On 16 May 2013, Almaty hosted the first Conference (General Meeting of Participants) of the Kazakhstan Bar Association (KazBar).
KazBar was set up on the initiative of the chief executives of the leading law firms: AEQUITAS, Dechert, GRATA, Norton Rose, Olympex Advisers, Salans, Sayat Zholshi & Partners, Signum, and Kazakhmys Group of Companies.
For the first time in Kazakhstan, the event program included a session "Regulation of Legal Services Market" attended by the leading law firms' partners, in-house lawyers, representatives of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Chairman of the Kazakhstan Board of Advocates.
Mr. Rupert D'Cruz, representative of the Bar Council UK, was a special guest and a speaker at the event.
Discussion of different challenges of the legal profession regulation in Kazakhstan produced a joint opinion regarding necessity to further establish Kazakhstan Bar Association as a self-regulated organization in the Kazakhstan legal services market.
One of KazBar's key goals and objectives is to promote the local legal community at the international level and enhance the legal services market via utilizing successful practice of foreign professional self-regulated Bar Associations.