Mr Gorbunstsov is understood to have made many enemies and there is a clear suggestion that some chickens have clucked all the way from Moscow to roost in London.
The incident has triggered a predictable British media panic about the prospect of Russian turf wars being fought in a hail of bullets on the streets of otherwise civilised London. That is over-dramatic and unlikely. But more worrying is the message the attack sends to the international business community about the rule of law in Russia itself – a message made all the more timely by the election a fortnight ago of Vladimir Putin to the country’s presidency.

Voting irregularities

Mr Putin is undeniably a character. When it comes to hunting, fishing and bear wrestling, there’s probably no-one better to have on your team. But whether he is the best man to progress Russia’s desire to join the top table of international business and diplomacy is an altogether tougher call.
There have been widely publicised allegations that the presidential elections were blighted by voting irregularities, with Mr Putin’s United Russia party gathering together coach-loads of voters and taking them on tours of polling stations where they could have the pleasure of striking their blow for the new democratic Russia on multiple occasions. Mr Putin denies there was mass fraud, maintaining the result is a legitimate victory for him and his party.
Nonetheless, lawyers – both Russian and those from the international profession – are concerned that the former KGB officer possesses a malleable approach to the sanctity of the rule of law. In our comment section, leading Moscow-based lawyer Vladislav Zabrodin attempts to placate those critics, saying effectively that Mr Putin is at heart a pragmatist and that he will pay heed to international concerns – not least because he realises that a dependable and reliable domestic system of commercial law is crucial to the country’s wider success and influence.
There are some big hurdles. In addition to the obvious persistence of the leather-jacketed gangster mob, Russia struggles with an inefficient commercial court system, populated by inexperienced, underpaid (and therefore, often corruptible) judges, and a legal system that regularly produces unpredictable and quixotic judgements. At the inaugural St Petersburg international law forum last year there was some trepidation, but much hope, expressed on the part of local business lawyers. It will be interesting to gauge the mood at this year’s meeting in a few weeks’ time.

Joining forces

More astute readers will have noticed that while our second issue is entirely similar in design to our first, there is one crucial change: we are now The Global Legal Post. This change follows a decision for The Global Lawyer to join forces with long-established monthly magazine The European Lawyer and the first social media legal website, LegalDay.com.
This united offering will combine the business of law content of The European Lawyer, the incisive international coverage of The Global Lawyer and the on-line presence of LegalDay.com to form a formidable legal news, social media and information platform. We hope you agree.