Professional Experience

Attorney at Law Arkady Stanislavovich Lee has a vast experience of work both with organizations and individuals.

For the purpose of observing one of the key principles of attorney at law’s practice, i.e. confidentiality, the clients’ names cannot be listed.

Set forth below are the descriptions and histories of some cases processed by the attorney at law:

Some Trials Involving Organizations

1. Protecting shareholders rights.
   One of the first lawsuits in Moscow related to the protection of shareholders rights.
   The client was a major Russian financial company Investment Dom "Russian Stock Capital". The client company acquired a shareholding in a commercial bank (Stock Commercial Bank "Aviabank") under a sale and purchase contract. The bank declined to enter the company in the register of shareholders alleging that the requirements of antimonopoly law and provisions of securities law had been breached in the process of purchasing the shares.
   The attorney at law brought an action in arbitration court for protection of the client’s rights. The court found the sale and purchase transaction to be in compliance with law and obliged the bank to enter the company in the register of shareholders.
   This suit was heard in all instances, including the RF Supreme Arbitration Court.
2. Licensing business.
   A lawsuit relative to the protection of the ownership of an aircraft and conveyance licensing.
   The client acquired an aircraft and the right to use it for air conveyances. However, in contravention of the aircraft sale and purchase contract the seller did not deliver the aircraft to the client.
   The court acknowledged the client’s title to the aircraft and that money for the aircraft was paid in whole. This suit passed all instances, including the RF Supreme Arbitration Court, and lasted about two years.
3. A breach of a loan agreement.
   The client was a Russian commercial bank. The client bank entered into a loan agreement with a Russian firm which, having obtained a loan, did not perform its commitments to its counteragents under the product supply contracts.
   The arbitration court of primary jurisdiction unlawfully held the bank liable for the borrower’s acts.
   The bank with the help of the attorney at law appealed against the award, inter alia, to the RF Supreme Arbitration Court. By protest of the Chairman of the RF SAC the award was set aside and remanded for a new trial. The bank was released from liability (Supreme Arbitration Coup of Russia, Regulation # ЗН 94-9, 25.04.1994 ).
   The report on these proceedings was published in the leading media: the newspapers Kommersant-DAILY and Vedomosti.
4. Failure to perform contractual obligations to supply the goods.
   The client, a Russian plant, entered into several supply contracts with a foreign firm under which the former undertook to acquire equipment. Pledge agreements were concluded to secure the supply.
   The foreign supplier failed to perform all of its supply obligations. The attorney at law defended the buyer. A claim was filed with the Arbitration Court of the RF Chamber of Commerce and Industry seeking to rescind the contracts and recover the principal debt and damages from the supplier.
   The arbitration court resolved to recover about US$ 4,000,000 from the defendant.
5. Bankruptcy.
   A.S. Lee represented the interests of a major Japanese firm in the bankruptcy proceedings against a major Russian company. That foreign firm extended a loan to the Russian enterprise in excess of US$ 2,000,000.
   An amicable agreement was concluded in this suit. The case was heard about a year in the first, appellate, and cassation instances.
6. Representing companies’ interests before governmental agencies.
   A group of Russian companies asked the attorney at law to represent their interests before the RF customs agencies, public prosecutor’s office, and operational bodies of the customs in the cases concerning smuggling and violation of customs law.
   As a result of about six months work all of the charges were quashed. The goods were released from attachment and put into free circulation.
7. Working with firms active in the securities market.
   A Russian firm doing business in the securities market as a broker (NAUFOR - National Association of Securities Dealers) entered into an agency service agreement with another Russian company. Under that agreement the broker acting as an agent of the Russian company was to make in the name and for the account of the latter various transactions in securities circulating in the Russian stock market.
   The broker firm’s counteragent under said agreement repudiated the transactions and demanded to repay it the rest of the money transferred to the broker.
   The broker firm did not repay the money accusing its counteragent of breaching the agency relationship requirements of civil law as well as provisions of securities law and requirements of the Federal Commission for Securities.
   А.S. Lee lodged a claim with court of referees on behalf of the client seeking to oblige the defendant to repay the funds. The claim was entirely allowed.
8. Working with market natural monopolists - Yuzhniy Rechnoy Port.
   A Russian firm required a Moscow river port to enter into a contract under natural monopoly law. The port refused to do it. The firm commenced an action in court to urge the port to conclude the contract. The governmental agency for control of natural transport monopolies was a codefendant.
   Attorney at law А.S Lee represented the port’s interests.
   The firm’s action against the client was dismissed. It was established that the port was entitled to refuse to enter into the contract.
9. Importation contracts.
   The client, a foreign cigarette firm, concluded a guarantee agreement and a loan agreement with a Russian bank as a security for an importation contract. Although the importation transaction was made pursuant to Russian customs and foreign exchange law, the bank declined to repay the money to the foreign firm.
   The client instituted an action in arbitration court to recover more than US$ 300,000.
   The claims were allowed in full.
10. Preparation of the full set of commercial documents. Client - representation office of company NANGATE A/S (Denmark)

Some Trials Involving Individuals

1. Russian family law.
   The client, a well-known English law firm Clifford Chance, asked attorney at law A.S. Lee to advance his opinion on some norms of Russian family law in relation to facts finding in a case heard in the Court of New York.
   The case was instigated in connection with the explosion of the World Trade Center.
   Arkady Stanislavovich who acted as a specialist provided an affidavit for the US court.
2. Division of spouses’ property.
   A case over division of spouses’ common property. The point is that the client in this case prayed the court to divide the assets of the firm founded by the spouse.
3. A case over holding the apartment sale and purchase contract invalid.
   The public prosecutor’s office instituted an action against the apartment owner (client) for holding the apartment sale and purchase contract invalid as a minor lived in that apartment and the seller had not obtained the consent of the guardianship bodies to the transaction.
   The apartment in dispute was resold five times.
   After long proceedings the public prosecutor’s office’s action was dismissed and the client’s interests were not affected.
4. Disputes about children (child upbringing).
   After divorce the child’s mother (client) married a foreigner. She brought an action against the child’s father to determine the child’s place of residence. Father commenced a counteraction to determine the procedures for participating in the child’s upbringing.
   As a result of the trial the parties, father and mother, signed an agreement for child upbringing.
   Shortly after the judgment mother and her daughter went abroad where the child continued going to school. Daughter regularly meets her father.
5. Traffic accident.
   The client filed a claim against a state-owned enterprise for damages caused by a traffic accident.
   The respondent’s car was insured by an insurance company.
   As a result of the proceedings the client received almost twice as much money as he was offered at first.
6. Nuptial contracts (agreements).
   The attorney at law prepared a draft nuptial agreement between one of the biggest Russian businessmen and his future wife having foreign nationality.
7. Drawing up a last will.
   Arkady Stanislavovich prepared a draft last will of a Russian national in accordance with foreign law. In the course of preparing the draft the attorney at law carried out a serious analytical work. The analysis and research concerned the matters of international succession and related risks.