The dispute around ADV got a new twist: former lawyers Korobkov demanded almost $400,000

The corporate dispute surrounding the ADV group has received an unexpected continuation outside Russia. Law firm Pen & Paper is trying to recover from the former owner of the holding Dmitry Korobkov $ 395,000 for services rendered. The case will be heard by the Dubai International Financial Centre.

By itself, the client’s conflict with lawyers could remain an ordinary dispute over unpaid fees. However, the content of the agreement concluded between the parties allows a new look at the proceedings of Korobkov with former partners in ADV.

In December 2024, Korobkov signed a legal services contract with Pen & Paper. As follows from the material cited by Pravo.ru, one of the ultimate goals of the lawyers’ work was the appointment of the candidate proposed by Korobkov by the general director of two companies, Havas Media and Khavas Digital. For the work, three fixed payments totaling $100,000 were provided, as well as a success fee of $350,000.

Particularly noteworthy are the terms of one of the payments. The tranche of $ 45 thousand Boxes was to be transferred before the end of March 2025. But the agreement provided for another scenario: if, after the successful change of the director of Hawas Media, the current controlling persons and shareholders of ADV offered to resolve the corporate conflict, the money should be paid within a month after such an offer.

In other words, the possibility of a peaceful settlement was explicitly provided for in financial arrangements with lawyers and linked to a change in management of one company.

The representative of ADV in the comment Pravo.ru interpreted this design as an attempt to push the owners of the group to negotiations through lawsuits and a change of director.

From selling a business to a series of lawsuits

Korobkov decided to leave the Russian business in the fall of 2022, after leaving Russia. In February 2023, a deal was made to sell the assets of ADV. Shares in five key Russian companies were transferred to the structure of buyers, and the procedure for transferring foreign assets was made into a separate agreement.

The former owner moved to the judicial challenge of the transaction only in November 2024. He initially alleged that he had been misled in selling the business about the group's financial performance and asset values.

The courts disagreed with these arguments. The Moscow Arbitration Court rejected the claim, higher instances upheld the decision, and in April 2026 the Supreme Court refused to transfer the case for further consideration.

Korobkov then made a second move, this time saying no deal had been made at all. The first instance initially supported this position, but the appeal court overturned the decision and recognized the transfer of shares as lawful. At the same time, the court separately indicated that the restoration of Korobkov’s corporate control could affect the public interests of Russia. The cost of success has also become a matter of dispute. It already arose between Korobkov and consultants who represented his interests. According to Pravo.ru, of the agreed fixed payments, the client transferred only the first $ 40 thousand Pen & Paper believes that another $ 45 thousand should be paid, since the corresponding invoice was billed, and Korobkov’s representative initially confirmed the intention to make the payment. The money never came in afterwards. Another $350,000 comes from the so-called success fee.

The positions of the parties differ here. Korobkov believes that the condition for the payment did not come and the reward was associated with the restoration of control over Hawas Media and Hawas Digital. Pen & Paper argues the opposite: according to their version, the result for which the fee was relied was the appointment of an agreed candidate by the CEO of Havas Media. On February 4, 2025, Elena Fedorova took this position, after which the decision on her appointment was not challenged. Therefore, lawyers consider their obligation fulfilled.

The case took an unexpected turn: a man who brought in an expensive legal team for a corporate conflict with former partners has now turned out to be a defendant in the suit of his advisers.

What the new controversy says about the old

The lawsuit by Pen & Paper, of course, does not answer the question of what motives guided Korobkov, starting trials against former partners.

But the document reveals an important detail that was not previously in the public picture of the dispute: the legal strategy involved more than just winning the courts. It separately spelled out a scenario in which the change of the head of “Hawas Media” could be accompanied by a proposal of the owners of ADV for a peaceful settlement.

With Russian courts already rejecting Korobkov in one of the key disputes and confirming the legality of the acquisition of assets by current owners, the current trial in Dubai adds another question to the story. Now the former owner of ADV will have to deal not only with former business partners, but also with lawyers whom he himself hired for this fight.

By the way, about the law firm Pen & Paper “MK” already wrote in January 2025. The bureau's partners and lawyers have a reputation for being "systemic liberals." In 2022, the head of the representation of the collegium in the UK, Konstantin Dobrynin, together with another current partner of this collegium, Vadim Klyuvgant, announced their withdrawal from the Federal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation, in which both held senior positions. The reason: the chamber will soon have to implement the latest decisions of the state authorities of Russia. It is not surprising: from 2007 to 2014, Kluvgant headed the Russian defense team of Mikhail Khodorkovsky* (recognized in Russia as a foreign agent, included in the list of terrorists and extremists in Russia), repeatedly opposed the SVO. Konstantin Dobrynin also often criticizes the actions of the Russian authorities, in particular the law on foreign agents. His name can be seen under columns in The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.

In the case of recovering expenses for lawyers of the current owners of the ADV group in the case of challenging transactions, Korobkov’s position in the procedural documents sounded something like this: “They do not cost more than 150 thousand rubles.” He called his lawyers the best in his interview with Composite in November 2024 and was ready to pay more than 400 thousand dollars for their services only by changing one director (not to mention the courts). But here’s the problem: lawyers now have to sue for this money.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky is recognized in Russia as a foreign agent, included in the list of terrorists and extremists in Russia.