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CURRICULUM VITAE
Prof. dr. W.B. Simons
| 1. Family name: |
Simons |
| 2. First names: |
William Bradford |
| 3. Date of birth: |
24 June 1949 |
| 4. Nationality (dual): |
USA/Netherlands |
| 5. Civil status: |
Married (with three children) |
| 6. Contact details: |
Trento University Faculty of Law
Facoltà di Giurisprudenza
Università degli Studi di Trento
Via Santa Margherita 10 – 38100 Trento, Italia
Tel. (direct) +39/0461/883.871
Fax. +39/0461/883.828
Mobile +39/320/765.4409
Email simons@jus.unitn.it
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| 7. Education: |
Institution |
Leiden University Faculty of Law |
Date |
December 1997 |
Degree(s) or Diploma(s) obtained |
Ph.D. |
Institution |
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School |
Date |
June 1974 |
Degree(s) or Diploma(s) obtained |
J.D. |
Institution |
Russian School of Norwich University |
Date |
August 1974 |
Degree(s) or Diploma(s) obtained |
M.A. (Russian Language and Literature) cum laude |
Institution |
Carleton College |
Date |
June 1971 |
Degree(s) or Diploma(s) obtained |
B.A. (Russian and Soviet Area Studies) cum laude |
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8. Language skills:
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(Mark 1 to 5 for competence)
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Language
|
Reading
|
Speaking
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Writing
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English |
5 (native) |
5 (native) |
5 (native) |
Russian |
5 (near native) |
5 (near native) |
4 |
Dutch |
5 (near native) |
5 (near native) |
4 |
German |
4 |
4 |
2 |
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| 9. Membership of professional bodies: |
Wisconsin Bar Association
Arbiter:
International Commercial Arbitration Court at the
RF Chamber of Commerce and Industry ( Moscow)
International Court of Arbitration (Paris)
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| 10. Present position(s): |
(a) Professor of East European Law
Director, Institute of East European Law and Russian Studies
Leiden University Faculty of Law (On Leave)
(b) Visiting Professor, University of Trento Faculty of Law
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| 11. Years with the university: |
| 25 |
| 12. Key qualifications: |
Professor Simons has been active in the field of Russian (and CIS) law for more than two and one-half decades. His involvement has been both in the academic world as well as in the practice of law. In particular, over the past ten years, he has worked closely with foreign and Russian Federation academics, government officials, and members of the judiciary in the area of market-oriented, democratically inspired law reform––national as well as regional. These reform efforts have contributed to the preparation of:
(a) The 1994 Russian Civil Code, and
(b) Model CIS legislation (i.e., the CIS Model Civil Code and CIS Model Legislation on Limited Liability Companies, Bankruptcy) as well as
(c) Draft CIS Model Legislation in the following fields: Labor Code and Securities ([tsennye bumagi]).
Furthermore, Professor Simons has also been involved as a senior advisor in multi-disciplinary advisory teams to governmental agencies in privatization transactions in both the Russian Federation and in the Republic of Kazakhstan. One of the latter transactions resulted in successful closings of commercial transactions in the oil and gas industry in excess of US$ 1.5 Billion (total purchase price plus investment commitments).
In addition, as part of the legal reform projects that have been jointly devised in the CIS countries and in Leiden to support legal and social reforms, consideration has been given to broadening the educational opportunities of young professionals in the CIS/CEE region. In the decade from 1994 to 2004 — initially with funding from the European Commission (TEMPUS program) and later supplemented by resources from The Netherlands Foreign Ministry (MATRA program) — Professor Simons and his colleagues in Leiden (as well as in Leuven and Torino) have facilitated programs for law students (both undergraduate and post-graduate) and research visits for faculty members from the CEE/CIS region. |
| 13. Specific Eastern European and FSU countries experience: |
Country |
Date
|
Russia : advised the State Property Committee (Goskomimushchestvo) on privatization law and policy |
January - April 1992 |
Kazakhstan : advised the government on: (a) privatization law and policy as part of various World Bank missions to the country; and (b) law reform (project co-director) under a World Bank Technical Assistance facility to the Kazakh Government |
August 1992 - December 1996 |
Kazakhstan : served as special counsel to the Kazakh Government in the country’s first case-by-case privatization |
Spring 1994 |
Kazakhstan : worked in multi-disciplinary teams to assist the Kazakh Government in the privatization of 8 enterprises as part of the continuation of Kazakhstan’s case-by-case privatization effort |
1994-1997 |
Russia : Co-responsibility for design and implementation of joint legal reform programs between the Russian Federation and The Netherlands |
1993 to present |
Russia : Director of a TEMPUS (I) curriculum development (JEP) project for the Russian Federation involving the Law Faculties of Moscow State University (MGU) and the universities of Leiden, Leuven and Nijmegen |
1994-1997 |
Russia : Director of a TEMPUS (II) RF curriculum development (JEP) project involving the Law Faculties of MGU, Leiden, Leuven, Nijmegen and Torino |
1999 to present |
CIS/CEE : Responsible for obtaining funding for undergraduate and post-graduate law students from CIS/CEE countries to pursue both semester courses and LL.M. degree programs at the Universities of Leiden, Nijmegen, Leuven, and Torino |
1997–2004 |
CIS/CEE : Participant in training of lecturers (COLPI–Budapest) and diplomats (Europa Institute–Leiden) |
1998–2002 |
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| 14. Professional experience record: |
Date: |
January 2005 to present |
Location: |
Trento , Italy |
Institution: |
University of Trento Faculty of Law |
Position: |
Visiting Professor |
Description: |
Teaching and research duties under grant from the Italian Ministry of Research and Education |
Date: |
June 1976 - June 1986;
January 1991 to present
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Location: |
Leiden , The Netherlands |
Company: |
Institute of East European Law and Russian Studies (IEELRS), Leiden University Faculty of Law |
Position: |
University Lecturer (1976-1986; 1991- January 1998)
Professor of East European Law and
Institute Director (Feb.1998 to present)
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Description: |
(i) Direction of the teaching, research, and publishing efforts of the members and fellows of the ILEERS in the field of Russian and CIS/CEE law and policy as well as economics, political science, and history;
(ii) Joint responsibility for the Institute’s legal cooperation projects in the Russian Federation (e.g., civil law, labor law, securities law, curriculum development with Russian institutions of higher learning); and
(iii) Realization of exchanges for undergraduates and graduate law students and faculty between various Dutch universities and their counterparts in the Russian Federation).
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Date: |
April 1992 - December 1997 |
Location: |
Almaty, St. Petersburg, Moscow |
Company: |
Pepper, Hamilton & Scheetz ( Philadelphia, PA) |
Position: |
Of Counsel |
Description: |
Joint responsibility for developing and implementing the firm’s activities in the area of law reform and transactional work for foreign and Russian clients |
Date: |
January 1990- March 1992 |
Location: |
London , Moscow, St. Petersburg |
Company: |
Cole Corette Abrutyn ( Washington, DC) |
Position: |
Of Counsel |
Description: |
Joint responsibility for developing and implementing firm’s activities in the area of law reform and transactional work for foreign and Russian clients |
Date: |
June 1986-December 1989 |
Location: |
Kansas City , Missouri |
Company: |
Fike Corporation |
Position: |
Legal Counsel |
Description: |
Joint responsibility (with the corporate Vice-President for Legal Affairs) for the legal affairs of a medium-sized, international manufacturing company |
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| 15. Publications/Research/Projects: |
The subject of Professor Simons’ doctoral dissertation was privatization in Russia and Kazakhstan; in addition, he has edited several books and published articles and translations on Russian and Central and East European law and policy since entering the field as a student in the early 1970s. He is the general editor of the law journal and monograph series of the Leiden Institute of East European Law and Russian Studies: The Review of Central and East European Law and Law in Eastern Europe.
Professor Simons’ recent research projects have included: the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in the Russian Federation in light of the public policy doctrine; a comparative view of access to justice in the Russian Federation and The Netherlands; and—together with his Institute colleague Dr. Rilka Dragneva—an examination of recent trends in constitutional law in Russia .
He has also — for the past several years — been part of a joint undertaking with his colleagues from the Leiden Institute and from the CIS and Western Europe (as well as from North America) to widen the platform of CIS model legislation; one specific goal has been to include a wider mix of actors from various groups comprising the (re)emerging civil society in the region in the on-going process of the (regional) harmonization of law and economic and social policy.
For several years, Professor Simons has been a guest lecturer at the Torino International Trade Law Program and, more recently, been a visiting professor at Trento University Faculty of Law. He is also an honorary chairperson of the Telders International Law Dispute of the Leiden Law Faculty and Academic Patron for the European Law Students’ Association (ELSA) in Leiden.
Currently, Professor Simons’ research interests focus on the need for an investor friendly regime in a socially responsible context in selected regions of the Russian Federation. He has been awarded a four-year research grant from the Italian Ministry of Research and Education to pursue this interest as a Visiting Professor at Trento University Faculty of Law. |
Spring 2005
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