Overview
(September 25, 2020, London) — Steptoe & Johnson UK LLP has been shortlisted for litigation awards by both Legal Week and The Lawyer. The firm is a finalist for "Litigation Team of the Year" in The Lawyer awards. Additionally, Legal Week has named Steptoe a finalist for "Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team of the Year – International" in the British Legal Awards. Both nominations stem from the firm's representation of a Russian banking group in two high-profile cases.
In January 2020, the English High Court of Justice handed down a judgment against the three former majority shareholders of Russia's National Bank Trust (NBT) finding that the three were involved in a massive fraudulent scheme that led to the bank's collapse. The defendants were also ordered to pay compensation of US $900 million. The decision received extensive media coverage.
The ruling followed a July 2019 decision from the High Court that granted NBT a US $570 million freezing order against Russian oligarchs Boris Mints and his sons. Boris Mints was the co-founder of Otkritie, which was Russia's largest privately held bank by assets before its 2017 nationalization. The collapse of National Bank Trust prompted the second largest state-funded bailout of a bank in Russian history.
The London-based Steptoe team representing National Bank Trust is led by partner Neil Dooley, with associate Natalia Gofman.
The winners of The Lawyer Awards will be announced during a virtual event on November 3, while the winners of the British Legal Awards will be announced during a virtual event on November 19.
About Steptoe
In more than 100 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.
