Litigators of Russia – unite!

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The Russian commercial justice system has suffered from image problems in the past, but recent court reforms and a boom in litigation look set to challenge this. LB investigates the impact on the domestic litigation market

In 2005, when Anton Ivanov was appointed chairman of Russia’s Supreme Court of Arbitration, the country’s highest commercial court, the domestic judicial system was blighted by accusations of political interference and corruption. It is fair to say that, for those seeking greater judicial independence within Russia and a broom to sweep away the court system’s perceived problems, Ivanov’s appointment wasn’t immediately seen as a great herald for change. For anyone hoping for an outsider, his arrival was an immense disappointment. Continue reading “Litigators of Russia – unite!”

Russian cases for Russian lawyers

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Disputes from Russia and the CIS are an increasingly profitable area for Western firms, even for those without offices in the region. LB looks at how long the trend can continue

It’s a time bomb,’ says Dimitry Afanasiev, chairman of the Russian law firm Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners. ‘Given the fact that at some point some of these commercial contracts are going to blow up into a dispute then I think the English legal market is going to see Russian business for a long, long time.’ Continue reading “Russian cases for Russian lawyers”

Over a barrel

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A recent victory in The Hague has green-lit a record-breaking $100bn claim by Yukos’ majority shareholders against the Russian Federation. Legal Business investigates an arbitration that could change the face of international investment forever

On 31 May 2005, Mikhail Khodorkovsky shuffled into the spartan confines of Moscow’s Meshchansky courtroom for the last time, his hands and feet bound in shackles. Alongside co-defendant Platon Lebedev, he was placed inside a steel cage, flanked either side by armed militsiya guards. He was not facing trial for murder or some other violent crime, but for alleged fraud and tax evasion as part of a wider case against Russian oil giant Yukos, of which he was CEO.

Continue reading “Over a barrel”