President Trump has less than three months to impose all or part of them or to leave them as a phantom menace. Will European countries support the overseas ally or will Russia make its own deal with them? Will Britain keep to the sidelines in respect to these decisions, while being engulfed by Brexit-related problems? What counter sanctions will Russia introduce as response? How will geopolitics affect markets and the activity of international law firms?

Vladislav Zabrodin, Managing Partner of Capital Legal Services, held a panel discussion on these topical issues at the international conference Russian Law Week 2018 in London. Organizers even gave it a name in Russian – Без границ (‘bez granits,’ meaning ‘without borders’).

Western colleagues have serious concerns about plans of the Russian government to reform the legal services market, which could lead to exodus of international players, leaving a huge market share to domestic law firms. This is because the reform implies monopolization of representation in courts by attorneys-at-law. As a result, branches and subsidiaries of foreign law firms will not be able to work in these conditions. As one of the participants said, they have already passed the stages of denial, anger and depression, and are ready for bargaining. It seems that the sanctions will take the same route.