• The VI St. Petersburg International Legal Forum took place on May 18-21, 2016.
• This year it was attended by 3750 people from 77 countries.
• 71 official foreign delegations attended the Forum, eight Ministers of Justice and twelve Deputy Ministers became honored guests of the Forum. The events of the Forum were attended by the representatives of international organizations, including the heads of such long established international institutions as World Intellectual Property Organization, Venice Commission of Council of Europe, Hague Conference on International Private Law, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), International Institute for the Unification of Private Law and Supreme Courts: 34 delegations, 23 of which were represented by Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen.
• Over 500 participants made speeches within the framework of a business program of the Forum. 40% of them are foreigners, 60% of them are Russian participants. Among the visitors there were renowned academics and experts in different branches of law.
• The business program of the Forum included more than 70 events, including conferences, presentations, lectures, as well discussion sessions, divided into seven thematic blocks: private law, industry, trade, and competition protection, court and arbitration practice, smart society, investments and finances, international law, safety and the rule of law, legal profession.

The General Partner of the VI SPBILF was Gazprombank.

LF Academy is an innovative education project that combines the widest range of available tools of online education with unique content, such as lectures given by the leading experts of the global legal community. Over 100 video lectures and master classes available 24/7 is a perfect way to improve the skillsets both of ambitious professionals who value their time and constantly climb up the career ladder and for legal departments, law firms and attorneys at law, for whom virtual lectures represent the best capacity-building method for a large number of employees.

The project builds on the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum, which is the venue where the best lawyers from more than 80 countries get together every year to share their ideas and expertise. In the six years since the inception of the SPBILF, its hosts have forged precious ties with a broad-based circle of some of the best specialists in jurisprudence, whose knowledge and experience are invaluable. Meanwhile, continued collaboration requires broader vistas for the advancement of law and its best practice on a constant basis, not just during the days of the Forum.

Thus the public online resource, LF Academy, came into existence. In time it will accommodate a collection of videos with lectures, presentations and roundtables, devoted to diverse legal issues at hand. The project will encompass a broad gamut of topics, featuring overviews and analyses of Russian and international legislation, international legal regulation, lectures on professional ethics, standards of legal assistance, the challenges of managing a corporate legal department or a legal consultancy, the practice of law, notarial practice, and much more! Content for the website will come not only from SPBILF participants, but also from all the leading Russian and international legal experts, law firms and law schools.

We hope that LF Academy will be a truly international project, appreciated by foreign lawyers, particularly those providing counsel for investors in Russia or the EEC, as well as Russian professional legal services providers.

Initially, all content on LF Academy will be available to users free of charge. Going forward, the project will develop pay-tutorials and educational programmes, some of them offered by foreign universities, and a variety of services for the legal and business community.

LF Academy is open to cooperation with anyone who, being a true professional, is committed to promoting the advancement of jurisprudence and its best practice.

The project has been approved by the Justice Ministry of the Russian Federation.

More than 26 lectures in 5 languages were recorded in LF Academy open studio at the Palace Square during the VI St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.

www.lfacademy.ru/?lang=en_US