Summer School of Law proves a success once again

From 24 to 28 July 2023, VP Law partnered with the Students’ Association for International Co-operation (SAMS) to organise the third annual Summer School of Law, where six final year law students worked on real-life cases to learn more about a variety of areas of legal practice.

Predrag Stojanovski, attorney at law with the firm’s Real Estate and Construction Department, delivered a presentation focusing on the importance of due diligence when purchasing property and highlighting the various stages of selling and buying real estate, as well as the tax treatment of property purchases. He gave the students pointers for using online resources to find out property information, such as the KNweb and Geosrbija tools available from the National Land Survey Agency and the geographical information system (GIS) app employed by the City of Belgrade Land Development Agency. The participants then had an opportunity to apply their new skills to drafting a preemptive offer for a property, corporate rules for managing particularly valuable assets, and a property sale contract.

On the second day of the course the participants attended a presentation on transfers of equity interests in a leasing company, delivered by Nikola Hanžek, attorney at law with VP’s Corporate and Commercial Law Department. Nikola drew on numerous interesting examples from his extensive experience to highlight the various stages of this procedure.

The topic of leasing and contract law was covered by Miloš Marinković, attorney at law with the firm’s Banking and Finance Department, whose presentation explored the significance of leasing transactions, the rights and obligations of the parties to lease and loan agreements, and the differences between operating and financial leases. Miloš then accompanied the students on a visit to ODM Collections, a major VP Law client, where the staff explained the intricate workings of a receivables purchasing and collection firm.

Employment law, types of employment contracts, employee rights, and the treatment of mobbing cases were all discussed by Sabina Dautović, attorney at law with the VP Employment Law Department.

On the fifth and last day of the Summer School, Dušan Panić, Senior Intern with the firm’s Banking and Finance Department, spoke about the legal concept and significance of mortgage, how mortgages were created, and what issues were likely to occur in practice, particularly highlighting how mortgages were enforced. For the second session of the day, the participants did a mortgage case study exercise that gave them an chance to learn more about the entire process, from entry into a loan agreement to the drafting of a lien statement and registration of the mortgage with the property cadastre, to foreclosure and enforced sale of the mortgaged property using the online E-Auctions system developed by the Serbian Ministry of Justice.

At the close of the course the students received attendance certificates and spoke with the presenters about their professional experiences. VP Law is particularly proud of the Summer School initiative, which has proven successful in broadening the perspectives of future legal practitioners and helping them gain useful skills.

We look forward to next summer, when we plan to welcome a fresh group of students and offer them a valuable and enjoyable opportunity to expand their knowledge.