The annual Lawyer of the Year awards ceremony was held in Moscow on 3 December 2016. These prestigious legal awards were established by presidential decree in 2009. The winner in the Advocacy category was Boris Puginsky, Doctor of Laws, Honoured Lawyer of the Russian Federation, and Professor of Commercial Law and Legal Method at the Lomonosov Moscow State University Faculty of Law.

Regarded as a veteran of Russian jurisprudence, Boris Puginsky has been involved in drafting a wide range of federal laws as a member of working groups attached to various State Duma committees. He has sat on expert and research advisory boards providing consultation services to the Russian Government, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Supreme Commercial Court, and the Ministry of Justice. He is a judge on the bench of the Court of Arbitration for Resolution of Economic Disputes at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation. Since 1967, he has been a state arbitrator, Head of the State Arbitration Department of the RSFSR, Deputy Chief State Arbitrator of the RSFSR, and acting Chairman of the Supreme Commercial Court of the Russian Federation. He formulated the principal methods for ensuring law enforcement practice, a centralised state arbitration system, and a system for consolidating arbitration practice.

Focusing in particular on methodology, Boris Puginsky was the first to take a systematic approach to the study of law. He is the author of 130 academic books and publications. His specialist area has been researching the role of the contract as a key regulator of the market economy. He has been awarded the Medal for Valorous Labour, the Veteran of Labour Medal, and Certificates of Merit from the Federation Council and State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. He is also a past winner of the national Person of the Year award in the Jurisprudence category.

“We would like to offer Boris Puginsky our sincerest congratulations on receiving this well-deserved recognition of his professional contribution to society and the nation. It is a source of pride for us that such a luminary of Russian law is inextricably linked with the Firm’s name and history”, said Dimitry Afanasiev, the member of the Partners' Committee at EPAM.

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The Lawyer of the Year awards are presented each year by the Association of Lawyers of Russia as part of Lawyers’ Day celebrations on 3 December. The awards honour individuals who have made a significant contribution to creating a rule-of-law state, strengthening law and order, defending citizens’ rights and lawful interests, and developing Russian jurisprudence. They recognise achievements in various categories, including Advocacy, Developing Legislation, Raising Legal Awareness, Contribution to Jurisprudence, and Contribution to Legal Awareness and Developing the Youth Movement of the Association of Lawyers of Russia.

The Association of Lawyers of Russia is a major national public organisation founded in 2005 following the merger of the Russian Union of Lawyers and the Union of Lawyers of Russia. Today, the Association connects the professional community with a vast regional and international network.