Biography. Biography of Heinrich Padva "To be a good lawyer, you need to understand life"

Photo Pravo.Ru

In 2012, according to the results of a joint study by VTsIOM and the Russian Reporter magazine, 81-year-old lawyer Genrikh Padva was recognized as one of the authoritative figures of the Russian legal community. Today it’s hard to believe that after graduating from school he twice failed to enter the Moscow Law Institute. Last year, Padva celebrated his 60th anniversary in the profession, but when asked if he has any desire to retire, the elder of the legal profession admits that he is tired, but retiring for him means physical death and he continues to work. Pravo.Ru talks about Padva’s career, his attitude to the legal profession, money, and relationships with clients in his own words.

About the beginning of a career

I went to the Kalinin region on assignment. First, my friend Yura Yurbursky received a ticket there, and he persuaded me to apply with him. Yes, I am characterized by nostalgia, attachment to my native ashes, my father’s coffins. I consider the Tver province to be my second homeland.

At first they wanted to send me to Vologda, but I did not agree, and as a result, something absurd happened. The commission began to wonder why I refuse to go to Vologda. I said: “I can’t, my sick elderly father is alone in Moscow, I can’t leave him alone and go far.” And the director [of the institute] Butov objected to me very unsuccessfully: “Just think, you have one father, I also have one old father, so what?” I plucked up the impudence and replied: “Well, you’re not going anywhere from Moscow.” This made a huge impression on the commission, and one of the important bosses in the commission burst out laughing and said: “Okay, the man needs to find something closer.” And they offered me the current Tver region.

I don’t regret that during the difficult years I got to work in Pogoreloye Gorodishche, and in Rzhev, and in Torzhok. It was a good school and it was very useful for me. In my youth, of course, I experienced all this.

In Pogoreloye Gorodishche, I was on friendly terms with the judge and, as they say, hand in hand. We drank together and walked together, and the prosecutor and the investigator were with us. We were one company.

In the first decade of my legal practice, I received terrible slaps in the face from various court decisions, and even wrote letters of resignation from the legal profession. Nowadays, too, sometimes I give up, my mood deteriorates for a long time, but I no longer fall into terrible despair from failures. The next case is heard - and you go, put all your passion, all your professional experience, all your understanding of life and people into it.

About the main achievements and failures

If we talk about my “career”, then you need to understand that lawyers do not have any career in the generally accepted sense. I started working as a lawyer and have been working to this day. He did not earn any positions or ranks. A lawyer can only become more and more famous. In this sense, I had a serious breakthrough, which was associated with the Izvestia case during the Soviet era. An American businessman sued the newspaper for libel in an American court and won the case. At first Soviet authorities They didn’t pay attention, but then the arrests of Izvestia’s property abroad began. I had to resort to the help of professional lawyers. They invited me, although I was known only in professional circles. The case was reviewed and the decision was overturned. Naturally, the newspaper covered the trial and wrote that its interests were represented by lawyer Padva. Apparently they didn’t want to write simply “Padva”, so they added epithets: first “famous”, then “venerable” and, finally, “famous”.

Professionally, I have achieved a lot, including changing the practice of all Russian courts on various fundamental issues. But the most important thing is that I petitioned the Constitutional Court to declare the death penalty unconstitutional. Since then we have not used it.

There were cases after which I wanted to shoot myself, or at least leave the profession. In the book ["From the Bag and from Prison... Notes of a Lawyer"] I describe a case almost fifty years ago when the prosecutor asked my client for ten years. According to the chairman of the court, I gave a brilliant performance, caused a storm of applause - and after that my client was sentenced to death. In my practice there were two or three such shocks. But these negative feelings are compensated when you hear the words: “Release from custody in the courtroom.” This is also too much of an emotion, and here you need, if not validol, then Valery-Yanka.

About choosing cases

Most of all [when choosing a business] I am driven by professional passion. Imagine you are a surgeon. Aren't you interested in trying a heart transplant someday, instead of spending your whole life delving into panaritiums?

I don't take on things that aren't interesting to me. I also don’t take on small, simple matters. When people now come to me with cases of petty theft or drugs, I refuse. I even forgot what articles provide punishment for these crimes. My assistants can conduct them.

Sometimes I was absolutely sure that I would win the case - and lost miserably. And it also happened the other way around: the case is hopeless, but the client begs: “Take it!” Okay, you take it reluctantly - and suddenly the result is brilliant.

Sometimes they tell me: you don’t have to take up the case, but at least give us a legally correct position - they say, there is no such corpus delicti here, but there is such and such. When I feel that something is unclean in a matter, I try not to participate in it.

A lawyer must, on the one hand, be biased and act only in favor of his client, and on the other, be able to see and soberly evaluate all the evidence, which is very difficult if there is excessive interest and excitement. Many surgeons do not undertake to operate on their loved ones. That’s how I won’t protect my loved one, my loved one. And even more so yourself.

About preparing for the process

For the first twenty years of my legal practice, I wrote my speeches inside and out. I thought about everything in them, carefully checked them. Right down to punctuation marks: I spent a long time weighing what to put at the end - a period, an ellipsis, an exclamation point or question mark. I could, for example, end like this: “After everything that you have heard here, dear comrades of the judge, what other sentence can be passed other than acquittal?”

A pre-written speech is a dangerous thing. Lawyers who write well, but do not know how to use the writing correctly, dry up their speeches. They read, but it is poorly received. You must be able to write, then make what is written seem like someone else’s, and then appropriate this alien thing again and tell it. Sometimes it seems that you are ready to perform, that your head is completely clear. And when you try to put your thought on paper, there are not enough words. This means that there is actually a fog in the head. And to dispel it, you need to compose a speech.

About judges, prosecutors, investigators

The authorities have never interfered so actively in the work of the judicial system as they do today. Please note: even Stalin dealt with people not with the help of courts, but with the help of “troikas”, where there were no lawyers. The courts were not involved in extralegal reprisals. Now we have a democracy, many issues are resolved in the courts, but they often either obediently do what is ordered or give in to selfish aspirations. This discredits the judicial system.

Oddly enough, earlier even in the most hard times justice was more democratic. Thus, in the Supreme Court and in the Prosecutor General's Office the highest officials systematically accepted citizens and their lawyers on complaints against decisions of lower courts. I could come to see the vice-chairman or the chairman Supreme Court, explain your position and convince of the need to reconsider the case. Now this is impossible: you send a complaint, but you don’t know who it will get to, and it’s generally impossible to get an appointment. In these conditions, achieving justice is much more difficult.

Previously in judicial practice there were more fig leaves, which created the appearance of legality, and thanks to this, in some cases it was sometimes possible to achieve a fair verdict. Whereas now they openly spit on observing at least minimal formalities. Previously, it happened that a judge would be caught neglecting some procedure - and immediately the lawyer would file an appeal, the prosecutor would protest: it’s impossible, rights have been violated! And although the Constitution said the least about human rights, obvious outrages were still not allowed. There were almost no acquittals, but the termination of the case, the overturning of verdicts by higher courts - all this was possible. There was a Supreme Court of the USSR, and if you got there, you could get justice. The decisions of the Supreme Court of the USSR and its plenums were very good and gave the right direction.

In Russia, many shortcomings of the judicial system are not obvious at first glance. Most of our laws aren't that bad, but they're practical application sometimes turns them into their opposite. For example, there is a law that a higher court does not have the right to increase the punishment determined by a lower court, but can only reduce it. But there is a consideration of marriage in the work of judges and, in accordance with it, any reversal of a sentence is a marriage for which one is punished. How does a judge think? Let's take an article for which you can give from three to five years. Of course, the judge “just in case” will give the maximum so that the higher authority can only reduce the punishment, which does not require the sentence to be overturned. What happens? The law is good, but the accounting system encourages judges to pursue repressive policies. I don't think this is an accident.

In our judicial system, calculating something is a thankless task. Because sometimes everything is decided not according to the law, but under the influence of some incidental circumstances that I may not know about.

In Soviet times, the work of a lawyer was not easy: much was predetermined, but money in justice did not play such a role as it does now. Today, everything is bought, from condemnation to justification.

I have never paid [investigators, prosecutors and judges] in my life. But I must say that such questions began to arise only in recent years. I give my word, I worked for decades and did not even imagine that investigators could take bribes.

In the Kalinin region, for example, with one of the investigators and an assistant prosecutor, we were close friends, what is called the same company. During the trial, Kim Golovakho, the assistant prosecutor, and I squabbled to the death. But I couldn’t even imagine that before a case, somewhere in a company, Kim could be told: “Listen, tomorrow there will be a case. So ask for less.” Yes, I’m sure, if I allowed myself to do that, he would probably punch me in the face.

I'm in nightmare I couldn’t imagine that I was handing over a bribe from my client to the prosecutor or judge. In those days [Padva talks about the beginning of his career. - " Pravo.Ru"] and no one had any money, so what kind of bribes were there. Later in Torzhok I defended the investigator who took it. But what did he take? A dozen eggs, a jar of mushrooms. There was no systemic corruption at all then.

About fees

My very first fee is not money. I received a briefcase as a gift for helping my uncle write a complaint, which helped his complete rehabilitation.

I remember that cassation appeal- the result of many days of work - cost [in the USSR] up to seven and a half. Conducting a case in court cost twenty rubles. The least time that can be spent on conducting a case is three working days, more likely even four days for each case. Only twenty working days. That means five cases for twenty rubles each. It turns out to be a stolnik per month. This is only what the client deposits into the cash register. Of these hundred rubles, the lawyer received seventy in his hands - minus income tax. It was impossible to live on this money. Therefore, an additional agreement between lawyer and client flourished. The client paid extra. This, of course, was not encouraged. Perhaps some lawyers were abusive.

For some reason, we believe that the most expensive is the best. But this is not always the case. I am a man of the old school. I worked at a time when lawyers' fees were like alms for a beggar. Of course, I won’t work at this rate now, but I can’t get used to the fact that you can easily charge hundreds of thousands, millions from a client... I’m not the most expensive lawyer. Besides, I have my own theory about this. It consists in not taking as much as possible from the client. Because if you take too much, he will either overly hope or even think that you are taking not only for yourself, but will share with someone. In the end you will end up in psychological dependence from him. He may demand from you something that you do not consider possible to do. It’s better to take a little less from him, let him think that he owes you, let him tell his relatives and friends: “I thought Padva would take a million, but he took it like a god.” Then I have a different relationship with him, and I’m more comfortable with it than an extra thousand or ten thousand.

When it comes to choosing a client, money has never played a decisive role for me. For me to get down to business, it must first of all be interesting. Much less often if the case causes a public outcry. In this case, I generally take symbolic amounts. Acquaintances often come to me, and I cannot refuse. I don’t want to present myself as unmercenary. I get a lot. This provides me with a decent life.

I am fascinated by the legal plot. Sometimes I get so carried away that I can take on the task for free. And sometimes poor people turn to me, from whom there is nothing to take, but they want to help. This happened several times. Journalists talked about this, and now pensioners are bothering me: “I heard that you do business for free...” Yes, it happens. But I cannot practice law on a charitable basis. I work for free in exceptional cases. When things are very interesting. Or when I see that blatant injustice is happening.

About the role of a lawyer

We do not defend murderers, thieves, rapists, but citizens who are accused of this. And someone has to protect them. What if the investigation was wrong? The defense attorney has no right at all to raise the question: whether this person is really guilty or not. He does not judge his client. He is obliged to do only one thing - to present to the court all the arguments in favor of this person. Society is interested in this, and without this there is no justice.

It is important to say that in relationships with clients, we - lawyers - are not their judges. Neither formally, from the point of view of the question of their guilt and responsibility, nor humanly, from the point of view of a good or bad person, has handed over to us their fate. Whatever our client is, we are obliged to protect him, we are obliged to defend his position and be critical of the accusations. Therefore, I consciously always limit myself in assessing my client from the point of view of universal human criteria of morality and ethics. As for intellectual abilities- intelligence, education, then, of course, I take this into account in my relationship with the client.

When I accept an assignment on a new criminal case, I should not wonder whether the person is guilty or not. A citizen needs legal assistance and protection. And it is my human, professional and constitutional duty to provide this assistance. In addition, at this stage I cannot get an answer to the question of whether the person is guilty or not. To do this, I must enter into the case, get to know him, but after that I no longer have the right to refuse defense.

When a person himself says that he is guilty, I should question this too and believe him only when I am convinced of this myself. If it turns out that the accused is nevertheless guilty, I am obliged to express my opinion on how his actions should be legally assessed and what punishment should be determined. The lawyer is obliged to present to the court all considerations mitigating the guilt of the client.

Many lawyers calmly admit: they say, of course, we are scammers. We undertake to protect people for money, even when we know that we cannot do anything. And they tell the client that they will do everything possible and impossible... I try to be as frank as possible with the client. For example, especially difficult cases I explain that very little will depend on me during this process. And even if he invites the best lawyers in the world, it is unlikely that anything will change. It’s very cruel to say this, but it’s honest. As a rule, after such words a person still does not give up his defense, otherwise he would feel doomed. But he still has hope.

To be a good corporate lawyer, you don't need to have an artistic temperament. And to be a trial lawyer in civil and criminal cases, you must, of course, have knowledge oratory, which is especially required in jury trials. In turn, in order to speak successfully, you need to be a highly educated person, know music, literature, and painting. You need to visit port taverns, mingle among the station public, observe the life of the inhabitants of the social bottom, know the types of street and apartment hooliganism. Maybe sometimes you need to fight.

About clients

There are different clients. There are clients who disappear after their issue is resolved. And then, when they see you on the street, they cross to the other side. Others are grateful to the grave. They express it somehow. Not necessarily in money. Attention, care, congratulations for the holidays. For example, when I was robbed, two or three clients came and tried to compensate for something from the stolen goods. One bought a VCR. Suddenly he called and said if he could come. I say yes. He brings a tape recorder. And this happened. The case was carried out successfully, the man was released from prison. After that, he didn’t even show up, didn’t say a kind word, let alone thank him. And a few years later, suddenly an acquaintance brings me to him: I really need it on business. I didn't even know who. And he turned out to be a prosperous businessman and gave me half of his business. Another thing is that in the future it did not bring me any dividends - just trouble.

I maintain good, friendly relations with some clients, but there are not very many of them. Some people do not like to remember difficult moments in their lives, and a lawyer is a living reminder of such moments. They do not like to communicate with those to whom they owe something.

In my practice, I had to come into conflict with my own client. I once defended a guy who pleaded guilty to a crime. I didn’t believe him and sought to return the case for additional investigation. The accused tried to refuse me, but it was too late. The court sent the case back to the prosecutor, and it turned out that the guy took the blame on his father so that the punishment would be more lenient.

I had a case when one person was acutely, literally physiologically, unpleasant to me. One day we worked with him for a long time, and I had to feed him. He ate so much that I felt disgusted, I even had the feeling that there was some kind of animal in front of me. But I could not refuse his defense, only if he himself wanted to change his lawyer.

About me

[Being a lawyer] was a school dream. I basically imagined that a lawyer is a speaker. As a child, he was engaged in literary reading and participated in reading competitions.

I don't identify myself with anyone. I value myself.

I think I kind person, I think I'm a gullible person, oddly enough. I think I'm an honest person. I think that I am a courageous person, in terms of my virtues. And if we talk about shortcomings, there are no less striking ones: I am terribly uncollected, I am terribly disorganized, I am terribly absent-minded, lazy.

I don’t have an all-consuming hobby. I have several hobbies that have been with me all my life - once in to a greater extent, once to a lesser extent. This is a passion for certain sports. I adored and adore football and tennis. Once upon a time I played both. He even had a referee category in football and refereed some matches. I still love football. A Spartak fan, a little bit of a fan, but not to the point of going and sorting things out with CSKA fans. But, in general, I really love Spartak, and now I’m worried: they’re playing poorly.

There are a huge number of situations when professional legal assistance or competent advice is required. These can be both serious matters and those that take ten minutes of time. In any case, help will help and avoid more serious problems. Law firms today presented in large quantities. Some of them specialize in certain areas, but most provide legal advice and a range of services. Their lawyers They will definitely help you solve many troubling issues.

The cost of a lawyer's services may be determined in different ways, both based on payment for individual services, and by determining the cost of turnkey work in a fixed amount. It is also possible to agree between the client and the lawyer on the initial payment of the minimum cost of the time spent by the lawyer to provide services and subsequent payment, the so-called “success fee”, of course, only when a positive result is achieved.

Law office Padva and partners

Padva and Partners is one of the most famous Russian law firms, created in the nineties of the 20th century by an authoritative and respected lawyer in professional circles, Genrikh Padva. The success of judicial practice in the field of civil, criminal and corporate law speaks of the high professionalism and competence of the bureau’s lawyers, who defend clients not only in the courts, but also in regulatory authorities on the application of legislation on securities, joint stock companies, as well as in the field of banking, antimonopoly, tax and other types of law. Lawyers from this association at one time contributed to the abolition of the death penalty in Russia.

Padva Genrikh Pavlovich

Every lawyer has cases that are valuable not only positive influence on the reputation of a lawyer, but also the moral satisfaction received after resolving particularly difficult situations. For Genrikh Pavlovich, such cases are those in which fundamentally important legal issues are raised and errors that occurred in previous judicial practice are eliminated. After all, the results of these cases can subsequently save thousands of human destinies.

Lawyer Padva Genrikh Pavlovich: biography, achievements and interesting facts

In 1996-97, the lawyer’s client was Peter Karpov, who was accused of bribery, and held the position of deputy director at the Federal Insolvency Administration. He was taken into custody twice and released on subscription the same number of times. Ultimately, the criminal case was dropped due to an amnesty.

Pelevin and partners"

The affordable cost of legal services is one of the main advantages of cooperation with our company. At the same time, we are ready to guarantee each of our clients an individual approach, professionalism, complete confidentiality and comprehensive support at any stage of cooperation. Nothing is impossible for us, and even in the most seemingly hopeless situation we can find a non-standard solution that as soon as possible will allow the client to achieve the desired result.

Lawyer, Price of services

Advocate! Price of services? If you are interested in this question, then on this page of the site you will receive an answer and you will be pleasantly surprised at the cost of lawyers' services Legal Bureau of St. Petersburg! Lawyer fees are usually determined in each specific situation, and depend on the complexity of the case. Unlike many law firms, Legal Bureau is realistic about the formation prices of lawyers' services-lawyers. We don't try to make money from other people's problems, we try to help!

Lawyer padva cost of services

This latest example of protecting the interests of a taxpayer in disputes about receiving an unjustified tax benefit will also be voiced and discussed in my speech at the Conference in Moscow on April 20-22, 2020. I was waiting for this result to make sure that my conclusions about some change in the vector of evidence in such cases and priorities were fully justified. One example may be an exception to the rule, but several are already a trend.

Lawyer padva cost of services

I once came to a judge and asked for the defendant (I did not handle this case, by the way): “This is a great friend of my father, a front-line soldier, I would ask you to take these circumstances into account.” It must be said that the judge was a legendary person. He had no legs or arms. The government of that time (Bulganin was still there then) gave him a car. And he drove this car with prosthetics and even drove it to the south. His name was Yuri Pushkin - a man of fantastic talent.

How can I contact Kucheren's lawyer?

The court is a huge hassle if there is no decent lawyer! You need to write complaints everywhere. And about the lawyer, where do you live?? Statement of the All-Russian social movement Housing Assistance Committee for Shareholders. Reputable means mass media confirmed the long-circulated rumors that lawyer Anatoly Kucheren intends to defend him in court. I wonder how much Pavel Astakhov’s services cost? It’s a purely Russian habit to look into someone else’s pocket. Ask for help and you will find out. I turned to them for advice, and in response there was silence. But I’m wondering, why is it that someone suddenly started promoting Astakhov on this site so zealously?

Lawyer padva cost of services

The services of a lawyer are no exception. And you don’t need vague answers “from 50 thousand...”, “inexpensive”, “based on the results of consideration of materials”, etc. To give you an idea of ​​the cost of services, we present below the price list for lawyers of the law firm "YurProfBuro", which successfully, without complaints and without unnecessary noisy PR, works in the middle price category:

Lawyer padva cost of services

Moscow. The prerequisite for consolidating common efforts, creating a joint legal bureau by Russian and Latvian lawyers and jurists was the increased need of entrepreneurs to obtain qualified legal support in relation to economic entities in Russia and Latvia.

Lawyer padva cost of services

To do this, cut the onion into half rings, squeeze it slightly if it is very spicy, and pour a spoonful of vinegar over it. Leave to marinate for about half an hour. For the whole Sabat Step 3 Cut the avocado around the pit, turn the avocado halves so that one of the halves separates from the pit. Hit the bone with the knife so that the knife penetrates into it.

Lawyer padva cost of services

You can also use cod fillet for this recipe; I didn’t have any fillet, so I thoroughly cleaned the fish and removed the skin. Don’t forget to marinate the fish before cooking, I always get rid of the characteristic fishy smell, there are many ways to do this, but I use the simplest one - pour lemon juice. In this recipe, at the final stage you can sprinkle the fish with cheese, you will get such an appetizing beautiful crust, but I always try to make the dish “lighter” and reduce calories.

Lawyer padva cost of services

A good lawyer understands life in all its manifestations. You need to be among the station public, see the life of representatives of the social bottom, know the peculiarities of apartment and street hooliganism. In addition, a good corporate lawyer will need an artistic temperament; a trial lawyer in criminal and civil cases must have good public speaking skills.

Born on February 20, 1931 in Moscow. Father - Padva Pavel Yulievich. Mother - Rappoport Eva Iosifovna. The first wife is Albina Mikhailovna Noskova (died in 1974). Wife - Mamontova Oksana Sergeevna. Daughter - Padva Irina Genrikhovna, photographer. Granddaughter - Albina.

Heinrich Padva was born into an intelligent Moscow family. His father, a major planning engineer, held responsible positions in organizations of such scale and significance as the Northern Sea Route. He worked under the leadership of the legendary Schmidt and Papanin. He went through the entire Great Patriotic War and was shell-shocked. In 1945, he was appointed commandant of one of the German cities, resolving reparation issues; celebrated victory with the rank of captain. The mother was a ballerina who, by all accounts, had a figure of amazing beauty. After the birth of her son, she decides to leave the stage, but Terpsichore does not change - she gives dance lessons.

Before the war, Heinrich studied at the prestigious capital school No. 110, where among his classmates there were many children high-ranking officials, prominent scientists, popular artists. Largely thanks to high level teaching at the school, many of its graduates subsequently achieved outstanding success in various fields professional activities.

With the outbreak of the war, Henry, along with his mother, grandfather and other family members, was evacuated to Kuibyshev (Samara). Shelter was found with distant relatives, where ten of them had to live in one room, sleep on chests and just on the floor. During the evacuation, despite all its hardships, pleasant events also happened, interesting meetings took place: for example, the wonderful playwright and writer Nikolai Erdman, who was returning to Moscow after serving time in a Stalinist camp, stayed in their apartment for several days. He left a mark in memory as a man of remarkable personal qualities, extremely interesting in communication. The boy’s imagination, among other things, was struck by Erdman’s ability to perform amazing charades.

When the German troops were driven far from Moscow, Heinrich and his mother returned home and renovated their room in a communal apartment, which was heated with a homemade brick stove. He continued his studies at the same school No. 110, which he successfully graduated in 1948. I decided to enter the Moscow Law Institute, but did not get enough points on the first try. (It should be noted that when entering a university in those years, the presence of a Komsomol card was taken into account, which Heinrich was in no hurry to acquire, as well as an entry in the “nationality” column.)

A year later - a new, this time more successful attempt at admission: a “semi-passing” score was scored. Unfortunately, after confidently passing the Russian language and literature and history in the geography exam, Henry received a “satisfactory”: the rivers of Great Britain became the “test” question. From the exam room, the young man brought out a feeling of injustice: almost everyone to whom he subsequently asked this question - even professional geographers - could not remember anything except the Thames...

At the end of the entrance exams, Heinrich Padva receives an invitation from representatives of the Minsk Law Institute to study at this university and accepts it. Having moved to Minsk, he begins his studies, and very successfully: freshman Padva passes both sessions with excellent marks. Here he found the opportunity not only to gain knowledge from highly professional teachers, but also to actively engage in sports and became interested in student activities.

After studying for 2 semesters, Heinrich transferred to the capital's law school, which he successfully graduated from in 1953. According to distribution, he ends up in Kalinin (now Tver), and comes to the disposal of the Kalinin Department of Justice. The career of a young lawyer began with a six-month internship in the ancient city of Rzhev. After completing an internship, Padva goes to work in the small regional center of Pogoreloe Gorodishche to become the only lawyer here.

Best of the day

A native Muscovite, Padva plunged into the exoticism of village life: his home was a corner of a wooden house, behind the wall was a barnyard, under the windows were lilacs, and from the edge of the forest could be heard the singing of nightingales. There's a lot left in my memory vivid impressions, relating to this period of life: participation in wolf hunting and real fishing, the pleasure of a full basket of mushrooms and a simple walk in the forest... But perhaps the greatest experience and the most valuable experience was a close acquaintance with the common people, their difficult life , horrific poverty and - lack of rights.

The defendants in the first cases in which Padva acted as a lawyer were just such ordinary villagers: front-line soldiers who were tried for speaking out against the authorities, young workers who were threatened with prison for being a few minutes late for work. Of course, such processes under the justice system of that time, when a person was given 10-15 years for the slightest violation, rarely ended successfully for the lawyer and his client. But over time, G. Padva’s authority grew - not only in the courtroom, but also in the eyes of his fellow villagers. His opinion and arguments gained everyone more weight, the district prosecutor, an honest and decent man, but who did not have a higher education, began to listen to the arguments more often.

A year and a half later, Padva continues his legal career in Torzhok. Here he improves his skills, reads a lot - fortunately, provincial life, not rich in entertainment, left enough free time. This is where he meets future wife. Soon he moves to Kalinin, where his chosen one is studying at a medical institute. Some time later they got married. In parallel with his legal practice, G. Padva graduated in absentia from the history department of the Kalinin Pedagogical Institute - one of the reasons for this decision (to get a second higher education) there was a reluctance to “voluntarily-compulsorily” study at a party school.

Genrikh Pavlovich's professional authority is constantly growing, but only in 1971 did he return to Moscow. At first, his hometown, the city of his childhood, did not greet him kindly: a conspicuous acute lack of humanity prevented him from adapting - but, on the contrary, there was an abundance of bureaucracy. At first, my colleagues helped me cope with difficulties; the support of the deputy chairman of the presidium of the Moscow City Bar, I.I., played a big role. Sklyarsky. The efforts and talent of Padva himself did not go unnoticed: he began to be highly valued, first in professional circles, and then among the public.

Wide famous name G.P. Padva became involved after a case initiated by an American businessman against the newspaper Izvestia: the businessman accused the publication of slander against him. The plaintiff won a court case in his home country, which ordered the newspaper to recover thousands of dollars in compensation for moral damages. Soviet official structures for a long time ignored the events that took place in this case, nodding to the fact that the American side is limited in its ability to enforce the decisions of its court. Then the Americans took active action: the property of the Izvestia office in the United States was seized, and the process began to threaten complications at the diplomatic level. We had to mobilize all legal resources. As a result of actions taken by domestic lawyers led by G. Padva, they managed to get the decision of the American court overturned. (Let us add that a few years later G. Padva met with the same injured businessman, who by that time had already retired; all these years he did not hold a grudge against his “offender”, who demonstrated high professionalism in his field.) After this history, the mention of the name of G. Padva in the press was often accompanied by the epithets “famous”, “eminent”, “venerable”, etc.

Over the course of his many years of legal practice, G.P. Padva successfully participates in trials, a significant part of which was the focus of media attention and had a great socio-political resonance.

The 1990s were special years in the career of lawyer Heinrich Padva. His dossier contains high-profile successes that strengthened the authority of the master of human rights.

During the days of the August 1991 coup, G.P. Padva, being the vice-president of the Union of Lawyers of the USSR, was in the USA and made an appeal to the international legal community, in which he spoke about the illegality of the actions of the State Emergency Committee. He returned to Moscow when the putsch had not yet been defeated, with understandable fears of being arrested. Soon, as we know, everything ended, and a few days after the arrest of the putschists, Genrikh Pavlovich received a call from A.I.’s daughter. Lukyanova with a request to protect her father. After personal communication with Anatoly Ivanovich G.P. Padva agreed, emphasizing that he would not change his assessment of the recent dramatic events and would only undertake to defend Lukyanov personally, but not in any way support the political phenomenon as a whole.

The lawyer began by making a statement on television about the inadmissibility of accusations against Lukyanov as the ideologist of the putsch: every person can have his own Political Views, and persecuting him for dissent alone is unacceptable. These arguments were accepted, and the flow of similar accusations faded away. The inadmissibility of the charges of treason brought against members of the State Emergency Committee was also justified. As for A. Lukyanov himself, it is generally difficult to talk about his direct participation in the putsch - therefore, in 1994, he and G. Padva faced a fundamental question: should they accept the amnesty announced by the State Duma in the State Emergency Committee case? Unfortunately, the unrest he experienced worsened Lukyanov’s health, and it was decided to agree with this decision, since continuing the fight could be too expensive and the victory could become Pyrrhic.

In 1996, the case of the deputy general director Federal Office for Enterprise Insolvency of P. Karpov, several years later accused of receiving a bribe while working at one of the Saratov enterprises. Karpov was arrested twice - in Saratov and Moscow, and yet, after a long trial that lasted for 2 years, through the efforts of G.P. Padvy was eventually rehabilitated.

In the mid-1990s, Genrikh Pavlovich defended large businessman L. Weinberg, accused of giving a bribe (the businessman gave a customs committee employee gold chain). The case was investigated by the Prosecutor General's Office and proceeded with violations of the rights of the accused. The lawyer managed to get his client released from custody, and some time later the case was dropped altogether.

Significant and successful was the participation of G. Padva and his colleague at the Padva and Partners law office E. Sergeeva in the high-profile epic with the detention in the United States at Kennedy Airport of the former head of the Presidential Administration P. Borodin, accused by the Swiss prosecutor of money laundering and participation in in a criminal organization. Lawyers had to work in different directions: assistance to Russian political government agencies, appeals to legal authorities in the USA, interaction with investigative authorities in Switzerland. As a result, in April 2001, the charge of participation in a criminal organization against Borodin was dropped, and in March 2002, the prosecutor of the canton of Geneva B. Bertossa dropped the criminal case against the former manager.

In 2003, G. Padva, together with his colleague A. Gofshtein, defended an Azerbaijani politician and businessman with the sonorous surname Elkaponi, who was accused of storing and transporting drugs. The head of the People's Patriotic Union "Azerbaijan-XXI" and businessman F. Elkaponi were detained in Moscow with a kilogram of pure heroin in June 2001. Employees of the Department for Combating Illicit Drug Trafficking of the Moscow Main Internal Affairs Directorate extracted part of the potion directly from under the detainee’s jacket, the other was found in his apartment. Lawyers managed to prove that Elkaponi’s drugs were planted, and in March 2003, the Golovinsky Intermunicipal Court of Moscow acquitted the Azerbaijani businessman, releasing him from custody after many months in prison.

For several years, G. Padva’s client has also been the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Krasnoyarsk Aluminum Plant A. Bykov, whose name has few competitors in terms of frequency of appearance in modern court chronicles. In 1999, the first attempt was made to attract Bykov to criminal liability for involvement in committing murder and money laundering - he was detained in Hungary and transported to a pre-trial detention center in the city of Krasnoyarsk. In the fall of 2000, the businessman was released by court decision Central region Krasnoyarsk, but after some time he was again detained on charges of organizing the attempted murder of Krasnoyarsk businessman V. Struganov. G. Padva's weighty arguments spoke in favor of Bykov's innocence, but the Meshchansky Court of Moscow made a half-hearted decision: he found Anatoly Bykov guilty, giving him a suspended sentence of 6.5 years. The Moscow City Court upheld this decision. Since Heinrich Padva, on the one hand, is confident in the innocence of his client, and on the other hand, he claims numerous violations of human rights during the trial, he continues to make efforts to appeal the verdict, including in the Strasbourg Court of Human Rights.

Since March 2003, Padva participated in the consideration in the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court of a new criminal case on charges of Anatoly Bykov - this time of involvement in the murder of local businessman O. Gubin. On July 1, 2003, the court found Bykov and his accomplices not involved in this murder. Bykov was found guilty under another article - 316 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (concealment of a murder committed without aggravating circumstances), sentenced to a year in prison and immediately amnestied.

G. Padva is not one of the lawyers who openly speak only about successfully completed trials with their participation. In his profession, Genrikh Pavlovich finds a lot in common with medicine: a doctor cannot always help, and a lawyer is not omnipotent. With great regret, he recalls the failure in the civil case to return part of the legacy of B. Pasternak to his muse and beloved Olga Ivinskaya, who was arrested after his death on charges of smuggling and later rehabilitated. In his defense of the truth, G. Padva reached the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, but to return the archives of the great poet (which had to be done both on legal and universal human norms) never succeeded. It reached the point of absurdity and mockery of the memory of a genius: officials demanded documents about the donation of a manuscript of a poem dedicated to herself to O. Ivinskaya!

Nowadays G.P. Padva heads the Padva and Partners law office, under whose auspices about 20 lawyers work. Genrikh Pavlovich - Honored Lawyer Russian Federation, elected member of the Council of the Moscow City Chamber of Lawyers, vice-president of the International Union of Lawyers. Awarded the gold medal named after F.N. Plevako (1998). Recipient of the Badge of Honor of the Russian National Foundation "Public Recognition".

For many years he has been interested in painting, his favorite artists: El Greco, Utrillo. Among contemporary masters, he prefers the work of Natalia Nesterova. Collects antique porcelain. Appreciates beautiful football and tennis.

This distinguished lawyer has handled countless cases during his 60-plus years in the legal profession. Thanks to his efforts, legislation and judicial practice have changed in better side. It is to him that we owe the creation of the first professional community lawyers throughout the country - the Union of Lawyers of the USSR. The GARANT.RU portal spoke with the managing partner of the Padva and Partners law office, an Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation Heinrich Padva.

The Man Who Couldn't Change the Bar

Genrikh Pavlovich, you studied at the capital’s school No. 110 and successfully graduated from it in 1948. It would seem that the doors to all professions were “open” for you. Why did you decide to choose jurisprudence, which was quite outlandish in those days?

I dreamed of law since school years, when I first read the works of the great pre-revolutionary lawyers N.P. Karabchevsky, S.A. Andreevsky, and others. Their talent inspired me. Then I decided for myself that I would study, become a lawyer and defend unfortunate and oppressed people.

Is it true that you failed to enter the Moscow Law Institute twice, and the second time you “failed” on the question of the rivers of Great Britain?

Indeed, that’s exactly what happened. At that time, geography, history, Russian language and literature were taken as entrance exams to a law school. And so in geography I was asked to list the rivers of Great Britain. I only named the Thames, which did not suit the examiner. I don’t know whether this question was an accident or whether I was asked it deliberately to “fail”, but when I later asked different people, including the professor who taught geography, no one could name other rivers besides the Thames.

After two unsuccessful attempts pass entrance exams to the Moscow Law Institute, I went to Belarus to enter the Minsk Law Institute. This university gladly accepted me, but I studied there for only a year - after completing the first year, I nevertheless returned to the capital and transferred to the Moscow Law Institute. Four years later, immediately after the graduation of my class, this university ceased its independent existence and was merged with the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University named after M.Yu. Lomonosov.

After graduating from the Moscow Law Institute in 1953, you undergo a six-month internship in Rzhev, and then go to work as a lawyer in the small regional center of Pogoreloe Gorodishche. Do you remember your first case as a lawyer?

Of course I remember. In all my practice, this was the only case in which a person actually turned himself in. In reality, the vast majority of confessions are “far-fetched”: the suspect is arrested and only then persuaded to confess to his crime in exchange for a lighter sentence. This was a completely different case. A respected worker who could boast of his name on the honor board, an order bearer, the father of two daughters, came to the police in Stalingrad [now Volgograd. – Ed.] and admitted that he raped an underage girl eight years ago. He was arrested, transported to Pogoreloye Gorodishche, where the crime took place, they lifted the case from the archives, began to look for the victim, witnesses... I represented his interests.

As a result, the court sentenced my client to three years in prison - taking into account all the mitigating circumstances, he was given a punishment below the lower limit, which according to those laws was about eight years. I was dissatisfied with the verdict and believed that the case should be dismissed altogether, but since by the time the court decision was made my client had served most of the sentence, we decided not to file a complaint against the verdict.

After working in Pogoreloye Gorodishche, you move to the city of Kalinin [now Tver. – Ed.], where, in parallel with the practice of law, you study at the history department of the Kalinin Pedagogical Institute [now Tver State University. – Ed.]. Have you decided to change your profession?

Under no circumstances – I would never change the legal profession! The fact is that in those days the authorities tortured everyone with party training. Nobody liked it, but to get rid of it without good reason it was impossible. Then one friend advised me to enter a university for a second higher education - students were treated leniently and were not given additional party workload. I did just that.

And I chose the history department because I always loved history and studied it in depth at the Moscow Law Institute. In addition, upon admission, many exams that I had already passed before were counted towards me. Of course, this study was a formality - by that time I was already well known in Kalinin, with many teachers I was in friendly relations. Now I don’t even remember where my diploma from the Kalinin Pedagogical Institute is.

Why did you return to Moscow only in 1971?

If I could, I would have done it much sooner. Kalinin is a wonderful city, but Moscow – my home where all my relatives and friends live. I dreamed of returning to Moscow from the very moment I left! But bureaucratic obstacles prevented me from doing this. Previously, citizens did not have the right to choose their place of residence, so before moving they had to first obtain registration at their future place of residence, which was not easy to do.

Heinrich Padva: famous, popular, venerable

You were lucky enough to represent the interests of many public people, but about the “Izhevsk case” - the case of theft of state cash on an especially large scale when organizing concerts of Vladimir Vysotsky - legends still circulate. Tell us more about it.

This trial is not notable for anything other than the fact that popular artists were questioned as witnesses. The prosecutor opened a case of misappropriation of money against a group of concert organizers Vladimir Vysotsky, Valentina Tolkunova and Gennady Khazanov. The artists themselves had nothing to do with this. But since the authorities did not favor Vysotsky, they, it seems to me, wanted to involve him in the flaring up scandal - they say, Vladimir Semenovich knew about the fraud with tickets at his performances, and maybe even contributed to it. Fortunately, I was able to defend his good name. On July 5, 1980, I flew from Izhevsk to Moscow with the joyful news that Vysotsky’s name was not tarnished by the verdict. From the airport I stopped by the Taganka Theater and told Vladimir Semenovich about our victory, and 20 days later the artist was gone.

For example, it has long been believed that only the father can challenge paternity. I was contacted by a woman who wanted to challenge the paternity record for her son. I immediately doubted the possibility of doing this, since there was no corresponding practice at that time, but I got down to business. We filed an application with the court, but it was not even accepted. Then I began to appeal this refusal and reached the Presidium of the Moscow City Court, which recognized the mother’s right to challenge the paternity of her child. Now this is considered the norm.

Every lawyer dreams of achievements like yours. Share your “recipe for success”.

My “recipe for success” is very boring: work, work, work... Unfortunately, few people have the happiness of working in the profession for which they were created by God. I am sure that I was so lucky.

Your work experience in the legal profession has exceeded 60 years. Have you become bored with your profession over the years?

No, I’m not bored – I’m just very tired. But ending my career as a lawyer is tantamount to physical death for me. My work is my life. That's why I'm still at the helm.

If you had to choose a profession again, what would you become?

Only a lawyer. I love the legal profession for its freedom - no one can tell a lawyer who and how to defend. If I am confident in the innocence of my client, I have the right to insist on an acquittal, and they cannot prohibit me from doing so. I don't depend on anyone.

Each lawyer’s case is special and unique. By protecting a person, you understand that his fate is partly in your hands. This is an incredible responsibility, but also an indescribable happiness - to hear from the judge: “I decide to find the defendant innocent and release him in the courtroom.” Moments like these are worth living and working for!

Documents

It is commonly believed that a lawyer's fame is created by high-profile cases and famous clients. On the other hand, how do you get a high-profile case and a famous client without being a famous lawyer? Go figure out what comes first and what comes next.

Among Padva's clients were large media outlets (Publishing House Kommersant, Ogonyok, Izvestia), eminent Russian and foreign companies (PepsiCo, Renaissance Capital, Cambridge Capital), famous banks (Citibank, MENATEP ")... He represented the interests of Boris Pasternak's friend Olga Ivinskaya, the families of academician Sakharov and Vladimir Vysotsky... He defended members of the State Emergency Committee, financial tycoon Lev Weinberg, crime boss Vyacheslav Ivankov, who was the manager of the Russian President Pavel Borodin... But recently he published a book of memoirs full of unknown characters - those unfortunates who forty-fifty years ago, rightly or wrongly, fell under the steamroller of the judicial machine and whom he, at that time a provincial lawyer, defended in the courts of Rzhev, Torzhok, Pogoreloy Gorodishche. And now he writes: “Why is it so sad to remember, turning to the past decades, your deeds, your work, to which you devoted all your passion, all your strength, thoughts and hopes? Where does this pain, this aching melancholy come from?.. You should be joyful, but “helpful” memory increasingly slips out from the experience terrible moments of waiting for verdicts, when naive hope still barely glimmers, still trembles a little in the heart and... mercilessly, senselessly cruelly, mercilessly collapses with the proclaimed verdict. What despair from one’s helplessness, what resentment from misunderstanding. , what melancholy from the powerlessness to change or fix anything!”

“I consider the Tver province my second homeland”

- Why did you indulge in memories?

It didn't happen suddenly. For many years, publishers and journalists told me: “I need to write a book. You have such rich material, you have done so many interesting things!” I refused every time. Firstly, there was no time to write memoirs. Secondly, it was necessary to tune the brains to this. And what kind of writer am I? I once wrote a short story in the spirit of Chekhov's "Vanka Zhukov", gave it to my friend Volodya Gelman, he read it and said: "Well, what can I tell you? Chekhov wrote better." And I thought: yes, he's right. But such conversations do not pass without leaving a trace, and when another representative of the publishing house told me: “Write, I guarantee you that we will publish,” I decided to try. And off we go...

- Did you write or dictate?

Dictated to journalist Oksana Rustamova. She transcribed the recording. Then I corrected the text with my own hand, and we printed it out again. Then I made the edit again. That's how this book was made.

- It is painted in nostalgic tones. Do you remember working in Torzhok, Pogoreloye Gorodishche as best period your life. But you are a native Muscovite. How did you end up in the province? And why were they stuck there for eighteen years?

I went to the Kalinin (now Tver) region on assignment. First, my friend Yura Yurbursky received a ticket there, and he persuaded me to apply with him. Yes, I am characterized by nostalgia, attachment to my native ashes, my father’s coffins. I consider the Tver province to be my second homeland.

- You started practicing law in the year of Stalin’s death. Tell me, in the mid-50s and later Soviet times Was it easier to seek justice than now?

I understand that the comparison suggests itself, but it is not entirely correct. USSR and modern Russia- This different countries, and they have different justice. In a way, it's easier now. Still, acquittals began to be made and, thank God, jury trials appeared. There is also a Constitutional Court, before which the question of the constitutionality of certain decisions can be raised. I appealed to the Constitutional Court about the death penalty and am satisfied with the verdict that its existence in Russia is unconstitutional. It is impossible to imagine that such a body existed in Soviet times and that such decisions were made by it. But, on the other hand, earlier in judicial practice there were more fig leaves that created the appearance of legality, and thanks to this, in some cases it was sometimes possible to achieve a fair verdict. Whereas now they openly spit on observing at least minimal formalities. Previously, it happened that a judge would be caught neglecting some procedure - and immediately the lawyer would file an appeal, the prosecutor would protest: it’s impossible, rights have been violated! And although the Constitution said the least about human rights, obvious outrages were still not allowed. There were almost no acquittals, but the termination of the case, the overturning of verdicts by higher courts - all this was possible. There was a Supreme Court of the USSR, and if you got there, you could get justice. The decisions of the Supreme Court of the USSR and its plenums were very good and gave the right direction. Unfortunately, all this was broken by the party's omnipotence. I remember, in Pogoreloye Gorodishche, suddenly, the bureau of the district committee: “We have run out of hooligans - there’s nowhere else to go! Prosecutors, judges, where are you looking?!” And the next day let’s take revenge on everyone and try them for hooliganism. Now, fortunately, there is no such thing, but... Now they will shout at me: “Retrograde! How can you!” But I will still say: on the other hand, the fear of the district party committee, the threat to appeal to the party body - this somewhat kept both the court and the prosecutor's office in check. Above them was... no, not the law, of course, but power. And today no one is afraid of anything. Today they openly take it and generally what the hell are they doing.

If you take too much from a client, he will either overly hope or even think that you are not only taking for yourself, but will be sharing with someone else.

- Was the level of judicial corruption lower in those days?

What are you talking about, it’s completely incomparable! In Pogoreloye Gorodishche, I was on friendly terms with the judge and, as they say, hand in hand. We drank together and walked together, and the prosecutor and the investigator were with us. We were one company. But in my nightmare I could not imagine that I was handing over a bribe from my client to the prosecutor or judge. In those days, no one had any money, so what kind of bribes were there? Later in Torzhok I defended the investigator who took the crime. But what did he take? A dozen eggs, a jar of mushrooms. There was no systemic corruption at all then.

"To be a good lawyer, you need to understand life"

- In your book you give the text of one of your speeches at the trial. This is without any discounts, literary work. Every phrase is perfected in it. Do you write your speeches before you deliver them?

For the first twenty years of my legal practice, I did just that - I wrote my speeches from start to finish. I thought about everything in them, carefully checked them. Right down to punctuation marks: I spent a long time weighing what to put at the end - a period, an ellipsis, an exclamation point or a question mark. I could, for example, end like this: “After everything that you have heard here, dear comrades of the judge, what other sentence can be passed other than acquittal?”

- Today you are no longer doing a written preparation?

Full - no.

- Improvisation?

Theses. I speak on them. Although I write a lot. After all, the lawyer has the right to present in writing his proposals on those issues that the court will have to study in the deliberation room. This becomes the basis of my speech. All the main postulates and arguments are formulated there. In general, a pre-written speech is a dangerous thing. Lawyers who write well, but do not know how to use the writing correctly, dry up their speeches. They read, but it is poorly received. You must be able to write, then make what is written seem like someone else’s, and then appropriate this alien thing again and tell it. Sometimes it seems that you are ready to perform, that your head is completely clear. And when you try to put your thought on paper, there are not enough words. This means that there is actually a fog in the head. And to dispel it, you need to compose a speech.

- Should a lawyer have literary talent?

Here we need to be specific. There is a lawyer for criminal cases, there is a lawyer for civil cases, and there is, for example, a corporate lawyer. And depending on the profile, you need to have one or another talent and the appropriate temperament. For example, to be a good corporate lawyer, you don't need to have an artistic temperament. And in order to be a trial lawyer in civil and criminal cases, it is necessary, of course, to master the art of oratory, which is especially required in a jury trial. In turn, in order to speak successfully, you need to be a highly educated person, know music, literature, and painting. You need to visit port taverns, mingle among the station public, observe the life of the inhabitants of the social bottom, know the types of street and apartment hooliganism. Maybe sometimes you need to fight. In a word, you need to understand life, feel it.

"Don't charge the client too much"

- You are called the highest paid lawyer in Russia. This is true?

This is a lie. This is a complete lie. For some reason, we believe that the most expensive is the best. But this is not always the case. I am a man of the old school. I worked at a time when lawyers' fees were like alms for a beggar. Of course, I won’t work at this rate now, but I can’t get used to the fact that you can easily charge hundreds of thousands, millions from a client... I’m not the most expensive lawyer. Besides, I have my own theory about this. It consists in not taking as much as possible from the client. Because if you take too much, he will either overly hope or even think that you are taking not only for yourself, but will share with someone. As a result, you will become psychologically dependent on him. He may demand from you something that you do not consider possible to do. It’s better to take a little less from him, let him think that he owes you, let him tell his relatives and friends: “I thought Padva would take a million, but he took it like a god.” Then I have a different relationship with him, and I’m more comfortable with it than an extra thousand or ten thousand.

- Is it difficult to get Heinrich Padva as your lawyer?

Now - yes. Sometimes I don't have enough physical strength.

- In what cases do you refuse?

This is exactly the case - when there is not enough physical strength. Or when things are “not my thing.” That is, when I am offered tasks in which I do not feel competent enough. For example, violation of safety rules in construction. There is a lot of specificity, you need to delve into it, it requires scrupulous study. In addition, I do not take on cases that are not interesting to me. I also don’t take on small, simple matters. My assistants can conduct them. My mother recalled how she once had appendicitis, and her parents said: Herzen should operate. There was such a great surgeon at the beginning of the last century. He denied it and said: “I haven’t operated on appendicitis for many years, but my residents carry out several such operations every day, they will do a better job.” No, only Herzen! He did. There were terrible complications, my mother almost died. He then honestly said: “I don’t know enough about appendicitis.” When people now come to me with cases of petty theft or drugs, I refuse. I even forgot what articles provide for punishment for these crimes.

"I work for free in exceptional cases"

- Do you calculate the chances of success before you agree to protect someone? Does it happen that if the chances are small, you refuse to pursue a case?

It is impossible to calculate anything. Sometimes I was absolutely sure that I would win the case - and lost miserably. And it also happened the other way around: the case is hopeless, but the client begs: “Take it!” Okay, you take it reluctantly - and suddenly the result is brilliant. In our judicial system, calculating something is a thankless task. Because sometimes everything is decided not according to the law, but under the influence of some incidental circumstances that I may not know about. Sometimes they tell me: you don’t have to take up the case, but at least give us a legally correct position - they say, there is no such corpus delicti here, but there is such and such. When I feel that something is unclean in a case, I try not to participate in it.

- You protected many famous people. What determined the choice here - the eminence of the clients, the fee, public attention to the process?

Most of all, I am driven by professional passion. Imagine you are a surgeon. Aren't you interested in trying a heart transplant someday, instead of spending your whole life delving into panaritiums? I am not always sure of the result, but I am interested in such cases where I can show all my experience, all my knowledge and abilities. For example, I defended Anatoly Lukyanov in the State Emergency Committee case. His daughter Lena came to me: “Well, what kind of betrayal of the Motherland? This is absurd.” And I proved at the trial: power and the Motherland are not identical concepts. Changing the authorities does not mean changing the Motherland. In general, I am fascinated by the legal plot. Sometimes I get so carried away that I can take on the task for free. Let's say, I conducted the Pasternak case in the interests of Olga Ivinskaya with practically no fee. And sometimes poor people turn to me, from whom there is nothing to take, but they want to help. This happened several times. Journalists talked about this, and now pensioners are bothering me: “I heard that you do business for free...” Yes, it happens. But I cannot practice law on a charitable basis. I work for free in exceptional cases. When things are very interesting. Or when I see that blatant injustice is happening.

- Are there any lawyer victories that you are proud of?

Yes, of course. For example, in the late 70s there was the case of dentist G., who was kept in prison for several years, accused of murdering his wife and child. He was sentenced to very long imprisonment twice, and the third time he was completely acquitted and rehabilitated. A rare thing. I must say that for many years I have not been doing business alone, but always together with someone. So I handled G.’s case with lawyer Anna Bochko.

- And the most difficult defeat?

Do you think it's nice to remember this?

- Well, still...

I had a business after which I wanted to quit my profession. Two accused. The club has set up a show trial. The prosecutor asked my client ten years, the other - execution. I gave a bright, inspired speech. A storm of applause. The judge, through his secretary, gives me a note that he has never heard such a brilliant speech in his life. The court leaves for the verdict. I walk like a gogol through the corridors of the club, catching admiring glances. The court returns and reads the verdict. And “mine” gets shot, and the other one gets ten years. How I didn’t have a heart attack, I don’t know. Then, many years later, that judge - a good, strong judge - left his profession, became a lawyer and ended up in a legal consultation, where I was the head. I couldn’t resist and asked: “Pavel Nikolaevich, why did you write me a complimentary note then? Did you want to sweeten the pill in this way?” He says: “Genrikh Pavlovich, I was really delighted with your speech, but as a judge I wanted to rise to your level of professionalism. And my professionalism told me that the main culprit was your client.” I think the judge was not far from the truth. Of course, it is difficult for me to completely agree with him, but he had reasons for such a decision. Do you understand how psychologically interesting thing? There was a fight. Not even a fight, but two people beating one and killing him. He was mostly the second one, not “mine”. “Mine” at some point shouted: “Enough!” And the second one immediately stopped hitting. I said at the trial: you see, he was the first to come to his senses and stopped the beating, although this, unfortunately, did not save the man’s life. But the judge interpreted it differently: it means that the one who shouted “enough!” was in charge. As long as he allowed, he beat. And as soon as he shouted “enough!”, he stopped hitting. One cry - and how differently it can be interpreted!

“I wouldn’t trust myself to protect me.”

- Have you had to appear in court not as a lawyer, but, for example, as a witness or defendant?

Yes, I had to. My dad was suing a stupid case and asked me to represent his interests. They demanded that he allow some kind of pipe to be installed through his room. I begged him: “Don’t, dad.” He said: “Shame on you, I’m asking you.” As a defendant, I felt terribly awkward during this trial. I didn’t know where to stand or how to hold on. And this is after for many, many years work in the courts.

-Who would you trust to protect you?

In a criminal case?

- Let's say it's criminal.

Sasha Gofshtein.

- In civilian terms?

It depends on what. Civil has many categories. I would probably entrust family matters to Alla Zhivina.

- Who would you ask to represent your interests in a corporate dispute?

Perhaps Eleonora Sergeeva.

- A lawyer cannot defend himself?

Maybe. But it's very difficult. Sometimes you need to praise a client - but how can I praise myself? A lawyer must, on the one hand, be biased and act only in favor of his client, and on the other, be able to see and soberly evaluate all the evidence, which is very difficult if there is excessive interest and excitement. Many surgeons do not undertake to operate on their loved ones. That’s how I won’t protect my loved one, my loved one. And even more so yourself.

- Is being famous or at least more or less famous one of the conditions for successful existence in the legal profession?

This is not necessary. I knew and know quite a few lawyers, completely unknown, but first-class lawyers. These are mainly civil lawyers who act in civil cases. And in a criminal trial - yes, there is more oratory, more opportunities to become famous.

- Is cynicism part of the lawyer’s profession?

Must not enter. If a person is a cynic, he will be a cynic in any profession.

- But all the same, you’re probably developing a “callus on the heart,” as your colleague Henry Reznik says.

It all depends on the individual. For some, this “callus” is thick, for others it is thinner. In the first decade of my legal practice, I received terrible slaps in the face from various court decisions, and even wrote letters of resignation from the legal profession. Nowadays, too, sometimes I give up, my mood deteriorates for a long time, but I no longer fall into terrible despair from failures. The next case is heard - and you go, put all your passion, all your professional experience, all your understanding of life and people into it.