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Sterbatomashevskaya Takes Over for BBH in Moscow

Sterbatomashevskaya Takes Over for BBH in Moscow

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Former BBH Partners Jiri Sterba and Anastasia Tomashevskaya have left the Moscow office of that Czech firm to open their own law firm in Moscow, Sterbatomashevskaya, in the process drawing BBH’s Moscow operations to a close.

Sterba, a Czech lawyer, had been a partner at BBH since 2009, and was head of BBH’s Moscow office when, at the beginning of 2017, he and Tomashevskaya agreed with BBH management to wind down the firm’s Moscow presence. He described the process as "a very friendly dissolution,” and he reports that "the intention of both parties was to have us continue to serve BBH’s Moscow clients. We tried to make it as seamless as possible, to continue with running projects —we just re-executed new agreements."

Still, he insists that he and Tomashevskaya are charting a different path. “We’re completely independent, and there’s no exclusivity between us and BBH — we’re operating on a best friend basis.” Indeed, he says, “we have a slightly different strategy in terms of fees, for instance, so we’ve been able to attract new clients."

At the moment, Sterbatomashevskaya operates with several associates in the former BBH office space in Moscow, though Sterba says they’re looking to move. "We want to look at this business opportunity with slightly different eyes. We’re planning to move to different office spaces, and hire new people.”

In the meantime, “things are going very well, I must say. We are very busy. Frankly speaking I was quite afraid about what would happen when we left, because I was at BBH for 15 years, so I was worried about what would come, but I must say that we have enough work and several projects going on simultaneously in Russia, and we are also advising Russian clients on matters abroad, under English law, so we are doing quite nice and interesting work.”

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