Litigation, Dispute Resolution and Arbitration, Latvia

Introduction

We assist our clients to avoid legal disputes. However, when disputes do arise, our litigation team is at your service. Litigation and dispute resolution is one of our preeminent strength areas. A significant part of our practice is devoted to representing the interests of our clients in courts of all instances, including the Senate of the Supreme Court, and administrative courts. In the past years, we have further enhanced our already very strong litigation practice. We have won a number of major court trials and appeals for both domestic and international companies representing an array of industries. The litigators of our law firm are recognized as leaders in their field.

Our specialist litigators are practiced at devising winning litigation strategies at international and domestic levels and have been acting for a broad spectrum of clients. A number of our experts have the requisite technical background and industry experience to advise on litigation matters involving the most complex disputes. We have acted on behalf of our clients in a number of cases involving recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in Latvia. We provide specialist advice and representation to our clients on litigation, arbitration and regulatory matters. We are also experienced in using out-of-court settlement and mediation in circumstances where these means of dispute resolution offer the most practical solution.

In the past few years we were ranked as top-tier Latvian practice within litigation and dispute resolution by Legal 500.

Our Services

Our principal litigation and dispute resolution practice areas comprise:

Representation in commercial disputes
Corporate and commercial litigation
Representation in administrative disputes and judicial review
Tax litigation
Insurance litigation and professional risk
Product risk and liability
White-collar crime and professional negligence
Representation in labour disputes
Insolvency litigation
Shareholder disputes
Banking and finance litigation
Litigation in intellectual property matters
Real estate and construction litigation and dispute resolution
Constitutional litigation
Domestic and international arbitration
Out-of-court settlement and mediation

Our Experience

We take pride in having represented or assisted our clients with expert advice in a number of significant disputes and litigations. Our track record includes, among others, client representation in the following landmark disputes and litigations:

Our law firm represented one of the largest domestic commercial banks and its Supervisory Board with respect to a challenging claim brought against former executives of the bank. The claim has been earmarked as the most voluminous claim ever in the judicial history of Latvia brought against private individuals.

We act for the largest Latvian-Russian joint company in the Baltic States in a challenging high-profile civil case against the Byelorussian company. The object of the dispute is oil, the value of which exceeds 100 million U.S. dollars. The matter involves a variety of complex legal issues (international public law, constitutional law, property law, obligation law, financial law, USSR law).

Our litigators represent the interests of one of the world’s largest independent energy trading companies in a multi-million civil case involving complex issues related to liability of the board and council members.

We act for two largest publicly listed companies active in transit and shipping sector in a number of litigation proceeding before all levels of court instances dealing with disputed transactions and decisions of shareholder meetings, recovery of losses and debts, compulsory alienation of property and other matters.

We represented the leading domestic insurance company in connection with a complex insurance claim raised by an insured person by reason of a factory fire accident.

At the request of a large domestic shipping fleet operator, we provided expert opinion to the High Court of Justice, QBD, London Commercial Court, on multiple aspects of Latvian commercial and company law and recognition and enforcement aspects in Latvia of a global injunction order granted by the London Commercial Court.

We successfully represented an individual client in court proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights alleging violation of a fundamental human right on the part of Latvian state.

We acted on behalf of a local municipality in key litigation involving improper qualification of a series of real estate transactions allegedly designed to circumvent municipality pre-emption rights.

We represented a leading software outsourcing company in a significant dispute involving non-payment of a software license fee.

Agris Bitāns

Managing Partner
+371 6728 0102
E-mail

Ilze Kramiņa

Senior Partner
+371 6728 0102
E-mail

Eversheds Sutherland is the name and brand under which the members of Eversheds Sutherland Limited (Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP and Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP) and their respective controlled, managed and affiliated firms and the members of Eversheds Sutherland (Europe) Limited (each an "Eversheds Sutherland Entity" and together the "Eversheds Sutherland Entities") provide legal or other services to clients around the world. Eversheds Sutherland Entities are constituted and regulated in accordance with relevant local regulatory and legal requirements and operate in accordance with their locally registered names. The use of the name Eversheds Sutherland, is for description purposes only and does not imply that the Eversheds Sutherland Entities are in a partnership or are part of a global LLP. The responsibility for the provision of services to the client is defined in the terms of engagement between the instructed firm and the client.