MOSCOW, December 1 – RAPSI. The “Law and Modernization: Experience, Prospects, Trends” international legal Conference will open in Moscow on Thursday. The two-day event is organized by the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) jointly with RIA Novosti.

Over 200 lawyers are expected to take part in the event. Supreme Court Chairman Vyacheslav Lebedev and Audit Chamber Chairman Sergei Stepashin will open the conference.

On the first day of the event, roundtable discussions will be held on the “Prospects for the development of free legal assistance programs in Russia”, and “Law and the information space: the media and publishing. The internet and electronic justice”.

The conference organizers – including the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program – hope the event will help participants exchange experiences, enhance legal service standards and define legal business development trends in Russia.

The conference's primary objective is to create a forum to launch a dialogue between the many parties affected by the legal sector, such as lawyers, economists, scholars and businessmen. Among the invitees are leading legal experts from the Justice Ministry, international law firms, business associations and legal publications.

The conference will discuss pressing legal issues in the global social, economic and political context. Priority issues of discussion will include legal business development and management, legal practice models, government policy measures to modernize the legal system and the activities of legal market players.