Interview with trainee: Finnish law student Mitti Varajarvi
 took part in internship in Gencs Valters Law firm. Intern took practical internship in Latvian office, Riga. Mitti...)
At the summer of 2016 student from Finland (Helsinki) took part in internship in Gencs Valters Law firm. Intern took practical internship in Latvian office, Riga. Mitti Varajarvi was glad to share her experiences about the internship and describe legislation differences between Latvia and Finland.
Please tell little bit about yourself. What do you study currently?
I am a Finnish student, but study in Tallinn University School of Governance, Societies and Law in Tallinn, Estonia. Currently I am studying European Union Law and International Law, which I really enjoy and find interesting.
How was it like to do internship in our Law firm?
The internship in Gencs Valters Law Firm has been a great experience from which I learnt and enjoyed a lot. I have gotten interesting and challenging tasks and my co-workers were wonderful to work with.
I expected to learn and understand better what the practical side of working life for a lawyer would be and I was positively surprised how much I learnt and now understand it better. I can say that my expectations were met.
Please tell about legislation in your country? Maybe you can give a few examples? What was different in Latvian law system?
Because I study in general European Union Law and International Law, I haven’t had a chance to actually study Finnish legislation specifically or any other state’s legislation, nevertheless I found Latvian legislation interesting and it seems to me that Latvian legal system is working well.
In Finland proceedings process has been divided between Civil Proceedings, Criminal Proceedings and Administrative matters and they take place in two different sets of Courts, Hallinto-oikeus and Käräjäoikeus, both having their Supreme Courts and Käräjäoikeus having also Appellate court.
How did the internship affect your study plans?
This internship has given me more practical knowledge regarding business law, which is one of the fields that I am very interested in. I could definitely continue my studies in this field.
I am seriously interested in studying International Business Law and Human Rights Law in the future, which themselves are quite far from each other, but both very interesting. I will have to make a choice in the future which one to pick.
/Mitti Varajarvi/