 He was expelled from the university and exiled to Poltava Governorate "under the secret surveillance of police" for taking part in the student's strike of 1899.After obtaining his university diploma in 1903, he served in the Lubny Circuit Court, and then, since 1905, he was a barrister of the Kharkiv Court Chamber, and in 1913–1917 an elected judge of Zolotonosha uyezd in the Poltava Governorate.In his studential years, he took part in the Ukrainian independence movement, heading one of the organization's bases in Kiev.