25 March 2020
One Essex Court Barrister Makes Moscow Move | iclg.com

An English barrister has taken international arbitration and English law experience to EPAM in Moscow, as the Russian firm forges closer ties with One Essex Court.

Andrew Lomas, who has experience in international arbitration, litigation and more widely in intellectual property (IP) law, has joined EPAM Moscow office as co-head of the international disputes practice.

Lomas’ background is in life sciences, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, working on anti-cancer drug design. After working in this sector for three years, he was called to the Bar and joined One Essex Court in 2014. Lomas worked concurrently as a councillor for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea from 2014-2018.

In the High Court, he is experienced in preparing for and appearing in a number of procedural and interlocutory applications, and both interim injunctions and freezing appeals.

He has also acted as sole counsel in arbitration proceedings under the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the International Commercial Arbitration Court (ICAC), and the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC). He has particular expertise in IP and pharmaceutical disputes, and has represented clients in complex litigation, for example acting as sole counsel in Excel-Eucan Ltd v Source Vagabond Systems Ltd in 2019. Lomas also has a keen interest in Russian arbitration rules and has appeared in investor-state cases before the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)

Robin Wittering, former Herbert Smith Freehills partner and current head of international and English law at EPAM commented on the hire: “Having a barrister of Andrew’s standing based in Moscow and able to represent clients of our law firm in English disputes is a real value added as we increasingly take on bigger and more complex disputes.”

Wittering indicated indicated a growing relationship between EPAM and One Essex Court, adding: “I very much look forward to working with Andrew in Moscow and London and, also, to cooperating further with One Essex Court”.

In wider news, the London headquartered firm RPC added to its growing Russia and CIS disputes practice with the hire of Tatiana Minaeva in October 2019. In December 2019, Allen & Overy also expanded its Moscow office with the hire of Andrey Panov, who has worked for a variety of Russian and international firms, and has experience of all levels of the Russian court system.

Published by: Sarah Richardson at 25/03/2020
https://iclg.com/cdr/people-and-firms/10934-one-essex-court-barrister-makes-moscow-move