LAWIN associate Evaldas Klimas awarded PhD
The LAWIN Lithuania Real Estate and Environmental practice group marked the beginning of July 2011 by congratulating their colleague, associate Evaldas Klimas, who was recently awarded a PhD degree in law science at Vilnius University. In his dissertation titled “The principle of duty to co-operate, the implementation and significance of this principle in legal contractual construction relations”, Mr Klimas analysed in detail the main rights and obligations of parties to a construction contract. He was the first to present the PhD thesis in construction law in Lithuania.
The dissertation reasons that the principle of duty to co-operate is a common principle of contracts law, and it cannot be interpreted only as the expression of the principle of good faith and fair dealing. Legal doctrine in Lithuania does not embody the rules for the implementation of the principle duty to cooperate, but these rules are created in foreign legal doctrine, and the dissertation opens the possibility and necessity of the use of these rules in Lithuania. Furthermore, the thesis discloses the principle duty to cooperate as relevant in daily practice as it might serve not only in settling disputes in court or arbitration, but also in preventing disputes.
As noted by Evaldas Klimas, the reason for choosing this research topic was due to the complexity of construction relations and certain problems encountered by parties during the implementation of construction contracts. Because Mr Klimas has actively worked in the construction field for more than 6 years, he has practical knowledge of the abovementioned problems, which further fell into the scope of his research. He spent his internship in Ghent University (Belgium), and also visited the following universities and met with professors from King’s College London (England), Free University of Amsterdam (Netherlands), and Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium). He devoted about 4 years to his research, combining it with his attorney’s practice. In addition, Mr Klimas has been conducting training in Construction law attended by attorneys and attorneys’ assistants in 2010 / 2011.
“A successfully defended thesis is not just a scientific work. It may serve attorneys in daily practice” - marked the associate. “Construction market is recovering. Accordingly, it signals the rise of potential disputes, if the subjects of construction industry shall not apprehend the significance and the content elements of the duty to cooperate in construction process, while drafting and implementing construction contract. As my experience shows, the accumulated scientific knowledge and practice is beneficial to our team, while helping our clients to solve the problems arising in daily business practice”. Mr Klimas promised to continue developing his scientific activity which helps remain “up-to-date” and innovative.
