Mark Oettinger Recognized in Russian Newspaper for his Work With Rule of Law Consortium

This article appeared in the October 16-31, 2020 issue of the Advocate’s Gazette, Russia’s national publication for civil and criminal trial lawyers. Mark co-founded and co-led the Russian American Rule of Law Consortium from 1992-2011. During that period, he visited Russia several times, including a 3-month stint teaching law school as a Senior Fulbright Scholar. The article addresses the history of US-Russian legal collaboration, and offers advice for Russian trial lawyers who are presently facing an increase in the types of criminal cases in which the defendant has a right to trial by jury. Jury trials were common in Russia between 1864 and 1919, but unknown during Soviet times. They returned, in a very limited context, after the Soviet Union broke apart in 1991, and have recently been expended.