03.10.22

300 best practicing lawyers attended the XIV Legal Forum of the Southern Russia, organized by Advocates Bureau Yug and Pravo.ru

300 best practicing lawyers attended the XIV Legal Forum of the Southern Russia, organized by Advocates Bureau Yug and Pravo.ru

The tiresome hot summer have come to an end, but the velvet season is still bringing warm weather. On September 8-10 Sochi hosted XIV Legal Forum of the Southern Russia, organized by Advocates Bureau Yug and Pravo.ru.

The welcoming party took place at sunset in Sochi Grand Marina near seaport. All guests could either enjoy live music and magnificent views or participate in intellectual game “What?Where?When?” with legendary Alexander Drouz as a host.

The official program of the forum was rich and relevant to current events in the business world: sanctions restrictions, judicial practice, bankruptcy and subsidiary liability, legal risks of businesses and criminal liability of their owners.

The official part started with a business breakfast moderated by Yuri Pustovit, Managing partner of Advocates Bureau Yug, who suggested to discuss business problems during sanctions. Everyone at the breakfast shared their ways to protect assets during the sanctions period, learned about the legal risks of parallel imports, summarized current customs and criminal risks for businesses, as well opportunity of citizenship through investment: government programs in other countries that are still open to Russian residents.

The 1st session “Main judicial events 2022” covered a wide range of legal practices. All participants discussed opportunities and trends in asset management of foreign companies; new trends in judicial practice during

sanctions; problems and prospects of class suits against foreign companies that have left Russia; risks, preferences and prospects related to taxes in business; current IP litigations: trademarks, challenging decisions of Rospatent and the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia.

ABY’s Senior associate Sergey Radchenko spoke about the current judicial practice of the Supreme Court on damage recoveries.

The bankruptcy topic is so wide in new realities that the second session was completely devoted to it. Practicing lawyers shared their opinions on trends in requirement subordination in bankruptcy, gave practical advice on mediation in bankruptcy, talked about current cases on challenging transactions on bankruptcy grounds, advised to monitor activities of liquidators, to protect market conditions for services rendered in criminal prosecution and bankruptcy disputes. They also found out what should be done when foreclosing on the only housing of the debtor during bankruptcy, as stated by the Supreme and the Constitutional Courts of the Russian Federation.

During the 3rd session “Business responsibility: administrative, subsidiary and criminal” speakers considered trends in judicial practice, cases of subsidiary liability outside bankruptcy, liability insurance of directors and officials. They also shared how to save management from a criminal case by creating a prejudice if you lose arbitration dispute, in accordance with Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. They disclosed ins and outs of responsibility for off-the-meter electricity consumption and how to protect a client in case of tax crimes.

The final 4th session “The future of legal business and new challenges in working with clients” was held in the aquarium format that allows speakers to discuss both “controversial” topics by involving different parties and their possible solutions. Among the speakers were Yuri Pustovit (Managing Partner of Advocates Bureau Yug), Oleg Grishunin (Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs at BEL Development), Elena Krupskaya (Director of Legal Affairs at X5), etc. Speakers and participants united in an effort to find solutions to controversial issues, using recommendations from in-houses experts and consultants, to predict which industries, practices and directions will be in demand in 2022-2023, to build eco-friendly communications in a professional environment in 2022 realities. The final topic involved law firm management, peculiarities of pricing in the legal market in current economic situation and attempts to find something new in the legal team management to inspire employees to new achievements.

One who works well deserves to rest well, especially when the former involves outdoor activities. Thus, the Legal Forum of the Southern Russia chose the traditional sailing regatta to close official program in 2022. Bright sun, salty sea and speed competition create right mood for future work. The forum ended with award ceremony of the regatta’s winners and promises to welcome its guests next year.

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