a press conference dedicated to the start of cooperation between the Ukraine 3000 Fund and Children’s Hospital of the Future Fund. On the one part, and Magister & Partners Law Firm, Hryshchenko & Partners Law and Patent Firm, and Hvozdiy & Oberkovych Attorneys Firm, on the other part. The participants of the event were Head of the Ukraine 3000 Fund’s Board of Directors Oleksandr Maksymchuk, Hryshchenko & Partners Law and Patent Firm Director Dmytro Hryshchenko, Hvozdiy & Oberkovych Attorneys Firm partner Serhiy Oberkovych, and partners in the Magister & Partners Law Firm Andrew Mac and Oleksiy Reznikov.

The participants of the event officially announced the start of their cooperation and outlined major ways of their future cooperation. Leading Ukraine’s legal companies (Magister & Partners Law Firm, Hryshchenko & Partners Law and Patent Firm, and Hvozdiy & Oberkovych Attorneys Firm) view their contribution into reviving the philanthropy tradition in Ukraine as active support to the Ukraine 3000 Fund and Children’s Hospital of the Future Fund. They agreed to provide legal support to the said Funds on a pro bono basis, a generally accepted way of cooperation between charitable foundations and law firms.

The attorneys said that their companies had eagerly responded to the offer of cooperation with the Ukraine 3000 Fund and Children’s Hospital of the Future Fund, while the charitable basis on which this work would be carried out was characteristic to their firms. US-born and raised Mr. Mac said that for the US spending 5-10% of time on pro bono work was a generally adopted practice, while his Magister & Partners was trying to introduce this practice in their work. Mr. Oberkovych said that their firm had been placing high emphasis on the charitable work since its foundation, adding that Hvozdiy & Oberkovych was experienced in working with various objects, in part, construction-related, and would be glad to help in creating the All-Ukrainian Center for Mothers’ and Children’s Health Protection, a.k.a. Children’s Hospital of the Future.

Mr. Reznikov said that in the last years the number of successful cases of cooperation between charitable foundations and law firms had been growing steadily. In his words, the lawyer’s call is not only defend but also protect. He recalled that in Western Ukraine and Poland lawyers had often been called “Mr. Patron,” i.e., defender and protector. Thus, in Mr. Reznikov’s view, philanthropy should become an integral part of the law business.

The participants of the press conference also broached upon the issue of the legal base for philanthropy. Mr. Reznikov said that at present the legal framework, in part, in taxation, could hardly encourage Ukrainian companies and private persons to be involved into charity. In his words, one of the aspects of the law firms’ cooperation with the Ukraine 3000 Fund and Children’s Hospital of the Future Fund would be analyzing the existing regulatory framework and making proposals regarding the philanthropy issues, in part, tax privileges for the philanthropists. Mr. Reznikov said that one of the ways of such regulation would be drafting respective bills to be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada. Mr. Oberkovych, in his turn, said that Hvozdiy & Oberkovych was working abroad a lot, and suggested to share their European experience connected with the philanthropy-related legislation.

Besides, the participants in the event offered everybody their greetings on St. Nicholas’s Day and the Day of the Lawyer.

The cooperation with leading law firms, having at their disposal the highest intellectual potential and great experience, will allow to increase the effectiveness of the Ukraine 3000 Fund and Children’s Hospital of the Future Fund and prepare proposals for the legislators on amending the Ukrainian regulatory framework/