Background 

Ekaterina Sjöstrand is a dual-qualified lawyer: in addition to her qualification as a barrister in England and Wales, she is a qualified Russian lawyer. In Russia, she graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) – "MGIMO", a very high-profile university. She was awarded a Personal Scholarship of the President of the Russian Federation for academic excellence.

In Britain, Ms Sjöstrand worked in investment banking in the City of London for 4 years. In order to qualify as an English barrister, she completed a Post-Graduate Diploma in Law and a Bar Vocational Course at BPP Law School followed by a 12-month chancery commercial pupillage at New Square Chambers, Lincoln’s Inn. In 2002, she was awarded a Major Scholarship by the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple. She was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2003.

She is bilingual English-Russian and fluent in French.

Experience

For many months, Ms Sjöstrand was heavily involved in large-scale complex commercial litigation focused on an aluminium plant in Central Asia, working as part of an international legal team. Among other matters, she was instructed as a junior co-counsel to draft a Defence on behalf of a prominent Russian group of companies (Tajik Aluminium Plant v Ermatov and Others (2006)). She was  involved in other high profile commercial disputes with a Russian/ CIS connection, such as:

• Working as a consultant to 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

Ms Sjöstrand provides contentious and non-contentious (corporate) advisory and drafting services to English, Russian and other international clients (law firms, telecoms, insurance/ reinsurance companies, trading and investment companies and so on).

For example,  she has advised in relation to the law of agency, joint ventures, shareholders agreements, insurers' liability, various issues in insolvency (domestic and cross-border), syndicated loans and pledges, breach of fiduciary duties, constructive trusts, conflict of laws, enforcement of judgments and arbitration awards, various matters under the Arbitration Act 1996, etc. 

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