Practicing attorneys receive periodic emails and faxes from an organization which until recently was somewhat mysterious to me: The Center for International Legal Studies which is run by Professor Dennis Campbell from Salzburg, Austria,  The Center has operated for over thirty years on a non-profit basis and sponsors academic exchange programs.  It cooperates with a variety of universities in the West, including notably Suffolk University Law School here in Boston.

CILS matches lawyers with accredited Eastern European faculties, including those in the former Republics of the Soviet Union.  Senior lawyers in all fields are invited to teach for periods of two to six weeks, after taking a week of training at CILS in Salzburg.

So in April of 2010 I found myself sufficiently intrigued to apply to the Center for an appointment.  The task is somewhat daunting; you submit your application, resume, writing samples, and a couple of recommendation letters (I haven’t had to get those since I was graduating law school).  You must undertake to pay your own fare, pay CILS for the training session, and pay your way also at the University to which you are assigned.  There followed an interview process (Professor Campbell comes to the United States, travels around and meets with us “senior” lawyers).

In June I was pleased to be accepted into the program, and was assigned to serve as Visiting Professor during the Spring of 2011 at Belgorod State University in Southwestern Russia.

I will blog shortly about what I have been able to learn about Belgorod, at least preliminarily.  This is a part of Russia with which I have no familiarity, nor did I visit in this area during my one prior trip to the then USSR in the late 1970s.  I had indeed asked not to be posted to the major Eastern cities (which I had previously visited), although I am not sure I was quite prepared to be posted to Belgorod.  More about that later.