Russian Law Expert in International Arbitration and Cross-Border Disputes
Drew Holiner is an international arbitrator and barrister at Monckton Chambers and a Russian law expert with over two decades of experience advising in international arbitration, US litigation, and complex cross-border disputes involving Russia and the CIS.
He is regularly instructed as an expert witness on Russian and CIS law in disputes involving sanctions, state or SOE-related risk, cross-border enforcement, and high-value commercial claims, particularly in the energy & infrastructure, banking & finance, mining & natural resources, and TMT sectors.
In addition to technical analysis of Russian and CIS law, he is frequently engaged for the strategic judgment required to assess how legal issues interact with procedural strategy, enforcement risk, and tribunal or court decision-making in complex disputes.
Court and Tribunal Experience
Drew has provided expert evidence and advice on Russian and CIS law in proceedings before courts and tribunals in the United Kingdom, the United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific (Hong Kong and Singapore) and in international arbitrations under major institutional rules (including LCIA, ICC, HKIAC, and AAA-ICDR). His expert evidence has been accepted and relied upon in disputes where Russian law expert testimony is closely scrutinised, including matters involving contested sanctions defences, force majeure and impossibility arguments, and disputes arising from emergency state measures.
Core Areas of Russian Law Expertise
Drew’s expert work most commonly addresses Russian law issues arising in:
Corporate law and governance (JSC/LLC structures, shareholder disputes, director duties, reorganisations and coercive restructurings)
Banking and finance (loans, guarantees, security, regulatory measures, creditor rights, and enforcement)
Insolvency and restructuring (bankruptcy procedures, avoidance actions, creditor priority, tracing, distressed-asset disputes)
Contract and commercial law (performance, breach, remedies, invalidation actions, force majeure, frustration and impossibility)
Sanctions and state measures (countersanctions/countermeasures, payment and currency controls, state intervention affecting private rights)
Private international law, arbitration and court procedures (jurisdiction, choice of law, recognition and enforcement, evidence, effect of judgments)
Russian Law Expert for US Litigation and US-Seated Arbitration
Drew is frequently instructed as a Russian law expert in US federal and state court proceedings and in US-seated international arbitrations, including matters involving sanctions-affected disputes, cross-border enforcement, asset-related claims, and complex commercial litigation where Russian or CIS law issues are dispositive.
As a US-qualified attorney (California and Washington state), he works closely with US disputes teams and understands how Russian law issues must be presented, tested and explained within US procedural and evidentiary frameworks.
Sanctions and High-Risk Disputes
Since 2022, a substantial proportion of Russian law issues have arisen in disputes affected by sanctions, countermeasures, and emergency state intervention. Drew’s experience includes matters where such measures have:
disrupted contractual performance or payment mechanisms
triggered allegations of force majeure, frustration or impossibility
affected ownership, control or management of assets
required analysis of the interaction between Russian law, foreign sanctions regimes and international obligations
His work focuses on how these measures operate within disputes, rather than on standalone sanctions compliance.
Russian Law Issues in the GCC and Middle East
In the Middle East, Russian law issues most commonly arise in the context of sanctions, state-linked entities and cross-border enforcement risk, particularly in disputes connected with the UAE and the wider GCC. Drew’s engagement in this region includes an appointment as arbitrator in a DIAC arbitration seated in the DIFC, panel memberships with DIAC and the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA), and professional speaking and engagement in the region on Russian and CIS law issues. His underlying disputes experience in sanctions-affected, state-linked and energy-related matters is commercially relevant to Middle East and GCC users encountering Russian-law issues in cross-border disputes.
Professional Background
Drew Holiner is an international arbitration barrister at Monckton Chambers (London). In addition to his Russian and CIS law expert practice, he serves as arbitrator and acts as counsel in complex international disputes where Russian/CIS issues, sanctions, or geopolitical risk form part of the legal or factual matrix.
He is qualified in multiple jurisdictions, including England & Wales, the United States, Russia, Ireland, the British Virgin Islands, the DIFC and the AIFC, and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.