International law giants Norton Rose Fulbright announces Russia exit

Global law firm, Norton Rose Fulbright has announced that it will cease operations in its Moscow office, as part of efforts expressing its solidarity with Ukraine. 

A a statement released by the firm mentioned that the decision has been made as a stand with the “with the people of Ukraine who are suffering as a result of the increasingly brutal invasion by Russia.”

The statement further indicated;

“We are winding down our operations in Russia and will be closing our Moscow office as quickly as we can, in compliance with our professional obligations. The wellbeing of our staff in the region is a priority. We thank our 50 colleagues in Moscow for their loyal service and will support them through this transition.

“Some immediate actions are possible and we are taking them. We are not accepting any further instructions from businesses, entities or individuals connected with the current Russian regime, irrespective of whether they are sanctioned or not. In addition, we continue to review exiting from existing work for them where our professional obligations as lawyers allow. Where we cannot exit from current matters, we will donate the profits from that work to appropriate humanitarian and charitable causes.

“We are working with our charitable partners in every region to raise funds to help the people of Ukraine, as well as providing pro bono support to those Ukrainians and others who are being forced to relocate.”

According to Legal Insider, some backlash had been levelled against the firm over its instruction to its lawyers to not comment on sanctions imposed against Russia. By taking this decision, however, Norton Rose Fulbright has become one of the leading international firms in Russia to announce a cessation of its operations and jurisdiction after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

Legal Insider has further reported that Magic circle law firm Linklaters is preparing to exit Russia as well.