RULG has extensive experience in commercial litigation and arbitration and a well-rounded litigation team. Our experience extends from litigating in Ukraine's trial and appellate courts and international arbitration to representing our clients before Ukraine's Supreme Court and Constitutional Court. Our attorneys have written and spoken extensively on the subjects of litigation and arbitration.

According to PLC Which lawyer? Yearbook 2009, the RULG - Ukrainian Legal Group is "recommended" in the dispute resolution area. RULG President Dr. Irina Paliashvili has been included in the U.S. based Best Lawyers® publication list of leading lawyers for 2009 as the best lawyer in the arbitration and mediation area for Ukraine.

In June 2004, as soon as Ukrainian law permitted domestic arbitration to be conducted, our firm began working with the European Business Association in Kiev to establish a domestic court of arbitration ("treteyski sud") under the Association's auspices. We reviewed the legal basis for this new method of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in our article on "New Prospects for Alternative Dispute Resolution in Ukraine". Please click here to download.

Our preferred strategy in regards to litigation and arbitration, however, is to make it unnecessary. Litigation and arbitration can be a drawn-out and costly affair, often with uncertain results and serious practical difficulties with enforcing court decisions and arbitral awards. Our objective in advising our clients is to minimize their risks by securing our client's rights to the utmost and preventing disputes when drafting contracts and advising on transactions. When a client comes to us with a problem that seems destined for litigation or arbitration, our objective is to negotiate a settlement with the opposing party to avoid unnecessary costs. Our firm's successful record of winning the cases we litigate goes a long way towards making opposing parties agree to settle their disputes amicably. Over the years, we have achieved amicable settlement of many high-profile commercial disputes, saving our clients considerable expense and years of time-consuming litigation.

One way we try to resolve disputes out of court is mediation. Our dispute-resolution strategies involve the use of mediation techniques, an ADR method that has been gaining popularity in Ukraine, Russia and the rest of the CIS region. Our firm supports commercial mediation as a natural alternative to litigation and arbitration. Some of our attorneys are trained mediators, certified by the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution in New York, serving on its International Panel of Distinguished Neutrals (http://www.cpradr.org) and on the INTA International Panel of Neutrals (http://www.inta.org/adr/neutrals.html). Our attorneys have authored and co-authored several articles on commercial mediation. Please click here to download. The prospects for developing commercial mediation in the CIS were summarized in Dr. Paliashvili's presentation at the C5 Conference "Strategies for Successful Commercial Disputes Resolution" held in Moscow on 29-30 November 2004. This presentation is available for download in English and Russian.

RULG, in cooperation with various NGOs, professional organizations, and private businesses is actively promoting the use of various ADR methods in Ukraine.

In particular:

• RULG is a founding member of the Russian Mediation Center (formerly, the "Moscow Center for Dispute Resolution", http://www.mediation.org.ru) and is currently working on establishing the first Ukrainian Commercial Mediation Center (UCCM) in Kiev.
• RULG developed a proposal on setting up a domestic arbitration tribunal under the auspices of the Kiev-based European Business Association (EBA).
• RULG co-organized the INTA interactive seminar "Mediation as an Alternative Method for Commercial Dispute Resolution" held on November 29, 2005, in Kiev. The seminar was a success and received positive feedback from several legal and IP publications in Ukraine. Read about the seminar in the March 1st issue of the INTA Bulletin, Vol. 61, No. 5 (download the article in English), the December 2005 issue of the journal Intelektualna Vlasnist (download the article in Ukrainian and English), and in the December 2005 issue (Vol. 3, No. 12) of The Ukrainian Journal of Business Law (download the article in English). The seminar's agenda is available for download in Ukrainian and English. You can also read the Report on the seminar in English
• RULG, together with the prominent Russian law firm Pepeliaev, Goltsblat & Partners organized similar seminar in Moscow, Russia “Mediation as an Alternative Method for Commercial Dispute Resolution in the Area of Intellectual Property", held on 18 April 2006. RULG President Dr. Irina Paliashvili spoke at the seminar on the topic of “Growing Interest in Mediation as a Method for Commercial Dispute Resolution in the Area of Intellectual Property”. A brief summary of the seminar and the seminar's agenda are available in Russian. Read about the seminar in the April 2006 (#4) issue of the Russian Law Journal "Kollegia".
• The third INTA seminar was organized by RULG together with Fina LLP, a leading law firm in Azerbaijan. This seminar was held within the larger framework of the second CIS Local Counsel Forum in Baku on 22 June 2007. The seminar Agenda is available in English.

On 5 August 2011, Pravotoday in UA among other CIS Experts published RULG Counsel Lilia Gokieli's opinion on mediation, its practical application, problems, and perspectives. You may read Ms. Gokieli's comments in Ukrainian in PDF format or download them from Pravotoday in UA's Web page.