ニューズ

NEW YORK, January 23, 2006—Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP continues to build a vibrant, experienced team of international lawyers with the addition this month of a new Russian practice team in Tokyo. Sergey Milanov, Dmitri Rezchikov and Alexey Losev join the firm as of counsel, associate and researcher, respectively.

Mr. Milanov, Mr. Rezchikov and Mr. Losev are qualified in Russia and are fluent in English and Japanese.  Mr. Milanov and Mr. Rezckikov have advised Japanese clients on corporate and finance legal matters in the Japanese language, which makes them very unique to Tokyo and also to Japan's legal market. Mr. Milanov is also the first and only Russian attorney in Japan to become qualified as a gaiben with the Tokyo Bar Association, a qualification which authorizes him to advise on Russian law in Japan.

Mr. Milanov's practice focuses on trade finance transactions, secured bank and non-bank lending, structured finance and project finance.  Mr. Milanov has considerable experience in foreclosing on security collateral and in collecting overdue indebtedness from delinquent Russian borrowers through Russian and foreign courts, as well as through international arbitration proceedings. 

Mr. Milanov has also been involved in large PSA projects for the development of oil and gas deposits in the Russian Far East and Eastern Siberia, including export pipeline infrastructure, both on the lender and the sponsor side.  Following the recovery of the Russian economy from the financial crisis in 1998, his practice has expanded into green-field or M&A projects for the establishment of Japanese distributor, dealer or manufacturing subsidiaries in the Russian Federation, including advice on land, construction, telecommunication, foreign currency, taxation and various administrative matters.

John Sheedy, leader of Orrick's Moscow office, said, "We are very pleased to welcome Sergey, Dmitri and Alexey to Orrick's Russian practice group.  Their presence in Tokyo provides great strategic benefits to our Japanese clients, who have become increasingly more enthusiastic about investing in Russian projects."

James Tervo, leader of Orrick's Tokyo office, said, "Having Sergey, Dmitri and Alexey join our team is a significant addition because of the expanded investment being made by Japanese companies into Russia."

Sergey Milanov said, "Our move to Orrick comes at the right time.  Orrick's integrated team of lawyers can offer comprehensive legal service to the wave of Japanese business expansion in Russia, starting with advice on federal and regional Russian issues, on to financing from the financial markets in London and New York, to dispute resolution in foreign and Russian courts.  We are also very excited about the rising Japanese and international interest in the oil & gas reserves of the Russian Far East and Eastern Siberia."

The addition of a Russian team in Tokyo reinforces Orrick's global momentum in 2005. In August, the firm – with 800 lawyers world wide and nearly 30 percent of them based outside the U.S. – announced that it has launched a new 19-lawyer global Russian practice, anchored by a new office in Moscow, and with teams of Russian lawyers in London, Washington D.C., New York and now Tokyo, to advise clients involved in the increasingly active Russian oil and gas, M&A, private equity, litigation and capital markets.  Also in the past few months, Orrick has opened a new office in Hong Kong, and applied to opened offices in Shanghai and Beijing, as well as doubled the size of its London office.

About Orrick's Tokyo Office

Orrick opened its Tokyo office in 1997 and quickly built successful Tokyo-based project finance and real estate practices.  In more recent years, the firm has established itself as a leader in the Japanese real estate and securitization market, and has been building a broad-ranging Japanese and cross-border corporate, M&A and employment practice. 

In Tokyo, the firm has grown from 17 attorneys to a total team of 35 lawyers in the past year and a half. The addition of Mr. Milanov and Mr. Rezchikov to the Tokyo office adds strength to its dynamic international team of lawyers qualified in Japan (19), Korea (3), Australia (1), the U.K. (1), the U.S. (15), France (3), and now Russia (3).