UW Law Student to Intern in Russia

By Meagan K. Ciesla

Second-year law student Dan Tyson has more than an academic reason to visit Russia this summer.  His wife of three years, Evgeniya, lives and works in her native Vladivostok, a city of 800,000 located on Russia’s hilly Pacific rim.  The two met in a graduate class at UW and while Tyson has been in law school, Evgeniya has been working at the American Counsel for International Education in her hometown.  Happily, their long-distance marriage is going to become a lot more local at the end of the summer.  Evgeniya will finish up her position in August and will be able to return to Laramie while Tyson finishes up his law degree.

Until then, Tyson will spend his entire summer in Vladivostok while interning with the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Rule of Law Initiative (ROLI).  The ROLI is a public service program of the ABA that promotes international public service projects.

Vladivostok’s ROLI focuses on issues such as gender equality, human trafficking, advocacy and Bar Association Development Issues.  While working with the ROLI, Tyson will be preparing human rights documents, working with human trafficking laws and preparing legal publications to be distributed to local lawyers.

Though this will be Tyson’s third time to Russia, it is his first time working in the legal system.  His first visit was strictly as a tourist, and his second was spent as a summer English instructor at a local private school. 

Upon Tyson’s return to the U.S., he will finish up his degree and hopes to practice in transactions, international oil or resource development.

To learn more about the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative, please visit http://www.abanet.org/rol/.

Photo: Day Tyson and wife Evgeniya in Russia (courtesy photo).