Writing Feedback / Motivation Letter for European Master in Law & Economics Programme [2]

Good day, everybody! I am going to apply for a European Master in Law & Economics Programme.
This is a year-long interdisciplinary Master degree combining both Law and Economics subjects.

The requirements for the essay are:

1. The letter of motivation is our most important indicator towards your commitment to and understanding of the study of law & economics.
2. In this letter (maximum two pages), addressed to the review committee, please explain why you are interested in Law & Economics in general and in the EMLE Programme in particular.

I would appreciate your feedback and suggestions:

EMLE - a perfect opportunity for me

To the Review Committee,

"Adil! We are the client here!" This is how a product line manager reacted to my proposal to make up a formula for calculation of liquidated damages in a contract with one of Schlumberger's major suppliers. As a Client Contracts Analyst, I knew a huge per diem amount would not be enforceable under the laws of England and Wales. Product line manager's opinion was that as clients we should not waste our time on estimation of our loss and have to make the supplier agree to whatever figure we claim. I was forced to abandon my investigation into justification of liquidated damages based on real economic impact a delay would have on our company and our client.

This was the first case in practice when I truly realized the interplay between the concepts of Economics and legal risk distribution that triggered my interest towards the study of economic analysis of law. Since then I have read a few works on the subject starting from the famous Some Thoughts on Risk Distributions and the Law of Torts by Guido Calabrese. I found theoretical challenges to risk allocation through legislation or contracts very exciting.

I continued with exploring indemnities as they are widely spread in oil and gas industry contracts. Any conservative Kazakhstani lawyer would say that indemnities contradict the basic principles of full compensation of loss and entrepreneurial risk established in the Civil Code and are unreasonable. However, assessed from an economic perspective this contractual mechanism of risk allocation prevents deadweight loss.

Now, having moved to Legal Department as an Attorney, I realized there are even more legal matters in which economic analysis may help managers make their business decisions. For example, in corporate governance issues, establishing a joint venture or a consortium.

I wish to equip myself with knowledge of microeconomics and economic analysis of law to become a unique lawyer that may evaluate a transaction not only from a purely legal perspective, but also the economic one.

This is the reason I am applying to EMLE Programme. I like its academic curriculum, internationality and the way it is organized.
I have always been interested in Commercial and Trade Law, and after completion of the studies, I plan to become an Associate in one of the renowned international law firms doing business in Kazakhstan.

I would like to follow the Track on Corporations and Regulators because, in my opinion, it will would add crucial value to academic and professional knowledge and skills I already have. The module on Corporate Governance and Finance would allow me to discover financial peculiarities of organizing a corporate governance structure. I am also excited about Advanced Economics of Regulation course as I am more than familiar with Contracts Law and the game theory. Further, I think that among all the courses of the third term, the courses offered by the University of Warsaw are the most relevant for the Kazakhstani legal reality. There are many international companies doing business in Kazakhstan either directly or through joint ventures that face many challenges to their activities. Moreover, Kazakhstan has recently inaugurated the Astana International Financial Center - a Regional Financial Hub that would operate based on principles of Laws of England and Wales. These facts lead to high demand in lawyers that are familiar with knowledge and best practices in dealing with matters of corporate governance and regulation of Financial Markets. As noted earlier, I aspire to become one of them.

At Schlumberger, I realized the benefits that diversity brings in to a workplace, and would like to connect with peers from over the world during my studies.

The fact the programme offers an opportunity to pass each term in a different country is very appealing to me. I would like to improve my German and go on learning Polish.

To sum up, I would like to stress that having come up with application of economic concepts into law during my work experience I find EMLE a perfect opportunity for me to explore economic analysis of law. I do believe that this programme will allow me to achieve my career goals and distinguish me from a myriad of lawyers who obtained a traditional LLM degree.

Thank you for your time,

Faithfully,
Adil N

Scholarship / I plan to apply for a position of an Associate to a renowned international law firm. Chevening [3]

Chevening essay on post-study plan

Hello! This is my Chevening essay for the last prompt. I would appreciate your feedback

Chevening is looking for individuals who have a clear post-study career plan. Please outline your immediate plans upon returning home and your longer term career goals. You may wish to consider how these relate to what the UK government is doing in your country.

After having completed my studies, I plan to apply for a position of an Associate to a renowned international law firm such as HC, BM, KST which are among the current leaders in the industry in my country. As a main career path, I would like to become a Partner in the firm.

I am convinced that working in a legal firm will make me a truly professional commercial lawyer. It will allow me to deal with mergers & acquisitions, tax, cross-border and commercial transactions and other complex legal issues. For example, in 2014, KST advised banking consortium of T LLP, which is one of the biggest petroleum operating companies, on financing of its Future Growth Project worth 39 billion dollars. I know these firms provide for a solid mentorship programme for Associates. These firms cooperate with British Chamber of Commerce and often advise leading British companies doing business in Kazakhstan such as the Wood Group and Rio Tinto. HC is a member of the Legal Advisory Board of the Astana International Financial Center - a newly inaugurated Financial Hub that operates based on the principles of Laws of England and Wales.

I believe knowledge and practical skills in International Commercial Law acquired during the LLM programme will allow me to excel professionally in the firm I will work at. Not to mention that it would open great networking opportunities as the most part of prominent lawyers in legal consulting are alumni of the UK law schools.

After having obtained two years of experience in legal consulting, I would like to become an arbitrator of the K International Arbitration. I believe arbitration gives any lawyer a unique opportunity to practice law in a different way - by settlement of the disputes / trying cases. I am sure it would be a great supplement to my main work.

Further, I plan to establish a Fund for Promotion of Legal Education. The mission of the Fund would be provision of financial aid to prospective students willing to pursue a degree in Law and organization of legal writing competitions. I would also like to make this Fund a platform for a non-profit organization that would promote civil society values in my country. After acquiring some experience, I would like to collaborate with British Embassy through Foreign & Commonwealth Office Fund Programme on anti-corruption measures and even apply to Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy.

I will certainly devote part of my life to teaching law. After having acquired four years' experience in legal consulting, I plan to become a part-time Professor of Commercial Law in my alma mater, because I know it lacks professors who are practicing lawyers.

To sum up, my priority upon return would be to secure a job in legal consulting. Then it is my intention to work on the Fund for Promotion of Legal Education and a professor at my home university, and becoming a civil rights activist.

Scholarship / Learning and gaining experience participating in various British courses [6]

Hi Guys! This is my essay for the Study in the UK question of Chevening. I would appreaciate your feedback.

Chevening Study in the UK question

I got my Bachelor degree in general jurisprudence at the K University which offered the broadest legal curriculum with subjects from various fields of law. By the second year, I discovered a genuine interest in commercial law. For this reason, I chose private law courses whenever possible and wrote research papers on commercial law issues. During my studies in the University of F I also focused on international commercial law. I wrote my diploma thesis on business law.

As Contracts Analyst, I managed to strengthen my knowledge of Law of Obligations and some aspects of Corporate Law, and acquired knowledge of English Law on Contracts and Indemnities. At the same time, I discovered there are many legal challenges to international companies doing business in my country such as regulation of merger and acquisitions, financing, corporate governance and dispute resolution. Currently I don't have an opportunity to apply my knowledge of these civil law concepts , let alone develop expertise in those. I realized that I would like to work at a company whose core business is practice of law to develop in a full capacity as a lawyer. For this reason, I see legal consulting as a next step in my career path. To enter into legal consulting I feel that I need to strengthen my academic and professional background with knowledge of International Business or Commercial Law that consists of a few core courses.

Namely, I would like to take a study Mergers and Acquisitions to acquire knowledge on the procedure of a merger or a takeover, deal structuring and related regulations. Module on International Arbitration will allow me to discover the details of alternative dispute resolution procedures, differences between various arbitration bodies such as London Court of International Arbitration and International Chamber of Commerce and enforcement of arbitral awards. I also wish to study Company Law to obtain knowledge of corporate governance and approach to corporations in the UK with my country's Laws on Corporations. I would also like to take a course on Financial or Banking Law to get a solid understanding of regulation of various financial undertakings including loans, project funding and issuance of bonds.

I chose LLM courses at A University, B University and C University, because their academic offer seems most appealing and promising to me that would enable me to draft an ideal International Commercial Law curriculum. All the three universities are among the best in the UK for the quality of legal education and research.

Secondly, all the three universities are highly internationalized which is a huge plus.
Lastly, A University and B University are located in London close to offices of governmental bodies and legal firms that allows an opportunity to participate in various legal events frequently.

To sum up, I am sure that either of these three courses will help me acquire crucial knowledge of International Commercial Law and relevant practical skills, and make me a perfect fit for any top tier international law firm in my country.

Scholarship / Acting proactively and reach out to people rather than sitting and waiting for somebody to approach [5]

Hello, I have reworked my networking essay for Chevening. Would appreciate your feedback

Chevening essay on networking

To begin with, I am an extrovert by personality and very communicative. Since I changed schools several times I got to understand that one should act proactively and reach out to people rather than sitting and waiting for somebody to approach. I am a strong supporter of the 'never eat alone" rule. Besides, during an annual employee appraisal, I have been assessed as having strong communication skills.

At my third year at the university I worked part-time as an administrative assistant at I Firm. Though I worked there only for half a year and left in August 2013, I kept in touch with the Director Mr. T all these years. In October 2017, I decided to become a member of the K Association. The application needed to be accompanied with two recommendation letters from current members of K Association. By that time, I have already secured one. When I asked Mr. T, who is a Member, to provide me with another one he agreed to do so. This was only possible because I have not lost connection with him after leaving II Firm.

When moved to A city, I managed to establish a strong network through participation in the activity of R Public Fund and Society of Petroleum Engineers. In September 2015, I met with Mr. N at a fundraising event. At the time, he was a specialist at T Company. In June 2016, I was assigned to handle all contracts related matters with T company and two months later, I learned that Mr.N moved to Contracts department as a Specialist responsible for my company's contracts. We became friends with him and this fact helped us to improve our work and communicate effectively. For instance, we revised our contract administration plan mostly because we discussed this issue extensively outside of the office.

I also I try to help people within my network as well. In September 2016 one of the members of the B School association opened an Educational Center in A city and was struggling with finding a teacher for IELTS classes. I offered him my help and conducted IELTS classes in his Center for six months.

I hope to use networking skills to further extend my network and integrate with Chevening alumni. I will be ready to share job opportunities, assist with data on legal and social research, promote Chevening within my network. Moreover, I believe that most Chevening alumni are individuals with a strong sense of civic duty. I would like to unite them in a community that would promote values of civil society and democracy in my country.

I also wish to reach to Legal firms to encourage them to sponsor and take part in the activity of the Fund for Promotion of Legal Education by organizing career orientation sessions and legal writing competitions.

To sum up, I believe I was able to build up a solid network within various fields that would both benefit from the Chevening community and contribute to its further development.

Scholarship / Hard Work - being the "positive" role model for peers. Chevening essay on Leadership [9]

Hello! I have drafted my four essays for a Chevening Scholarship. I would appreciate your feedback. I have changed some details with X, Y, and Z and other letters. Thank you in advance! 1 at a time please.

Hard Work and Collaboration

1. Chevening is looking for individuals who will be future leaders or influencers in their home countries. Explain how you meet this requirement, using clear examples of your own leadership and influencing skills to support your answer.

To begin with, I have changed schools four times and even the university due to relocation. Every time I moved to another city, I needed to prove my worth in a new social and academic environment.

As one of the top performing students at school and at the university I believe to have been one of the "positive" role models for my peers.

I still remember the time how the school changed my vision and at that time I have felt my leadership skills first. For example, I often organized sessions for my classmates for preparation to exams and managed concert programs. Also, at X National University, I was a Commander of a platoon at Military chair service, Vice-president of English Debates Club at X State University, Leader of the university team at the Law Olympiad. I have also actively participated in conferences, roundtables and academic competitions.

At my first year at the university, I volunteered as a tutor for 7th grade freshmen at a boarding school in X. I was responsible for supervision of their preparation to classes, providing assistance at the dormitory, organizing various leisure activities and for sure this experience enhanced my leadership skills at early stage. This experience allowed me to develop active listening, counselling, stress management skills as well and made me a more responsible person.

When elected as a Vice-President of the Debates club, I ran a promotion campaign to attract new members as the club had only few at the time. We engaged around ten debaters, prepared them for X city mayor's cup, and got the championship and the third place.

Moreover, at T company, though my position does not involve team management, I have learnt a lot from my previous and current manager on effective communication and constructive criticism.

When I came up with an idea of organizing weekly knowledge-sharing sessions within the team my manager liked the idea a lot and supported me.

I was the leader of the internal cooperation team during a major client audit. I managed to make everybody understand what was required from their end and ensured the deadlines were met to address client needs. The work of the team was recognized by the management at audit closure.

Moreover, I have a genuine passion for law and I am proud to be lawyer.
Further, I plan to establish a Fund for Promotion of Legal Education. The mission of the Fund would be provision of financial aid to prospective students willing to pursue a degree in Law and organization of legal writing competitions. I started a Youtube channel recently to promote civil society values.

I have recently completed a course on Inclusive Leadership.
In conclusion, my experience made me understand it is more a matter of hard work, effective communication and collaboration that make a good leader of a person, rather than inherent qualities. I am sure Chevening will allow me to develop my leadership further and connect with future leaders from other countries.