Russian-Ukrainian Legal Group, P.A.

Irina Paliashvili began her private practice in 1992 by founding one of the first private law firms in Kiev and expanded by co-founding a private law firm in Moscow. In 1995, she founded the Washington-based Russian-Ukrainian Legal Group, P.A., where she serves as the President and Senior Counsel. Before going into private practice, Dr. Paliashvili served as General Counsel (International) to two major companies in Ukraine. In 1991, Dr. Paliashvili completed a six-month assignment with a prominent Chicago law firm as a part of the American Bar Association's Soviet Lawyer Internship Program followed by a four-month assignment in Frankfurt working with a leading German law firm on an EEC-sponsored project for restructuring the banking system of Ukraine. She has also served as a Professor of Law at the Kiev State University Law School. Dr. Paliashvili graduated with high honors from the Kiev State University School of International Law and received a Ph.D. in Private International Law from the same school. She also holds an LL.M. in International and Comparative Law from George Washington University. Dr. Paliashvili frequently speaks at international conferences on the legal and business climates in Ukraine, Russia, and other newly independent states. Her articles regularly appear in leading professional publications in the United States and Europe. Dr. Paliashvili is licensed to practice Russian and Ukrainian law as a Special Legal Consultant in the District of Columbia and is a member of the Russian International Law Association, the Kiev Bar, the American Bar Association, the Washington Foreign Law Society, the Committee on Non-Member Economies of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC), the Congress of Fellows of the Center for International Legal Studies, the International Trademark Association (INTA), and other professional organizations. She was individually designated as a "recommended company and corporate transaction practitioner in Ukraine" by the PLC Which Lawyer?. Dr. Paliashvili has special expertise in the area of oil and gas, intellectual property protection, commercial dispute settlement and mediation. She is a mediator trained and certified by the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution in New York and a member of its International Panel of Distinguished Neutrals, a founding member of the Moscow Center for Dispute Resolution and a member of the INTA International Panel of Neutrals. She also serves on the Board of Reporters of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration of The Center for American and International Law (ITA) as Reporter for Ukraine. Dr. Paliashvili is fluent in English, Ukrainian, Russian, Georgian, and Spanish. She divides her working time among Washington, Kiev, and Moscow.