The Moscow office of Debevoise & Plimpton has advised the Mosaic of Happiness Fund in setting up a private integrated nursery school in Moscow that supports the integration of refugee children and children with disabilities into society. The project included adopting school regulation and admission rules, and drafting frameworks of support, donation, volunteer, and employment agreements.
The Mosaic of Happiness Fund is a non-profit organization founded in 2012. The purpose of the fund is to develop and maintain projects to change attitudes towards charity in the country and support the provision of assistance to those in need.
Ekaterina Kokorina, who led the project for the Mosaic of Happiness Fund, said: "It was a real pleasure to work with Debevoise, as they have done a tremendous job, amazingly expressing their gratitude for the opportunity to work on our project!"
The project was introduced to Debevoise’s Moscow office by PILnet, the global network for public interest law. The firm's team advising the Mosaic of Happiness Fund was led by Partner Alyona Kucher, with Senior Associate Anna Maximenko and trainee lawyer Elena Sevastianova providing day-to-day advice.
According to Debevoise, the firm’s Moscow office "regularly advises on a variety of pro bono projects to support children with special needs, as well as socially and economically deprived children. This has included pro bono projects advising on legal issues connected with introduction of a rehabilitation program for children with cerebral palsy, advising on the opening of a nursery school for orphan children, assisting with structuring donors’ support programs, and drafting purchase agreements for specific medical equipment."
