About Legal Run

Legal Run is the first international charity initiative uniting legal professionals, as well as their friends, colleagues, and partners, worldwide since 2014. Over the past 13 years, from 2014 to 2026 inclusive, the project has raised over 59,5 million rubles and helped 159 children.

It was held to commemorate three celebrations: Russian Advocacy Day (May 31), World No Tobacco Day (May 31), and Children’s Day (June 1). The organizers decided to combine these wonderful occasions and host the Moscow Legal Run – the first charity run among lawyers.

Subsequently, other cities in Russia and then around the world joined the initiative. Since then, for twelve consecutive years, dozens of Russian and foreign law firms, in-house legal departments, bar associations, solo practitioners, as well as students and professors from the leading Russian law schools have participated in the run annually in various cities and countries. From 2014 to 2026, over 35,000 lawyers from more than 150 cities and 35 countries worldwide have run their Legal Run. Many companies participate in the runs as corporate teams, either in one city or simultaneously in several cities where the runs are held.

In addition to the official races, the Global Legal Run flashmobs - global actions by lawyers in support of the Legal Run project - take place every year around the world. Over the lifetime of the project, more than 17,000 people around the world have participated in the flash mobs.

The Legal Run project is a fundraising initiative. Participation fees are collected during online registration, and the funds directly go to the Podari Zhizn' Charitable Foundation. 

The organization of the runs is supported by private donations and sponsorship funds from law firms and other companies. Partners and sponsors for each year are listed on the city pages of the website.

Each city’s run is organized by a professional team of lawyers, marketers, sports event experts, volunteers, and other concerned people – over 3,500 people have worked on the Legal Run project in various cities over the years. The races are conducted in accordance with sports protocols and adhere to all the rules and standards for holding sporting events.

About the Legal Run project goals:

1) The main mission of the project is charitable: the participation fee for the run is a charitable donation, which will be sent immediately upon registration to support the wards of the Podari Zhizn’ Foundation and several regional foundations.

2) To unite the legal community - when we unite, our help becomes much more visible. Legal Run is a space where competition is set aside in favor of a shared purpose. Bringing people together, elevating them above personal ambitions and commercial interests, is a challenging goal, but we prove year after year that it is achievable.

3) Healthy lifestyle - it's great to see that we are helping people feel healthier and happier, and making their lives better. Lawyers support healthy lifestyles and a thoughtful approach to health. 

Awards and public recognition:

Consolidated Rating of the Communication and Reputational Capital of participants in the legal market of Moscow and St. Petersburg - 2026

On June 24, 2026, as part of the IV Annual Conference "Legal Marketing and Management in St. Petersburg: coming together - Reassembling yourself", an award ceremony was held for the winners of the Consolidated Rating of Communication and Reputational Capital of participants in the legal market of Moscow and St. Petersburg - 2026.

The International Charitable Lawyers' Run Legal Run has become one of the leaders of the rating in the nomination "Professional Communities and their contribution to the development of the industry" - Group I.

Legal market ranking of professional communities 2025

On 28 January 2025, within the framework of the III annual conference "Business Square of Modern Consulting and Legal Department", the award ceremony of the winners of the first Legal market ranking of professional communities 2025 took place.

The Legal Run project became the leader of the rating in three nominations at once:

1. Community by interests/attractions" - Group I;

2. Territorial community" - Group I;

3. Absolute scoring" - Group I.

GQ Magazine Award

In 2018, the Legal Run project team received an award from the legendary GQ magazine in the 'In a Healthy Business' category. The award was presented at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum in June 2018.

Legal Run results:

Over the 13 years of the project, from 2014 to 2026, more than 35,000 lawyers from over 150 cities and 35 countries have participated in the Legal Run. Thanks to the project's participants and partners, we have managed to raise more than 59,5 million roubles and help 159 children.

2026: In 2026, the Podari Zhizn’ Foundation managed to raise an amount of 14,069,702 rubles, which were allocated to help twenty-five wards with severe oncological and other diseases. Thus, the treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia was received by Vladislav Shtanov from Orel, Sasha Komarov from Severomorsk, Angelina Rozhina from Penza, Alina Alekseeva from Krasnodar Krai, Denis Serov from Kostroma Region, Polina Glyzina from Yaroslavl, Misha Putilin from Balashikha and Daria Kirillova from the Republic of Buryatia. Kirill Ivanko from Chelyabinsk and Mikhail Meshcheryakov from the Ryazan Region are fighting Burkitt's lymphoma, while Yaroslav Shepaev from Kuznetsk is fighting lymphoblastic lymphoma. Timur Vasiliev from Bashkortostan is fighting glioma, Elnur Abdullaev from Novosibirsk and Andrey Sigaev from Kuzbass are fighting aplastic anemia. Muslim Tetuyev from the Karachay‑Cherkess Republic is undergoing treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma, Artyom Kirik from the Bryansk Region is undergoing treatment for lymphoma, and Kira Kalinina from Vladimir is undergoing treatment for anaplastic large cell lymphoma. Arina Kazepina from Smolensk is fighting Ewing's sarcoma, Robert Rubaev from Vladikavkaz is fighting sarcoma, and Anastasia Yakovleva from Moscow is fighting lower eyelid sarcoma. Maxim Legoshin from Nizhny Novgorod received treatment for Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, Egor Semov from Naro‑Fominsk — from juvenile xanthogranuloma, Alisa Anikina from the Moscow region — from acute myeloblastic leukemia. Abdulahad Himatzoda from Tajikistan, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and Vitaly Kravchenko from the village of Staroignatievka, who was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, also received support.

In Voronezh, Chernozemye Legal Run brought together lawyers from five regions, and donations were collected in favor of the regional DobroSvet Foundation to help its wards — children with cancer and other serious diseases. As a result of the event, 1,125,814 rubles were collected — these funds were used to purchase a drug for autotransplantation, which, thanks to Legal Run, will be carried out in the region for the first time.

Ural Legal Run was held in Yekaterinburg for the sixth time. 783,000 rubles were collected this year. The funds raised went to six wards of the Ural Children of Russia Charitable Foundation, participants in the HE NEEDS YOU project, to pay for specialized equipment for high—quality home care, daily rehabilitation and recovery treatment.

2025: In 2025, it was possible to raise 10.5 million rubles, which were allocated for 17 wards of the Podari Zhizn’ Foundation with various oncological diseases: Yesenia Zhelezova, Daria Dyachok, Melania Kosareva, Andrey Klinichev, Daniel Zagorulko, Kirill Ivanko, Nurtilek Baktygulov, Eleonora Afanasyeva, Savva Andronov, Arseny Barkov, Eva Artyunova, Matvey Kazantsev, Petr Yanov, Dobromira Mamontova, Anastasia Leva, Danila Pomortsev, Sofia Kukleva.

2024: In 2024, the total amount raised was 8 million rubles. This money was used to treat 14 children - wards of the Gift of Life Foundation with various oncological diseases: Elmira Gribanova, Arina Vetrova, Khaticha Hudzhayorzoda, Artyom Kazmirov, Muhammad Daniyalov, Arseniy Pantsov, Rakhima Tynychbekova, Vika Vokhmintseva, Nikita Ignatyev, Kirill Rusin, Yulia Tyulpeneva, Radion Anikeychik, Kirill Filin and Artem Gorbachev.

2023: In 2023, flashmobs raised more than 1.7 million rubles, which were sent to the Podari Zhizn Foundation for the treatment of 7 children with cancer: Varya Zhidkova, Seryozha Kuznetsov, Artur Kasyanov, Vladislav Salmin, Emil Mochalkin, Dani Dolgov and Seva Blinov.

2022: Flash mobs raised RUB 1.6 million, which was donated to the Podari Zhizn Foundation for the treatment of 8 children with various oncological diseases: Shri Boloram Devdas, Yulia Dantseva, Ratmir Farhitdinov, Sasha Timoshenko, Darina Niftieva, Arseniy Kurochkin, Svyatoslav Bogu, Yulia Anikina.

2021: In 2021, a total of about RUB 3 million was raised. RUB 2.8 million of this was donated to to the Podari Zhizn Foundation to treat 10 children with various cancer diseases. Magomed Magomedov, Ilya Eliseev, Ulyana Erofeeva, Demiss Muratidi, Marina Guseva, Milana Nurilloeva, Nurizata Israilova, Arina Prikhodko, Dasha Nikitina and Evgeny Predein.2020: In 2020, the project raised about 1 million rubles. This money was sent to the 'Gift of Life' fund. The fund helps children with cancer. The children are called Sasha Mozgov, Sasha Petrun, Sasha Grigorevskaya, Nikita Boryak and Diana Vdovina.

You can find the results from 2014 to 2025 in the About Legal Run section. Look in the tabs on the right. There is a tab for year and another for city of the race.