International Arbitrator Services

KEY ARBITRATION EXPERIENCE 

London Court of International Arbitration

• Represented a subsidiary of a leading Russian gold mining company which purchased a target mining company in Kazakhstan. The sellers commenced arbitration against the target under supply and construction contracts seeking payment of about $70 million of debt allegedly owed by the target. Marks’ client argued that the contracts were shams, designed to enrich former officers, directors and shareholders of the target and made a counterclaim clawing back payment made by the target under those contracts. Marks was successful in obtaining a world-wide freezing order for several hundred million dollars, comprehensive search warrants for sellers’ premises and electronic devices, and a stay of the arbitration which was in effect until parties reached a global settlement.
• Represented a prominent Ukraine businessmen against a Russian entrepreneur in a dispute related to sale of 50% of the Russian interest in certain Ukrainian energy companies. The dispute concerned agreements entered into by the parties’ BVI companies, including share purchase agreements and shareholders’ agreements governed by English law. After the Russian seller orchestrated a takeover of the energy companies, Marks directed commencing proceedings in Cyprus, where the holding companies were incorporated, and in England, as an agreed upon forum. The injunction granted by the District Court of Limassol remained in force while the dispute was adjudicated in arbitration.

Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce

• Represented French and American claimants in an arbitration against a Russian buyer of
  high performance polyethylene battery separators in a breach of contract claim and obtained an award for damages.
• Represented a trading partner of a Russian aluminum producer in arbitration proceedings with a claim of $325 million in damages for lost profits and business disruption resulting from bankruptcy proceedings of the Russian plant.

Zurich Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Center

• Represented a trading partner of a Russian aluminum producer in an arbitration with a $10 million claim in damages for lost profits and business disruption resulting from bankruptcy proceedings of the Russian plant.

International Chamber of Commerce in Paris

• Defeated a $6.5 million arbitration claim related to the cancellation of a contract to dismantle a steel mill in Ohio for shipment to Ukraine.

Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland

• Served as an expert on behalf of a Russian athlete and his Russian professional team in the appeal of a decision by an international sports federation. The dispute centered on the federation’s determination that the Russian athlete breached his contract with a North American sports team by failing to appear to play with the team and signing with a professional club in his home country, and that the club induced the athlete’s breach. Marks opined, inter alia: (1) there was no breach because the athlete had been prevented from travelling to North America by the law of his home country, and (2) the international federation lacked jurisdiction to rule on the contract’s validity, which was subject to arbitration in the United States.

EPRESENTATIVE LEGAL CASES

• Represented the Russian Federation against Yukos Capital Limited involving defenses under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act in a $5 billion claim based on an arbitration award under the Energy Charter Treaty in the District of Columbia.

• Represented the Russian Federation against Joint Stock Company State Savings Bank of Ukraine (also known as JSC Oschadbank), involving defenses under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act with a claim in excess of $1 billion of damages plus interest and fees based on an arbitration award under the Russia-Ukraine Bilateral Investment Treaty in the District of Columbia.

• Represented interests of NAO Tsargrad Media, ANO TV-Novosti and NO Fond Pravoslavnogo Televideniya in litigation brought by Google, LLC in California federal court related to enforcement of the Russian judgements for billions of dollars outside the U.S. based on Google’s violation of YouTube Terms of Services.

• Represented a Russian industrial company against foreign investors for recovery of $150 million that was improperly diverted in a trade fraud scheme and obtained a favorable settlement.

• Represented foreign trading partners of a Russian aluminum factory in a $2.7 billion suit whose contracts were abrogated in a sham foreign bankruptcy proceeding. The matter was favorably settled.

• Represented U.S. development company against Russia’s largest oil company for $3.6 billion claim for wrongdoing related to the denial of rights to develop one of the world’s richest diamond fields, in Colorado state court. Secured landmark decision in the Colorado Supreme Court reversing dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction.
• Represented Canadian oil company in $1.5 billion suit against U.S. based entities engaged in a massive racketeering scheme to take over a substantial portion of the Russian oil industry in the Southern District of New York.

EDUCATION AND POLITICAL BACKGROUND

As the founder and managing member of Marks & Sokolov, LLC, Bruce is a qualified US attorney with a deep understanding of legal matters involving the Russian Federation and the West since 1998 and extensive arbitration experience. He has successfully represented Russian and Western clients in commercial arbitration and civil litigation matters, with cases involving billions of dollars.

ADMISSIONS

Bruce is admitted in numerous U.S. courts, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Southern District of New York, District of Columbia, numerous federal Courts of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

He has appeared in courts throughout the U.S., including Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia.