Maria Zazirnaya advises and represents clients at various stages of criminal proceedings. She is also experienced in representing clients in arbitration and civil litigation, contractual work and advising on various branches of Russian law.

Among Maria's projects:

• Defending the director of the Menshevik factory in cases involving murder and grievous bodily harm, as well as attempted murder and an attempt on the life of a court bailiff. Ilya Averyanov was arrested on the charge of murdering a security guard, but his lawyers managed to prove his innocence as his factory had been the subject of a raid. After he was acquitted, another criminal case was initiated against him for attempted murder of representatives of the new owner of the factory and a court bailiff. Averyanov was again acquitted for lack of evidence of a crime.
• Defending a client in an unprecedented case involving alleged theft of "the right to register computer programmes" (Part 4, Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code, fraud on a particularly large scale). The court fully supported the defence position, stating that the theft of the "right to register computer programmes" was impossible, and therefore returned the case to the prosecutor's office.
• Defending clients in criminal cases of embezzlement in the creation of state-owned automated information systems.
• Defending a client in a criminal case involving abuse of authority (Article 201 of the Russian Criminal Code). The client was accused of managing a company with state participation by concluding an agreement with a supplier without following the competitive procedures provided for under 223-FZ law, causing material damage.
• Defending a client in a criminal case involving large-scale embezzlement (Part 4, Article 160 of the Russian Criminal Code). The defendant was accused of being the head of a company and paying salaries to a person who was not actually working.
• Representing a client in the course of verification of a criminal report, specifically on evasion of customs duties (part 2 of Article 194 of the Russian Criminal Code). A decision not to initiate criminal proceedings was made based on the results of the verification of the crime report.
• Defending a client in a criminal case of kidnapping with violence (Part 2, Article 126 of the Criminal Code) and abuse of power with violence (Part 3, Article 286 of the Criminal Code).
• Representing clients and successfully challenging the seizure of property in criminal proceedings.

Prior to joining the Firm, Maria worked as a corporate lawyer in several Russian manufacturing companies and at the “Pravo v Ekonomike” Centre.

Maria graduated from Lomonosov Moscow State University Law School in 2012 and obtained her PhD in Law in 2016.

She is admitted the Moscow Bar Association.