Artur Zurabian | comments for the «Advokatskaya Gazeta»: Cassation protected the attorney’s right for a fee obtained from a bankrupt firm

Attorney, Head of Litigation and International Arbitration at ART DE LEX Artur Zurabian believes: the district court ruling confirms once again that in respect of payments to attorneys, in the absence of proof of unreality of the paid legal support the attorney’s mere awareness of any signs of the principal’s insolvency cannot make grounds for challenging such payments within the bankruptcy procedure. «Otherwise, it turns out that an attorney, especially in a situation of legal support to a debtor that is a subject of a bankruptcy petition filed and accepted for hearing, is acting in a situation, where his fee may, with an extremely high degree of probability, be confiscated to the bankruptcy assets. By all means, in such situation, few persons would agree to provide legal support, and the constitutional right for ensuring the right of access to justice would be actually reduced to zero», — he said.

According to the expert, similar legal questions are examined, among other things, in case No. А40-216654/2019 on bankruptcy of Dmitry Mazurov, where the financial receiver was trying to challenge payments under a legal support agreement for a total amount of 11 million roubles. «The relevant isolated dispute was deemed by Deputy Chairperson of the Supreme Court, Chairperson of the Judicial Chamber on Economic Disputes Irina Podnosova so relevant for formation of case law, that in spite of the presence of a dismissal ruling of the RF Supreme Court the case was submitted for consideration to the Judicial Chamber on Economic Disputes. In her Ruling of 21 February 2023, she separately emphasized the argument that an exercise by the debtor of his right for obtaining qualified legal support and judicial protection cannot be classified as unfair actions aimed at infliction of harm to his creditors», — emphasized Artur Zurabian.

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