Lily Akkuchukova is a Solicitor of England and Wales and an Advocate of Russia with 11 years of experience across the legal systems of England and Wales, Belgium and Russia. Her practice focuses on cross-border commercial disputes, international commercial arbitration, corporate matters, commercial conveyancing and complex commercial transactions. She has developed particular expertise in managing multi-jurisdictional proceedings, drafting complex legal and corporate documentation, and advising clients on contentious and transactional matters. She is currently a Partner at Kingsley Wood in London, where she advises corporate clients and high-net-worth individuals on international commercial arbitration and cross-border commercial disputes, with a particular focus on aviation and energy. Her aviation practice includes aircraft lease, maintenance and ground-handling disputes, as well as corporate and regulatory matters arising from airline restructurings. Her wider sector experience covers oil and gas, construction, transportation and logistics, fintech and technology. Her international disputes practice involves proceedings connected with England and Wales, Russia, the CIS and the Middle East. She regularly coordinates foreign counsel and advises on jurisdiction, governing law and asset-tracing strategies. Her corporate work includes acting for buyers and sellers in private-company share and asset acquisitions and advising early-stage technology companies on share option and subscription arrangements. She also advises senior executives on settlement agreements and provides independent legal advice. Alongside her role at Kingsley Wood, Lily has worked as a Consultant Solicitor at Wellingtons Solicitors in London since April 2024. The work covers commercial litigation and arbitration, ranging from contractual debt recovery to complex commercial disputes. She also advises UK-based businesses on commercial conveyancing and corporate matters, including company restructurings, share issues, shareholders’ agreements, bespoke articles of association, share reclassification and share purchase agreements. Since April 2021, she has also practised as a Consultant Solicitor at Sterling Law, representing clients in commercial litigation and arbitration and advising on pre-litigation strategy, negotiations and commercial contracts. Her work has included matters involving logistics, high technology, media, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, transportation, fintech and technology, as well as high-net-worth individuals. Among the notable cases are a high-value shareholder dispute concerning a company operating a major Bitcoin mining facility, a successful defence of a freezing injunction relating to three multimillion-pound properties, and complex property, construction, contractual and shareholder disputes. Earlier in her career, Lily spent almost five years at Conner & Co in Moscow as an English-qualified Solicitor and Russian-qualified Advocate. She represented clients in commercial arbitrations and litigation, advised on both Russian and English law, and structured legal documentation for transactions involving multiple jurisdictions. Her experience included representing one of Russia’s largest pharmaceutical companies in an LCIA arbitration and securing an arbitration award, as well as obtaining a court judgment for a Jersey trust in a complex property fraud case involving Russia, Jersey and the United States. She also advised on shareholder disputes, personal guarantees connected with a €15 million loan for luxury property acquisitions in London, and Russian tax investigations involving trust structures. Lily’s international arbitration experience began earlier at Mena Chambers in Brussels, where she worked as an International Arbitration Associate from 2015 to 2016. She managed complex arbitration proceedings involving England and Wales, Korea, Saudi Arabia, the United States and France, while also supervising junior lawyers and interns and managing the Brussels office. Her work included drafting procedural orders and arbitral correspondence, preparing substantial awards under the ICC and DIAC Rules, and conducting research for an investment treaty claim involving a French investor and Turkey. In London, she previously worked at Svetlova LLP, advising high-net-worth individuals on Investor Visa applications and property acquisitions. Her responsibilities included conveyancing for investment and residential properties and ongoing legal support, as well as successfully obtaining a court order for possession of a residential property. Her earlier career in Russia included positions as a Senior Legal Expert in the Law Department of the State Committee on Trade, Secretary of the Judicial Session at the Arbitration Court of the Bashkortostan Republic, and Corporate Lawyer at Centr Pravozashity. These roles provided an early foundation in Russian litigation, court procedure and corporate law. Alongside legal practice, Lily has developed an academic and teaching profile. Since October 2023, she has served as Faculty Leader and Lecturer in Oil and Gas Contracts at the Chartered Institute of Professional Certifications in Singapore and the UK. She authored and teaches a two-day programme focused on drafting and negotiating oil and gas contracts and transportation agreements. Her academic background combines law and international business. She holds a Graduate Diploma in Law from City University in London, a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in International Business from Thompson Rivers University in Canada, and a Master’s degree in Jurisprudence from Bashkir State University in Russia. She also completed an exchange semester at ESDES Business School in Lyon, France. Lily is fluent in English and French and speaks Russian as a native language. She holds a DELF B2 certificate in French and maintains an SRA practising certificate alongside registration as an Advocate in Russia. She was admitted to the Russian Bar in 2016 and is a member of the International Bar Association. Her professional involvement in international arbitration also includes serving as an arbitrator at the FDI Moot, the VIS Moot in London and the Brussels Vis Pre-Moot.