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Year of Call: 2003
Education: International Law (Moscow Institute of International Relations); CPE, BVC
Languages: Russian (bilingual); French (fluent)
Direct Access work: Yes
Email: ekaterinasjostrand@13oldsquare.com; ekaterina@sjostrand.co.uk
Personal web-site: www.sjostrand.co.uk
Background
Ekaterina is the only dual-qualified English-Russian lawyer practising at the Bar of England and Wales. In addition to her qualification as an English barrister, she is also a fully qualified Russian lawyer (since 1995). In Russia, Ekaterina was awarded a Personal Scholarship of the President of the Russian Federation for academic excellence. In Britain, she was awarded a Major Scholarship by the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple.
Areas of practice
Ekaterina’s practice covers a broad range of commercial and chancery matters such as commercial contracts, joint ventures, insurers’ liability, insolvency (domestic and cross-border), company law, etc. She has been instructed on a number of complex multi-jurisdictional matters involving difficult points of English and foreign law (most notably, Russian law):
- For many months, she was heavily involved in a high value (in the region of £400million) piece of international commercial litigation focused on an aluminium plant in Central Asia, working as part of an international legal team (Tajik Aluminium Plant v Ermatov and Others (2006)). Among other matters, she was instructed as a junior co-counsel to draft a Defence on behalf of a prominent Russian group of companies (RUSAL), and advise on various complex issues arising from the application of English, Russian and Tajik law.
- Working as part of a legal team dealing with a defamation claim brought against a high-profile Russian individual (High Tech International AG v Deripaska (2006)) and a claim against a Russian group of companies and individuals where unauthorised access to a computer system was alleged (Ashton Investments Ltd v OJSC Russian Aluminium (2006));
- Instructed as a junior co-counsel in an international commercial dispute concerning ownership in a large Russian industrial group
Ekaterina provides contentious and non-contentious advisory and drafting services to English, Russian and other international clients (law firms, telecoms, insurance and reinsurance companies, trading companies and so on). In particular, she has:
- Advised a prominent telecommunications company in Russia in relation to an international agency/ consultancy arrangement
- Advised a Russian telecommunications group in respect of some legal issues arising from a distribution agreement
- Advised a Russian insurance company in relation to potential liability of London-based re-insurers in connection with a large-scale disaster
- Advised a Russian investment group in relation to a prospective claim for breach of a joint venture agreement
- Advised on other matters in relation to joint ventures, shareholders agreements, syndicated loans and pledge, insolvency (domestic and cross-border), breach of fiduciary duties, constructive trust, conflict of laws, etc.
Ekaterina also represents clients in county courts and in the High Court in contractual disputes, insolvency, property and other matters.
Publications
- Insolvency Law and Practice Vol.22 Issue 3, “Russian Insolvency Law: An Overview of Legislation”
- Insurance Day, 29.09.06, "How does the law differ in the Russian market?" (broad analysis of legislation applying to insurance in Russia).
- Legal Week, 01.03.07 "No "I" in Team" (on legal teamwork and examples of changing roles of barristers)
- The Commercial Litigation Journal, March/April 2007, "Where language meets the law" (on drafting bilingual documents in commercial litigation)
- In 2008, Ekaterina contributed a series of articles to the American Bar Association (Russia/Eurasia Newsletter) concerning topical issues of Russian law and their comparative analysis to English law. It covered a broad range of matters such as the concept of “abuse of rights” under Russian law, English trusts vs Russian entrusted property administration (co-authored), etc.
- Corporate Rescue and Insolvency, vol 2.3 June 2009, pp.105-107 “Judicial assistance in cross-border insolvency – common law implications of Cambridge Gas Transportation and Phoenix Kapitaldienst”
- Corporate Rescue and Insolvency, vol 2.6 December 2009, pp.249-251 “International arbitration and effect of insolvency proceedings in the context of the EC Insolvency Regulation”
- Mergers and Acquisitions, No 12 (82) 2009 (Moscow, Russia) “Law and practice of shareholders agreements under Russian and English law. Comparative analysis” (in Russian). Co-author Anna Ovcharova, Vegas Lex Law Firm, Moscow.
- To be published soon: "Cash matters: unsecured creditor or proprietary interest? Analysis of the recent Lehman Brothers case" (Corporate Rescue and Insolvency, vol 3.1 February 2010)
Recent speaking
- “Broad analysis of the English IP laws” (a lecture for a delegation from the Moscow Construction University in November 2008);
- “Overview of the English legal system and the main principles of English contract law and trusts” (a full day lecture for Russian and CIS lawyers in Moscow, May and November 2009).
Memberships
Member, Chancery Bar Association |
