The work of court lawyers is valued very high nowadays, - the representative of one respectable law firm declared in the conversation with our reporter. The Russian law market had some precedents  when the court compensated large expenses from an external law assistance. But it is too early to be positive about it because such cases are still a rare fact in the law practice.

Currently a great number of lawsuits of the Customs Service of Russia (the FCS) with the Russian Association of International Road Carriers (ASMAP), whose advocates have been ensuring protection of a guarantee chain of international road transport (TIR) in Russia against frivolous actions of the FCS during the recent two years, are coming to an end.

In the present circumstances of market instability and high investment risk, commercial real estate is still the most appealing investment option, particularly purchase of plots of land which prices continue to grow irrespective of current business environment. However, this also means substantial risk for the investor that is, primarily, associated with seller's bad faith.

November 2006.
«Business Faces: BUSINESS FOR BUSINESS», № 10/2 2006, page 35

Interview
July 2007.
Mr. Vyacheslav Ushkalov, Partner of Pleshakov, Ushkalov and Partners, Attorneys at Law, answered our correspondent’s questions.

Practically all M&A publications refer to purchase of the business by third-party buyers, which determines the transaction scheme, including availability in such scheme of such element as “due diligence” and development of complicated multiple-level variants of protection of the purchased business from abuse by its previous owner or from attacks of third parties for the reasons arising in the period when the business was controlled by its seller.

First of all, it must be noted that currently in M&A transactions it has become a standard practice to make a preliminary study of the subject matter of purchase by the buyer (the so called “due diligence” procedure). The need for such procedure does not give rise to any doubt or question now. By all means any business is unique, which determines unique conditions of its purchase.

The purpose of the “due diligence” procedure is to receive the most full information on the company to be purchased by the buyer. From the author’s personal experience, the hottest “battles” between parties take place in relation to the issue of the buyer’s protection from the following risks arising after the purchase of the asset by the buyer: