On May 22, 2026, the final round of the annual competition «Public Policy in International Disputes» among branches of the Presidential Academy took place at the Moscow campus of RANEPA.
The competition consisted of three stages: (1) the preparation of written memoranda by participating teams based on the case study; (2) participation in an online stage, where teams presented their solutions and defended their legal positions before experts; (3) participation in the oral rounds of the competition, where each team demonstrated the full spectrum of their knowledge and skills, presenting before the jury and the audience.
The Law Office RussianLegal developed the case study and prepared explanatory notes on the case study questions for the arbitrators. The case study was based on one of the firm's cases involving a corporate dispute under sanction restrictions.
The key legal issues addressed in the case study included the following contested questions:
- Where (Russian state courts or international arbitration in Hong Kong) is a dispute regarding recovery of damages from a guarantor located in an offshore jurisdiction subject to sanction restrictions to be heard?
- Is it possible to apply Article 248.1 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (exclusive competence of Russian arbitrazh courts) in the presence of an arbitration clause in favor of international arbitration in Hong Kong?
- Does notification of a foreign party to legal proceedings via a private courier service constitute proper notice?
Lawyers of the Law Office RussianLegal served as arbitrators during the online stage, which included a preliminary hearing where participants presented their resolution of the case study via videoconference.
During the competition finals, the teams presented their positions before practicing lawyers. Polina G. Matveeva, Counsel at the Law Office RussianLegal, served as a judge for the final rounds.
RussianLegal continues to develop its educational initiatives, actively participating in the training of future legal professionals and promoting practice-oriented legal education.
