Last week, Dmytro Fedoruk, Founding Partner, and Yuriy Terentyev, Partner Antitrust, traveled to Washington, DC for meetings. Dmytro then traveled to Columbia, South Carolina to speak as part of the Next4Ukraine panel on important issues related to Ukraine.
One critical topic in the US is how frozen Russian assets can be utilized to redress damage, injuries, and death caused by Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Utilizing these assets is critical to Ukraine’s future, and the documentation in the Register of Damage for Ukraine is an important step. In conjunction with American partners, Ukrainian law firms need to begin developing civil litigation strategies for US and European courts to fight for every Hryvnia it will take to rebuild Ukraine and compensate victims of Russian aggression.
To this end, on Monday, April 15th, Dmytro visited the South Carolina Attorney General’s office and spoke with Attorney General Alan Wilson to share information about the situation in Ukraine, rule of law challenges, and to hear how South Carolina has managed complex legal issues in the past. Attorney General Wilson shared some of his experience from his longstanding work as a public servant fighting for justice in South Carolina.
The Attorney General is South Carolina’s chief prosecutor and legal officer. He is known worldwide for his office’s successful prosecution and his own pivotal role in what the media has called South Carolina’s ”trial of the century”: the Murdaugh Trial. In fact, many Ukrainians are already familiar with the trial from news reports and a Netflix documentary series called ”Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal” (Убивства Мердоків: Південний скандал). The Murdaugh family had effective control over a legal district of South Carolina for almost one hundred years until a jury found Alex Murdaugh guilty of murdering his own wife and son. The state seized millions of dollars of Murdaugh’s assets and used them to pay awards to victims of multiple acts committed by Alex and other members of the Murdaugh family. Importantly, the awards were issued based on civil litigation against the Murdaughs.
One step in the process of litigating for Russian assets has begun in South Carolina, where many politicians have consistently supported Ukraine. Congressman Joe Wilson has cosponsored the ”Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act” or the ”REPO Act” to allow the US Secretary of State to legally use frozen Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine and for other purposes. The US Congress has scheduled a vote on this bill for Saturday.
The costs of war are familiar to Attorney General Alan Wilson as he is a combat veteran of the Iraq War where he received the Combat Action Badge. On top of his duties as the top legal officer in the state, he currently serves as a Colonel in the South Carolina National Guard’s Judge Advocate General Corps. As a parting gift, Redcliffe Partners gave Attorney General Wilson an engraved piece of steel from a destroyed Russian tank.
Dmytro was honored personally and on behalf of Redcliffe Partners to speak with Attorney General Wilson and learn from his experience. We hope he will visit Kyiv as Ukraine continues to fight on the front lines for justice.
Redcliffe Partners thanks the Attorney General and his office for sharing their knowledge, time, and generosity.