Hogan Lovells announces new independent firm in Moscow

Hogan Lovells announces new independent firm in Moscow

It announced downing its shutters in March in wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine

The American-British law firm Hogan Lovells has closed its Moscow office. Instead, it would be setting up a new independent firm Level Legal Services (LLS) in the Russian capital.

The new firm has been created under the leadership of Alexei Dudko, Leonid Ervits, and Denis Almakaev – the three former lawyers who served in the firm's Moscow office. While Dudko was a partner, Ervits and Almakaev were both counsels.

In a statement, the firm said, "We are reaching out to relevant clients of the Moscow office to confirm whether they would like to transition some of their current work to the new firm, in line with our legal, regulatory and professional obligations."

Natalia Gulyaeva, the former managing partner of the firm's Moscow office will relocate to Düsseldorf with a small team and continue to advise clients on IP, media, and technology matters.

While informing that many members of the Moscow team would move over to other offices, the firm added, "Some of our colleagues will not be relocating or joining the new firm. So, we anticipate some redundancies."

Meanwhile, Ervits maintained that LLS had secured a referral arrangement with Hogan Lovells, where most of its partners and lawyers had worked for a long time.

He added that the new firm would operate across Russia and the wider CIS region, offering services including corporate, employment, finance, regulatory, trade and commerce, real estate, and dispute resolution.

Apart from the managing partner trio, other former Hogan Lovells lawyers to join the firm include Maria Baeva, Vironika Pilyugina, and Serafima Pankratova.