Big Payday For U.S. Law Firms That Handled Russia-Yukos Oil Arbitration

Some see arbitration as a streamlined, more cost-effective conflict resolution method, but this week’s $50 billion arbitration award in a case pitting Russia’s government against defunct oil company Yukos comes with a jaw-dropping legal bill. U.S. law firms represented both sides of the dispute. Shearman & Sterling representing former Yukos owner Mikhail Khodorkovsky, billed about $70 million in fees and expenses, and Russia was billed for about $27 million in legal costs as well as another $4.5 million in expert fees and expenses by Gottlieb Steen & Hamiltonand Baker Botts.