A group of lawyers led by McCue Jury & Partners and Mishcon de Reya LLP are looking for money to try sanctioned Russians. During them, it is planned to sue assets worth up to a trillion dollars. Writes about it Bloomberg.
Lawyers have turned to hedge funds, family offices and litigation finance firms for funding, Bloomberg sources said. Most of the money that will be received as a result of the courts is planned to be transferred to Ukrainians who suffered as a result of the Russian attack. Investors will also receive their share in case of success.
A group of lawyers calls itself the Ukrainian Justice Alliance. Ben Brandon, partner at Mishcon de Reya LLP, said they are fully aware that this is a pioneering initiative. “It will largely depend on the appetite of customers, the appetite of sponsors and the appetite of the courts, whether it will be possible to push it through,” he stressed.
According to Bloomberg's source, one hedge fund has already refused to sponsor lawyers. Another source told the publication that some investors, including family offices, are considering donating cash to fund the lawsuit. Also, initially, lawyers asked for funds from Ukrainian billionaires, but to no avail. They are currently working on a crowdfunding platform in collaboration with many other law firms, as well as Bellingcat.
In addition to the financial component, the situation is complicated by the fact that about 20 sanctioned Russians, including Mikhail Fridman, Roman Abramovich and Petr Aven, have filed lawsuits with the European Court of Justice demanding that these sanctions be lifted.
