Baker & McKenzie lawyers in the firm's Moscow office say they have been subjected to a smear campaign, and sanctioned by their regulator, for exposing a dodgy lawyer who they say was attempting to blackmail their client.

Bakers lawyers Oleg Tkachenko and Elena Kukushkin were defending manufacturing company Indesit RUS against charges brought by a disgruntled former employee. The former employee was represented by a lawyer called Vadim Baghaturia.

According to Tkachenko, the ex-employee and Baghaturia attempted to extort money from Indesit RUS. Baghaturia allegedly told them he had contacts within the Moscow police and that unless Indesit RUS paid up, he would use the bent coppers to make sure the charges stuck.

Tkachenko then set up a trap, calling the ex-employee directly for a chat and recording the conversation without her knowledge. He and Kukushkin also secretly recorded Baghaturia. The content of the calls was sufficiently damning that charges against Indesit were immediately dropped when Bakers handed the tapes over to the police.

   

"You may have won the battle but you'll never win the war! Submerge."


However, Baghaturia subsequently embarked on a smear campaign, briefing the Russian press that Tkachenko "built a conversation" in "the spirit of a robber" (© google translate), and accused him of breaching ethical obligations. And theMoscow Chamber of Advocates cautioned Tkachenko for violating the lawyer's obligation to "build relations with colleagues on the basis of mutual respect and respect for their professional rights".

Meanwhile, Baghaturia's alleged extortion attempts have gone unaddressed, leaving Tkachenko grinding his teeth. He said, "I believe that I did everything within the law and within the framework of legal ethics".

A spokeswoman for Bakers told RollOnFriday, "The local advocates chamber in Moscow issued a warning to the advocate concerned for discourteous conduct toward opposing counsel. The matter has now concluded".

It is not the first time that Bakers has been caught up in the shadowy Russian intrigues. In 2013, Tom Firestone was expelled from the country for refusing to become a spy. Sounds like Tkachenko might be up for it though.
Tip Off ROF