On the 18th of April 2019, law firm Rybalkin, Gortsunyan & Partners (RGP) held a seminar hosting around 90 participants – chief legal officers of major companies and banks represented in Russia.

RGP’s dispute resolution practice is one of the most high-profile and successful in Russia in resolving complex commercial disputes involving a Russian element in foreign courts and arbitral tribunals, as well as in coordinating and handling intricate investigations in Russia and abroad.

Speakers from RGP included Ilya Rybalkin, head of the firm’s dispute resolution practice and one of its founders, counsel Ivan Meleshenko and Anastasia Konstantinova, and an associate Yan Kalish. They shared their experience in preparing and gathering documents and information for litigations in such countries as the United States, England and Wales, British Virgin Islands, and Cyprus. Specifically, the speakers elaborated on the recent practice of enforcement of a Norwich Pharmacal disclosure order in several common law jurisdictions, as well as a similar “Section 1782” order in the US, and gave a perspective of using the results of such disclosure in foreign judicial proceedings. Besides that, RGP experts expanded on the latest trends relating to the use of RICO claims under US law, designed to combat organized crime, in corporate and civil law disputes involving Russian and foreign parties.

Paul McGrath QC of Essex Court Chambers, with whom RGP works together on a number of high-profile cases involving Russian clients in courts of BVI, England and Wales, was invited to take part in the event. Paul is a renowned barrister and an unrivaled expert in the field of commercial fraud, asset tracing claims and freezing orders. Paul acted as a leading counsel in a number of high-profile cases involving Russian businesses (for instance, VTB Capital plc v Nutritek International Corp, Yukos Capital SARL v OJSC Rosneft Oil Co, Latvijas Krajbanka v Vladimir Antonov, JSC Mezhdunarodniy Promyshlenniy Bank v Pugachev & Ors, PJSC Tatneft v Bogolyubov/Kolomoisky, etc.). He is also the author of Commercial Fraud in Civil Practice, a legal bestseller providing an in-depth practical analysis of asset tracing, freezing and recovery issues. Paul McGrath discussed the latest approaches to the use of freezing orders, citing some recent experiences.

Another expert from London was James Popperwell, head of Macfarlanes’ fraud practice. James has been dealing with disputes involving Russian, Ukrainian and CIS businesses for over 16 years and has taken part in many prominent cases such as United Company Rusal plc v The London Metal Exchange. James shared his experience and discussed recent developments in establishing jurisdiction of the UK courts against Russian clients.

Peter Gloushkov, Advisor to the General Director, PJSC Tatneft, took part in the event as a guest of honour and speaker. Peter shared his experience in foreign litigations. Jointly with Paul McGrath, Peter discussed such issues as maturity and sophistication of the UK legal system and cooperation of Russian companies with Queen’s Counsel and law firms in English-based litigation.

The event was rated highly by clients and lawyers and received a great deal of positive response.

The seminar was organised jointly with Pravo.ru portal and took place at the Community venue. The seminar concluded with the cocktail reception arranged by brand-chef Giacomo Lombardi.