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Maria Slobodchikova

Maria Slobodchikova

Student of the Month for April 2009

TOEFL 107

Admitted to the University of Lausanne, Switzerland

Maria Slobodchikova personifies Pericles's spirit of excellence. Maria has achieved what others can only dream about: graduation from a top university, and an interesting and successful career in the upper echelons of international law. Despite this, or maybe because of it, Maria has decided to push herself even harder, and we at Pericles are proud that we helped her to reach her present goal. Maria scored a 107 on TOEFL, on the way to being admitted to an International Commercial Law LL.M. at the University of Lausanne.

To those who know Maria, her success is no surprise. In 2004 she graduated with honours from the State University, Higher School of Economics in Moscow. Not content with simply studying law, Maria's diploma had an interdisciplinary approach and include a substantial amount of ecomonimcs courses in her curriculum. While many people leave university unsure of where their future lies, Maria chose her education based on her career plans.

Maria has put her education to good use. She currently works as an Associate in the Litigation and Arbitration group at DLA Piper Rus, advising clients on litigation, international arbitration and commercial issues. She isn't simply an advisor, either, but has taken an active part in litigating cases. She's taken part in litigation in the Russian Constitutional Court on behalf of one of her firm's major clients, a major gas supplier, as well as in Russian administrative hearings for another major international firm, a multinational tobacco manufacturer.

Most people would be happy to settle with this level of success, but not Maria. She has made time to increase her professional skills whenever possible. Maria has been a student in Pericles's Legal Writing courses, and last year took part in Univeristy of San Diego's summer program, winning a place and taking law courses in Florence, Italy. Now Maria, to make herself even more valuable to her firm and her clients, has chosen to devote a year to studying International Commercial Law in Switzerland. We at Pericles can only repeat our respect for her, wish her the best, and thank her for giving us the chance to help her on her way.