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Biglaw Offices In Russia And Ukraine Confront Reality Of Wartime Law Practice

What happens to global practice when countries go to war?

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Russia Starts Large-Scale Attack On Ukraine

(Photo by Pierre Crom/Getty Images)

As Russia invades Ukraine, Baker McKenzie and Dentons have closed up their Ukraine offices. No word on the DLA Piper presence, but it’s likely closed up as well. Dentons told Bloomberg Law that “We are in regular contact with our team in Kyiv and are providing our 49 colleagues with any assistance they need, including relocation assistance in the neighboring countries.”

Which is to be expected. It’s impossible to imagine a global law firm operating in Ukraine over the last few years without formulating an emergency response. As soon as the former administration lifted sanctions on Russia and held up military aid to Ukraine, conflict may not have been guaranteed, but became increasingly likely. Hopefully these firms have successfully practiced for this scenario and have their people protected.

But what about the firms operating in Russia? There’s not an immediate risk of conventional attack in Moscow or St. Petersburg, but the security situation will clearly deteriorate quickly, whether from genuine guerrilla threats or — probably more likely — a martial crackdown by Russian authorities motivated by hypothetical guerrilla threats. Beyond the immediate safety of law firm personnel, how do firms continue working on deals for the benefit of the Russian government or private entities with devastating blanket sanctions looming? That’s before even getting into the moral question of lending legal succor to an international aggressor.

According to Legal 500, these firms are all doing business in Russia:

Akin Gump
Allen & Overy
[UPDATE: Baker Botts]
Bryan Cave
Cleary
Clifford Chance
Debevoise
Dechert
Dentons
DLA Piper
Eversheds
HoLove
King & Spalding
Latham
Morgan Lewis
Norton Rose
Squire Patton Boggs
White & Case
Winston & Strawn

We’ve reached out to a few of these firms to hear what they’re doing in response to the situation. We’ll update as we learn specifics. In the meantime, while lawyers and staff working in Ukraine are under immediate threat, keep those working in Russia in your thoughts as well. There’s not really a safe place when neighboring countries are locked in a full-scale war.

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UPDATE: Of note, a list is circulating on social media of firms with lobbying (or lobbying-esque) relationships with the Russian government. Sidley Austin makes this list:

Baker McKenzie, Dentons Close Kyiv Offices Amid Russian Invasion [Bloomberg Law]

HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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