Hi, I'm a new in Forum and I thank you all who orginize and work on this forum. You're great!!!
Please review my Statement of Purpose and Study Plan essay, they're necessary part of my application for Master of Law programm in US, so I kindly ask you to criticize and comment it.
Need your recomendations and advice. Thanks.
Prompt: This statement of purpose should be a narrative statement describing how you have achieved your current goals. It should not be a mere listing of facts. It should include information about your education, practical experience, special interests, and career plans. Describe any significant factors that have influenced your educational or professional development.
Statement of Purpose.
I am sure intensive application of developed and leading legal technology and wide access to knowledge is the basis to a long-expected conversion in socioeconomic conditions in developing countries such as Azerbaijan.
There are two principal reasons for my commitment to a legal career. The first is a strong sense of duty towards my country. Having grown up privileged, in a poor country, I have always felt obliged to give back in some way, and the law is a career that offers many opportunities for public service. Secondly, I have a deep intellectual interest in politics and government, and am strongly inclined towards rigorous thinking. This makes law intellectually very appealing. Four years at the Law School of Public Administration Academy have strengthened my conviction that a career in the law can satisfy both these desires.
My interest in law also emanates from the extremely significant role that the discipline plays in the lives of the individuals in civil society. The study of law to me denotes a mental defiance that demands keen analytical deftness and merit of precision in expressing oneself. It has helped me develop an inclination to question with reason and not accept things for what they are. I have had various phases in my life and I have learnt from every step I have ever taken. Life has been a great leveller and the best teacher.
My father's poor health led me to work in order to pay education fees by myself but this unfortunately affected my attendance and grades. Since the education system was still of old Soviet type and reforms had just started, it was very difficult to combine hard work with attendance and study process.
However, despite not being among those who had gotten the best graduation scores, I forgave myself my weak start but did not allow myself to use this weakness as justification for likewise weak continuation.
By unrelenting efforts, I added new dimension to my personality and obtained a place among those few ones who could start their legal career and got some achievement at young age. Having secured an undergraduate degree in law, I now have the opportunity to see how things actually work in a professional environment. I have developed the conviction that with further education and training I have the potential to attain whatever goals I establish for myself.
After graduation, I joined a holding company as a junior lawyer. Working in this company I found myself introduced to a new world of law, I have worked in a variety of cases including those relating to contracts and corporate law and working on these cases made me realize that law that I learnt before was not enough.
I developed an interest in acquiring the advanced knowledge in corporate law and understanding of the laws governing business and trade, after getting an insight into the technicalities of corporate and commercial law while practicing at Law firm. As an associate here, I advised several domestic and international clients on cross border taxation issues, commercial transaction, private equity assignments, joint venture projects, foreign direct investments etc.
During my tenure with the law firm, I have encountered challenges that motivated me to seek a master degree. I was involved as legal counsel into the processes of drawing up and share purchase, three well-know foreign companies were stakeholders. I was engaged to evaluate the possible risks and conflicts of laws, which may appear while considering the requirements of corporate laws of three different countries. Later to speed up the process, it was hired two US educated consultants to assist me in the assignment. Their approach reviewing both the strategic and operational aspects of project was an eye-opener for me. Their western-type knowledge of international commercial issues and corporate law, and also implementation of some US corporate standards let us to provide qualitative report to the clients. While working jointly I provided a comparative risk report and drew upon the information that I could gather from a fruitful cooperation with other companies. As I witnessed the progress made by these consultants, I realized, in order to achieve my long-term professional goals, I needed to return to school to expand my understanding of corporate and commercial law.
My urge toward winning Master degree in Law in the United States has been supported also by my current employer. Because of my prominent performance, I was involved to attend an intensive online course in International Mergers and Acquisition, International Arbitration Law and International Capital Markets and Bond. Latter the management had appreciated my skills and knowledge obtained from these courses, when I was engaged to participate as corporate legal counsel in a large-scale takeover project; where our company acquired the leading local bank, it was the first such project in the region. Working on this project, I have employed experience obtained during cooperation with consultants in my previous workplace and utilized knowledge gained from above mentioned courses.
The experience gained by the nature of work done by me has made me aware of cognizable disparities between the Azerbaijan laws in comparison to the global standards, especially in area such as corporate taxation, transfer pricing issues, mergers and acquisitions. In spite of rapid development during last few decades and high growth perspectives, Azerbaijan economy is lagging far behind the international standards. Therefore, I would like to study courses pertaining to corporate, securities law, and commercial law. I wish to learn the way in which these laws have emerged in developed states and have contributed effectively to the economic growth. To promote Azerbaijan's perfection of its legal framework, it is necessary to learn advanced knowledge of law from western countries and to assimilate useful experience from those legal systems.
I believe that multi-disciplinary approach of a lawyer can develop the human resource and idealism needed to improve the legal framework and can assist national growth and social change in a very constructive manner. A Master degree in Law from US University will widen my perspective by showing how similar issues are handling in the United States. It will equip me with the practical and theoretical knowledge to assist toward the development of legal standards and policies in Azerbaijan. The dynamic nature of the works done by US Universities and their emphasis on both intellectual and practical aspects of study are commensurate with my own goals.
If I'm accepted to Master of Law program at US University, I intend to keep pursuing the goals of bridging the legal policies of our countries and promoting a greater access to information, knowledge and culture in Azerbaijan through the investigation of how social innovation emerging from global peripheries can provide alternatives to reform corporate and commercial law and rethink business related policies. I cannot imagine a better place to study the proposed issues than the United States. Not only have the Universities been an inspiration to begin my study and research on these issues, but also their leading research centers in the world will allow me to engage with varied range of scholars that know so much about my area of interest. Education in the US will assist me to contribute to legal education, science and practice, all of which are essential to the democratic progress of my country. I hope that my sincerity and enthusiasm for graduate study in the US and my educational and professional backgrounds inspire similar optimism in my readers. I believe that my interests and experience align perfectly with the needs of my country.
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Prompt: Write a clear detailed description of your study objectives and give reasons for wanting to purse them. Be specific about your major field and your specialized interests within this field. Describe the kind of program you expect to undertake and explain how your study plan fits in with your previous training and your future objectives.
Study plan.
While I believe that I have acquired some exposure in professional areas, I wish to acquire further skills and ability to add value to my pursuit of legal proficiency and excellence. A Master's degree in the United States would provide me with the technical skills and professional influence to be more effective in advocating for progressive business environment. It would give me the 'macro perspective' I wish to attain, and would enable me to understand and assimilate universal commercial legal concepts.
The fact that Universities in US, allow its students to formulate their own course content, within a broadly coherent pattern is what makes their Graduate Program well suited for me. My area of focus is limited to a particular genre of issues, I'm going to have a strong focus on areas such as Corporate Governance, Corporate Finance, Securities Law, Mergers and Takeovers and International Business transactions. The courses at University in the United States would help me to enhance my knowledge of legal concepts in these areas and help serve the twin objectives I have envisaged for myself - As an Advocate for progressive business environment and as a proficient Academician.
During my work, I came to discover that the development of Azerbaijan's future market faces serious legal restrictions. It is an obvious fact that there exist many outmoded laws and regulation that are absolutely out of tune with the growth of Azerbaijan's future market. With the increasing integration of Azerbaijan and the rest of the world, there are simply too many provisions in Azerbaijan modern business law that hinder the formation and development of futures market of Azerbaijan. My desire to participate in the process of drafting and proposing changes to the legal framework of my country is another direct factor that has also promted me to this application.
To promote Azerbaijan's perfection of its legal system, it's imperative to learn advanced legal knowledge from developed countries and to assimilate useful experience from western legal system. US is reputed for its time-honored legal system and for its unparalleled research in law with a wealth of in-depth literature and data collecton. It's inevitably the best place where I can seek an advanced education in law.
I wish to receive an advanced education while focusing on the legal regulation of the financial market and corporate governance which is closely connected with my career background. It's my expectation to comprehensively and perceptively study the legal spirit and system, so that I may be fully equipped to contribute my knowledge in law to the improvement of Azerbaijan's legal framework.
At the University, I will focus in greater depth on contemporary issues that manifest commercial implications, such as Corporate Law, and would participate in seminars, which highlight the role of law as a tool for advocating progressive business policy. However, I would not like to ignore the larger gamut of issues confronting legal research and study throughout the world. My canvass is much larger, in that I wish to effect a change in current commercial policies that tend to thwart one's access to business. Thus, I will be looking at designing with the assistance of the Faculty, a study program that gives me an opportunity to focus on my interests, constantly re-appraising them as the program progresses.
I want to further delve into issues of corporate and commercial laws from a global perspective to be better able to apprehend them in the Azerbaijani context. Part of my fascination toward commercial law springs from its responsiveness to the changing needs of the business community. I also want to link my study of corporate and commercial laws with international dispute resolution, particularly international commercial arbitration. Intermingling the two subjects would help me straddle many playing fields especially in the context of growing concern over the slow moving cumbersome judicial process in the country and the need for resorting to the aletrnative dispute resolution mechanisms.
Since I also enjoy legal writing, in the long run, I want to combine a career in research and writing - academic as well as literary. I'm convinced that a Master's degree in the United Stated would bring me closer to achieving my objectives and will urge me to go further toward earning a PhD degree.
A master degree in Law would give me the opportunity to do intensive research in my area of interest. It would also give me an insight into legal thinking and practice in the Unites States and internationally. Given my interest in the business policy-related aspects of law, an interantional perspective would be particularly useful. In today's globalizing world, I believe this would help me to be a better lawyer in Azerbaijan. believe that the experience will be equally valuable for my country. After becoming an expert in corporate law, I will be prepared to contribute to legal education, science, and practice, all of which are essential to the democratic progress and economic prosperity of my country.
I've developed a passion for a legal career that exceeds anything I expected, as well as the conviction that - with further education and training - I have the potential to attain whatever goals I've established for myself and I believe that Azerbaijan will benefit immensely from my work as a teacher, scholar and professional lawyer in the crucial area of business law.
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Thanks
EminK
I am sure intensive application of developed and leading legal technology and wide access to knowledge is the basis to a long-expected conversion in socioeconomic conditions in developing countries such as Azerbaijan.
Besides being wordy, this does not belong at the beginning of the essay. Start with your own narrative and
conclude with your purpose. State your purpose more directly than this.
In your first essay, the narrative is strong. You do tend toward wordy and passive constructions, but this is not uncommon in law, so probably your readers will be used to it. However, I would advise you to get rid of empty platitudes such as "Life has been a great leveller and the best teacher."
Your second essay, the study plan, needs to be much more concise. Also, that essay should be prefaced by a one-sentence summary of the plan, which you will then elaborate in the remainder of the essay.
