History

On the 19th August 1991, two students of the MGIMO University, Maxim Alekseyev and Vassily Rudomino established a law firm called ALRUD. Its name is derived from the initial sounds of the names of the co-founders: AL + RUD. The fact that the firm was established on the same day as the Soviet coup d'état attempt began is purely coincidental. At this time, it was necessary to certify the documents at the notary and the queue lasted for several weeks.

On the 13th September 1991 Moscow Registration Chamber registers ALRUD.

The first office of ALRUD was located in the building of the Ivanovskaya Gorka District Self-Government Council. The council also had a requirement for legal services, and it was during this period that ALRUD hired its first employees and had to plan the expenditure element of their budget.

This is when the real business began, recalls Vassily Rudomino, Senior Partner.

During the early 90's ALRUD helped its clients to establish companies, prepared the necessary documentation, wrote the companies charter, and advised clients on privatization issues. Among ALRUD’s first clients were fellow students of the co-founders, some of whom, to this day the firm still advises.

Since its foundation, ALRUD was building its key practices: Corporate and M&A, Dispute Resolution, Tax, Real Estate and Labour and Employment practices.

ALRUD welcomes its first foreign clients, including the British publishing house Dorling Kindersley.

During the late 80s and early 90s, large international law firms with money, know-how and clients enter the Russian market. For ALRUD, this signifies the beginning of fierce competition.

We were learning to work better, faster and with new technologies, says Vassily Rudomino

ALRUD is beginning to integrate into the international legal community. The firm now operates globally using «the best friends» model.

For the first time, the Expert RA rating agency ranks ALRUD among the Top-100 audit and consulting groups in Russia. The rating is published in the Expert magazine.

In 1998, ALRUD moved to new offices on Skakovaya Street, where it is located to this day.

In July 1998, the first issue of the ALRUD Newsletter was published in Russian and English. This was a new project of the company, which aimed to give clarity on the most acute and pressing issues in the field of law and taxation.

ALRUD's work is highly commended by the European Counsel 3000 directory, whose target audience are lawyers of the major European companies.

ALRUD is a promising firm, and its lawyers have shown themselves as very gifted, commented the European Counsel 3000 in its annual review of the Russian legal services market.

End of 90s - beginning of 2000s. represents a period of intensive integration into the international legal community. The turning point of which was the acquaintance with several of the leading British and American law firms.

We realized that these are the leaders of the international legal business. They do not open offices around the world, but work through the so-called best friends, says Vassily Rudomino.

Project of the Year: ALRUD represents the interests of the international rating agency Moody's in the negotiations to establish a joint venture Moody's Rating Agency Interfax.

ALRUD Advocates is established and chaired by Vassily Rudomino.

ALRUD opens further new practices: Private Clients, Competition/Antitrust and Intellectual Property.

In 2005, representatives of the International Bar Association (IBA) visited Russia to convince Russian law firms to become more active in IBA activities.

Participation in IBA has opened up great opportunities for communication with lawyers from other countries and building a network of international contacts, says Vassily Rudomino.

ALRUD opens a new practice: this is Banking and Finance.

ALRUD is highly praised by The Legal 500, the authoritative British directory of the best law firms.

ALRUD is one of the most noticeable Russian law firms in the field of corporate and commercial law, dispute resolution, real estate transactions, and in the field of mergers and acquisitions, banking and finance law, says the annual analytical research of the Russian legal services market by The Legal 500.

The accumulated experience of consulting in the field of industry regulation enables ALRUD to distinguish into separate industrial groups Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Industry; Energy, Natural Resources & Infrastructure; Technology, Media and Telecommunications.

For the first time Chambers Global recommends ALRUD in corporate law and M&A.

For the first time Chambers Europe recommends ALRUD in the field of antitrust law, corporate law and mergers and acquisitions, labour law, real estate and tax.

Clients praise ALRUD, highly visible, solid player, for its consistently high-quality, full-service advice and Russian-specific knowledge, says Chambers Europe.

The institution of partnership appears: ALRUD co-owners working as one team, united by a common goal.

This is a guarantee of our stability, says Senior Partner Maxim Alekseyev.

Irina Anyukhina and Alexander Zharskiy become ALRUD equity partners. Irina heads Labour and Employment practice. Alexander heads Corporate Law and Mergers & Acquisitions practices.

For the first time, Global Competition Review includes ALRUD in their list of the best Russian law firms in the field of antitrust law.

Our extensive expertise in the field of Russian antitrust law has helped hundreds of clients to understand difficult legal issues, solve complex problems and as a result become much richer. We are proud of the assessment of the Global Competition Review and believe that it is fully deserved, says Vassily Rudomino, ALRUD Senior Partner.

The number of lawyers working for ALRUD reaches 50.

ALRUD is recognized as the «Best National Law Firm in Russia» by the Chambers Europe Awards for Excellence 2010.

The Chambers Europe Awards for Excellence is the highest independent recognition of the firm's competences, its success and leadership in the Russian legal services market, says Senior Partner Maxim Alekseyev.

ALRUD wins the Client Service nomination at the Chambers Awards for Excellence 2011.

Project of the Year: ALRUD advised the pool of underwriters, including Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs, who were working on the IPO of Yandex N.V. This IPO became the largest among Internet companies since Google’s placement in 2004: Yandex N.V. raised $1.4 billion on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

ALRUD is one of the first Russian law firms to establish a practice dealing with personal data protection and cybersecurity.

ALRUD opens a new practice: White Collar Crime, Compliance and Investigations.

Project of the Year: ALRUD advised Vi Holding (international investment and industrial group) in respect of implementation of a JV green field platinum mining project in Zimbabwe, Africa ($ 3 bln USD).

Anton Dzhuplin becomes an ALRUD equity partner. Anton helps with the Corporate Law and the Banking and Finance practices.

The British publication The Lawyer, awarded ALRUD with the title of the best law firm in Russia in 2015.

On July 16, 2015 Vassily Rudomino was awarded the medal «For Merit to the Fatherland» II class for his services his merit in the formation of effective practices of the competition law enforcement and activehis participation in the antitrust lawmaking.

Andrey Zharskiy becomes an ALRUD equity partner. He heads Energy, Natural Resources & Infrastructure Industry.

ALRUD is named the best law firm in Russia in 2016–2019, by Who's Who Legal.

ALRUD is the only Russian law firm included in the results of the first Chambers High Net Worth Guide. The Guide ranks the best law firms from 31 countries, with Russia being represented in the private wealth market. The publication also highly ranks and recommends Maksim Alekseyev, ALRUD's Head of Private Clients practice and Senior Partner.

Maria Ostashenko joins the equity partnership. She heads three practices: Commercial, Intellectual Property and Data Protection & Cybersecurity.

Global Investigation Review ranks ALRUD as one of the world’s top 100 law firms, in the field of international investigations.

The number of lawyers practicing at ALRUD reaches 100.

Project of the Year: ALRUD represented Maersk Line, the world leader in the container transportation, in FAS Russia antitrust investigation and helped to prepare the settlement. ALRUD managed to reach an unprecedented settlement with FAS Russia: the case was terminated, and the amount of the penalty paid by the client was agreed on a very low level. This case became a positive international precedent.

German Zakharov and Sergey Petrachkov become equity partners. German helps with Competition/Antitrust practice. Sergey heads two practices: Dispute Resolution and Restructuring & Insolvency.

Project of the Year: ALRUD made representation on behalf of Bayer, during negotiations to obtain permission from FAS Russia to complete a deal for the $66 billion acquisition of Monsanto, the largest U.S. seeds and herbicide producer. ALRUD represented Bayer in the unprecedented negotiation process with FAS Russia and the National Research University Higher School of Economics, on the terms of the technological transfer in Russia and the functioning of the fiduciary management mechanism, in the absence of a legal framework for this institute in Russia. The transaction was considered not only in Russia, but also in such large jurisdictions as the USA, EU, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa.

ALRUD’s new corporate style was developed. It reflects the idea of openness, clarity, orderliness and responsibility. The new style corresponds to the nature of the ALRUD brand: the brand of a modern and mobile company, rich with experience and a systematic approach that makes it possible to find the best solution for various tasks.

Magomed Gasanov becomes ALRUD’s tenth equity partner. He heads White collar crime, Сompliance and Investigations practice and helps with two other practices: Dispute resolution and Restructuring and Insolvency.

Currently, ALRUD has been marked in 17 areas of law according to Legal 500, 13 practices have ratings by Chambers Europe and 5 by Chambers Global. For the fourth consecutive year, the international rating agency Who’s Who Legal, awards ALRUD with the title of «Russian firm of the year». ALRUD has been repeatedly ranked in specialized and individual ratings by IFLR 1000, Global Investigation Review, Global Competition Review, Best Lawyers, MergerMarket and Who's Who Legal.

Project of the Year: ALRUD advised China National Gold Group on acquisition of majority stake in Klyuchevskoye Gold Deposit in Russia (gold deposit of federal importance). The deal is recognized as deal of the year by China Business Law Journal.

For the first time ALRUD Alumni held a meeting, which brought together employees who had previously worked in the company.

The party, which was attended by dozens of «graduates» of different years, was held on a high emotional note and helped us to unite old friends and colleagues, share memories with each other, and to outline joint plans for the future, says Senior Partner Vassily Rudomino.

Over the 28 years of ALRUD's existence, we have grown from a partnership of two lawyers to one of Russia's largest law firms, employing more than 100 lawyers and included in global rankings of the best law firms. Now we are facing even greater challenges and we have better resources to solve them, said Maxim Alekseyev, ALRUD's Senior Partner.

ALRUD is named the Law firm of the year in Russia and the CIS in 2020, by the British publication The Lawyer.

ALRUD is celebrating its 30th anniversary.

Dmitry Kuptsov becomes ALRUD’s eleventh equity partner. Dmitry Kuptsov will strengthens our team of Dispute Resolution, Restructuring and Insolvency Practices.

Sergey Khanaev becomes ALRUD equity partner. Sergey helps with Corporate Law and M&A practice.

Project of the Year: Advised on the sale of VimpelCom by the global digital operator VEON to the Russian top management. ALRUD team provided comprehensive legal support for the preparation of and agreeing on the transaction documents. According to the transaction documents, VEON will receive a total consideration in the amount of RUB 130 billion.

Workshop “Dispute Resolution in 2022–2023 in sketches and studies” was held in a new large-scale format.

This year ALRUD Law Firm took part in the research “Pravo-300” for the first time, was top ranked in 23 sectors of the federal rating and was granted a special award «Newcomer of the Year». Based on the 2023 research findings, ALRUD team is ranked in 13 categories included in Tier I, and in 10 categories included in Tier II. Also based on the findings of the annual individual rating 37 ALRUD experts are recommended in 22 nominations. Pravo-300 individual rating confirms competence and expertise of each lawyer, and is a key indicator of the quality of performance of ALRUD’s main legal practices.

Alexander Kleshchev and Ekaterina Boeva become ALRUD equity partners. Alexander helps with the Corporate/M&A practice, while Ekaterina heads the Banking and Project Finance practice.

Project of the Year: ALRUD team provided Qiwi Plc. with legal support of the transaction on the sale of its Russian assets to a Hong Kong based Fusion Factor Fintech Limited owned by Andrey Protopopov, former Qiwi CEO. The transaction amount was 23.75 bn RUB.

Pro bono: ALRUD Law Firm executed an agreement with the Russian Squash Federation (RSF) according to which ALRUD experts will provide comprehensive legal support on the matters arising in the ordinary course of business of the Federation, and promote the popularization of this sport.

This year, ALRUD participated in the federal rating Pravo-300 for the second time, taking the lead in 32 categories. The law firm also received a special award, "Art-Law", for a project to bring the magazine "Nashe Naslediye" back into operation. In the 2024 survey, ALRUD rated highly in 15 categories in Group I and in 17 categories in Group II.

ALRUD participated in the Russian rating Legal Experts. The Top Legal Councels, taking top positions in six categories in Group 1, two in Group 2, and one in Group 3. ALRUD was one of two companies singled out as a significant player in Financial Technologies. Of all the particitpants, ALRUD won the highest number of awards by far!

Margarita Egiazarova become ALRUD equity partner. Margarita helps with Labour and Employment practice.