On the same day that the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) reserved decision on Ukraine’s emergency request that the ICJ order Putin to halt his war of aggression, Norton Rose Fulbright announced March 7 it is winding down its service to Russian clients, as well as shutting down its 50-plus-employee office in Moscow, in response to “the increasingly brutal” Feb. 24 invasion by Russia which has already killed thousands of Ukrainians.
“We are not accepting any further instructions from businesses, entities or individuals connected with the current Russian regime, irrespective of whether they are sanctioned [by governments] or not,” the law firm said in a statement that was quoted in media.
Norton Rose, which describes itself as “Canada's first truly international law firm,” has 50 offices around the world, including 600 legal professionals in six Canadian offices. Media also reported that the firm said it is reviewing whether it can leave existing files, and that it will donate the profits from any ongoing work to humanitarian and charitable causes, as well as provide pro bono assistance to the tide of Ukrainians fleeing their country’s devastation.
Other Canadian law firms known to have substantial Russian clientele and business dealings, were not as forthcoming with media.
At press time, for example, The Lawyer’s Daily had not received any response to requests for information from Gowling WLG, with a Moscow office employing more than 20 legal professionals, or from McCarthy Tétrault, a member and sponsor of conferences of the Canadian Association of Lawyers with Russian Eurasian Interests whose primary purpose is “to ascertain the best way to enhance the presence, influence and visibility of current and future Canadian lawyers interested in Canadian, Russian and Eurasian matters.”
Law firms, especially those with a physical presence in Russia, are no doubt facing safety and employment issues with respect to their Canadian and local staff (on March 5, the federal government advised Canadians to leave Russia), along with issues related to their professional obligations to existing clients on current files. Commercial and reputational issues are also implicated as a result of the invasion which the Canadian Bar Association March 7 called “a serious breach of peremptory norms of international law and the laws of Ukraine.”
The number of international law firms announcing their withdrawal from servicing Russian clientele has been growing since Linklater’s announced March 4 that it is winding down its operations in Russia and shutting down the 70-strong office it opened in Moscow 30 years ago.
In a statement, Linklater’s said it “will not act for individuals or entities that are controlled by, or under the influence of, the Russian state, or connected with the current Russian regime, wherever they are in the world. We will wind down existing work in accordance with our legal and professional obligations. We will continue to assist international clients in dealing with the implications of the current crisis and in unwinding their Russian business interests.”
On March 7 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer of London announced it is withdrawing from its litigation mandate representing Russian bank VTB on a $535-million dispute in London’s High Court.
Andriy Stelmashchuk of the Ukrainian law firm Vasil Kisil & Partners recently called on international law firms to stop working for Russian entities in order to amp up the economic pressure and sanctions on Putin’s government in response to the invasion.
“I am expecting all international companies to terminate their operations in Russia,” he told the Global Legal Post. “Otherwise they are paying for those bullets which are killing Ukrainian soldiers.”
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