Ukraine Legal Support Platform - Call for expression of interest

• The matching platform aims to create a database of qualified legal services providers willing to offer legal assistance free of charge to Ukrainian companies in their endeavour to recover damages from Russia for the destruction of energy infrastructure.
• By being part of the platform, legal service providers will have access to the requests for legal services.
• The matching platform will serve as a pool of qualified service providers to be matched for the provision of specific services with requests of Ukrainian companies, in agreement with the Secretariat.
• Where necessary, service providers on the platform will be requested to work together with other providers to match the requests of Ukrainian companies under the joint supervision with the Secretariat.

The legal services will be provided on or in relation to energy-related claims against Russia to be filed in national courts on the basis of universal jurisdiction, in front of an arbitration tribunal constituted under the bilateral investment treaty (BIT) between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, and in Ukrainian courts.

The communication services will be provided to Ukrainian energy companies in relation to energy-related claims against Russia. Depending on the request of the Ukrainian counterpart it can include advice on strategic communication, communication in international media, review of communication materials etc.

• Each time a potential mandate is identified, the Secretariat will contact the legal experts falling in the relevant field(s) of expertise and provide them with a description of the services needed and of the expected qualifications and expertise. Our intention is to design the mandates in a way that, if there is no satisfactory offer for the whole mandate, law firms or independent lawyers can apply for parts of it.
• The legal experts will be given a short reasonable deadline to confirm their availability and provide a short description of the team, CVs, timeline and steps they intent to engage in providing the service. Following consultations with the Secretariat, the Ukrainian counterparts will decide which offer best suits their needs.
• Once a particular mandate has been assigned, the legal expert(s) will be required to sign an NDA.