This follows a wave of outright withdrawals from Russia on Wednesday. As a general rule, law firms cannot opt out of representing clients without the consent of the court in the midst of a legal dispute. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, who is trying to retire as an attorney for a sanctioned Russian state-owned bank in a U.S. lawsuit since Russia`s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, asked the U.S. District Judge presiding over the case to approve a motion to replace Freshfields` lawyers with a Connecticut-based attorney in a small intellectual property firm. Six leading international law firms today announced plans to withdraw from Russia, including global giants Latham & Watkins and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. The company is exceptional – absolutely in the leading group for European restructuring. It has an excellent European network with strength and depth in various offices. Client Quote, Chambers Europe 2016 (Insolvency and Restructuring) “Where we cannot withdraw from ongoing cases, we will donate the profits of this work to appropriate humanitarian and charitable causes,” the company added. Freshfields is also ending the legal work of VTB, Russia`s second-largest bank, according to a statement on the law firm`s website on Monday. The statement said the law firm is “deeply concerned by the loss of life and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.” In that case, Freshfields asked the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit to stay the case until the bank hires a new lawyer. The law firm said in its public statement that “our professional obligations – including our duties to the court” required such a court record. The owner of the Ilford company took advantage of the client through excessive commission fees and storage costs. Law firm Norton Rose Fulbright leaves Russia after invasion of Ukraine (Reuters) – As a major international law firm tries to dump Russian development bank VEB as a client over the invasion of Ukraine, the sanctioned state lender has turned to a lesser-known Connecticut lawyer in a U.S. legal battle over religious documents. Global law firm abandons Russian bank clients in sacred Jewish text case Law firms cut relationships with Russian clients as international sanctions spread Freshfields is taking “immediate steps to end our litigation mandate with VTB Bank,” the firm said today — days after telling the Supreme Court that it would continue to act on behalf of the sanctioned lender. Would have obtained a “general licence” from the government to receive legal fees. Global Competition Review Awards 2016 Conduct Question of the Year (agency) – Europe – with other law firms Today`s announcement follows Linklaters` decision on Friday night to close its Moscow office, which opened in 1992, and “liquidate” all of its operations in Russia. The relocation of the law firm founded in London to separate from the VEB. RF comes about two weeks after the bank faced U.S. sanctions for Russia`s invasion of Ukraine, and just as the religious lawsuit was about to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
The decision to end the legal work of VEB, one of Russia`s largest financial institutions with an asset portfolio of $53 billion according to U.S. officials, marked the recent withdrawal of a major law firm from a sanctioned entity following Russia`s military attack on Ukraine. Russia described its action as a “special operation.” Lawyers from the law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have been defending the VEB since 2020 in the trial in Washington, D.C. The case was filed by an American Jewish organization to enforce a $150 million ruling against Russia for failing to return Jewish letters and texts that landed in the country after World War II. He added: “The company will immediately begin an orderly transition, in accordance with our ethical obligations to our customers, to cease operations in Moscow. We will focus primarily on the safety and well-being of our colleagues in Russia. The firm also said it would “not accept any further instructions from companies, entities or individuals associated with the current Russian regime, whether sanctioned or not,” and that it would “consider exiting existing work for them if our professional commitments as lawyers allow it.” Several major companies have responded to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine by announcing reviews of existing work and decisions not to accept new customers with ties to Russia. “This approach goes beyond what is necessary to meet our legal, regulatory and professional obligations and reflects our values as a company and the broader responsibilities of the global business community,” a Freshfields spokesperson said. Magic Circle Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer abandons a major Russian client in response to the invasion of Ukraine while global firm Norton Rose follows Fulbright Linklaters in closing its Moscow office. Freshfields has one of the largest teams in Moscow, with around 90 lawyers and support staff in Moscow.
Latham lists 24 Moscow-based lawyers on its website, including Mikhail Turetsky, who joined the firm in 2011 from Baker McKenzie. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer decided to close its Moscow site on Wednesday following a flood of companies exiting from Russia. Eversheds Sutherland, meanwhile, was the first company to announce its withdrawal plans today. It has 40 lawyers spread across bases in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Gowling WLG has a team of 30 lawyers and patent attorneys in its Moscow office.