BANK WITHDRAWAL - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which has been trying to withdraw as counsel for a sanctioned Russian state-owned bank in a U.S. lawsuit since Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year, has asked the U.S. district judge presiding over the case to approve a request to substitute Freshfields attorneys with a Connecticut-based lawyer from a small intellectual property firm, Law.com International’s Lisa Shuchman reports. Lawyers have sought to withdraw from cases related to entities with Russian ties in other jurisdictions. It hasn’t always gone well. In one highly publicized case, a British Virgin Islands judge refused to grant offshore law firm Ogier permission to withdraw from its representation of another sanctioned Russian financial institution—JSC VTB Bank—saying, “even pariahs have rights.”

WHAT YOU SAID

“Always exceed your clients’ expectations and never assume that once clients retain you, they will stick with you—it is your job to continue to prove your value.”

— Kimberly A. deBeers, partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Chicago, on the key to successful business development