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Robert Amsterdam got a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] from Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada) in 1975 and a [[LL.B.]] from [[Queen’s University]] ([[Kingston, Canada]]) in 1978. Amsterdam's studies included several extended foreign study components, including the Soviet Union, Latin America, and various African countries. Amsterdam is currently based in London, United Kingdom, while the firm continues to maintain an office in Toronto. |
Robert Amsterdam got a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] from Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada) in 1975 and a [[LL.B.]] from [[Queen’s University]] ([[Kingston, Canada]]) in 1978. Amsterdam's studies included several extended foreign study components, including the Soviet Union, Latin America, and various African countries. Amsterdam is currently based in London, United Kingdom, while the firm continues to maintain an office in Toronto. |
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Robert Amsterdam was admitted to the Canadian Bar in 1980. He is a |
Robert Amsterdam was admitted to the Canadian Bar in 1980. He is a licensed solicitor in London, United Kingdom. He has fraudulently claimed to be a member of the New York Bar Association. |
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Source: |
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(http://www.borba.rs/eng/content/view/5542/123/) |
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(http://www.qmagazine.ro/articole/2435/Robert-Amsterdam-a-Lawyer-in-troubled-waters.html) |
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== Career == |
== Career == |
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<ref>http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2009/01/le_monde_profiles_robert_amsterdam.htm</ref><ref>http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2006/12/robert_amsterdam_interviewed_on_charlie_rose_show_1.htm</ref> |
<ref>http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2009/01/le_monde_profiles_robert_amsterdam.htm</ref><ref>http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2006/12/robert_amsterdam_interviewed_on_charlie_rose_show_1.htm</ref> |
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Some of Amsterdam's most well publicized victories came from early clients in Africa and Latin America (well before his later Russia-related work). Amsterdam won a major international litigation on behalf of the Four Seasons Hotel and Resort Group in Venezuela, and he also worked the well known Gutierrez case in Guatemala, which involved representing the victims of one of the country's largest alleged tax fraud and money laundering schemes.<ref>http://openjurist.org/320/f3d/1205</ref><ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/01/AR2005120101287.html</ref> Amsterdam would go on to represent famous political prisoners such as [[Eligio Cedeño]] in Venezuela, African political leaders such as Nigeria's Nasir |
Some of Amsterdam's most well publicized victories came from early clients in Africa and Latin America (well before his later Russia-related work). Amsterdam won a major international litigation on behalf of the Four Seasons Hotel and Resort Group in Venezuela, and he also worked the well known Gutierrez case in Guatemala, which involved representing the victims of one of the country's largest alleged tax fraud and money laundering schemes.<ref>http://openjurist.org/320/f3d/1205</ref><ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/01/AR2005120101287.html</ref> Amsterdam would go on to represent famous political prisoners such as [[Eligio Cedeño]] in Venezuela, African political leaders such as Nigeria's [[Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai]], and leading democracy advocates such as Singapore's Dr. [[Chee Soon Juan]].<ref>http://www.eligiocedeno.com/</ref><ref>http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/1339-robert-amsterdam-acts-for-chee-soon-juan</ref><ref>http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2009/03/robert_amsterdam_to_represent_nigerian_politician_nasir_el-rufai.htm</ref> |
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== The Yukos Case == |
== The Yukos Case == |
Revision as of 12:56, 18 May 2010
Robert Amsterdam is a Canadian international lawyer and founding partner of the law firm Amsterdam & Peroff, with offices in Toronto and London.
Early life and Education
Robert Amsterdam was born in 1956 in White Plains, New York, and moved to Ottawa, Canada at a young age where he grew up as a Canadian citizen.
Robert Amsterdam got a B.A. from Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada) in 1975 and a LL.B. from Queen’s University (Kingston, Canada) in 1978. Amsterdam's studies included several extended foreign study components, including the Soviet Union, Latin America, and various African countries. Amsterdam is currently based in London, United Kingdom, while the firm continues to maintain an office in Toronto.
Robert Amsterdam was admitted to the Canadian Bar in 1980. He is a licensed solicitor in London, United Kingdom. He has fraudulently claimed to be a member of the New York Bar Association. Source: (http://www.borba.rs/eng/content/view/5542/123/) (http://www.qmagazine.ro/articole/2435/Robert-Amsterdam-a-Lawyer-in-troubled-waters.html)
Career
In 1980, Robert Amsterdam set up an international law practice with a partner, Dean Peroff, specializing in business disputes in emerging markets, Amsterdam & Peroff in Toronto . This firm has represented companies such as PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the Four Seasons Hotel Group.
Amsterdam & Peroff’s website lists Amsterdam’s 29 years of practice as handling “numerous international business disputes and in a variety of emerging markets (…) in countries as diverse as Hungary, Nigeria, Venezuela, and Guatemala.”
According to his official biography, "Amsterdam has a distinguished track record of serving clients in shareholder disputes, corporate restructuring, fraud and asset recovery, regulatory and tax issues, complex commercial arbitration, and multi-jurisdictional litigation. He is also frequently sought out as a political risk advisor and strategic counsel for companies seeking to open new markets."
Amsterdam's expertise in international litigation and politically sensitive cases has made him a highly sought after lawyer, attracting the attention of many major media outlets. He is listed as a Top 100 lawyer in the UK Legal 500 and Chambers, and has been named to The Lawyer’s Hot 100 and Lawyer of the Week by the Times of London.
Major Cases
Over the past 30 years, Amsterdam has been active in practice areas ranging from litigation, defense, Alien Torts, tax, and corporate law, defending and litigating cases for and against governments and corporations. Canadian Lawyer says of Amsterdam that he is "one of the few lawyers in the world [good at] taking on the state when the state starts acting like a criminal." In describing Amsterdam's innovative approach to international legal problems, the general counsel of the Four Seasons told BusinessWeek, "He uses the law but brings many other things to bear on the problem." In the same article, the former Guatemalan prosecutor Walter Robles said that Amsterdam is "someone who fights the assumption that governments can act with impunity."[1]
The firm's unique niche of handling politically difficult cases in some of the most challenging investment environments was first brought to public attention by an article published on the front page of the Globe and Mail's business section by Ann Kerr on February 17, 2003.[2] Robert Amsterdam has also been profiled in BusinessWeek, Conde Nast Portfolio, Canadian Lawyer, Times of London, Le Monde, and many others. Amsterdam has also been a featured guest on the Charlie Rose Show.[3][4] [5][6]
Some of Amsterdam's most well publicized victories came from early clients in Africa and Latin America (well before his later Russia-related work). Amsterdam won a major international litigation on behalf of the Four Seasons Hotel and Resort Group in Venezuela, and he also worked the well known Gutierrez case in Guatemala, which involved representing the victims of one of the country's largest alleged tax fraud and money laundering schemes.[7][8] Amsterdam would go on to represent famous political prisoners such as Eligio Cedeño in Venezuela, African political leaders such as Nigeria's Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai, and leading democracy advocates such as Singapore's Dr. Chee Soon Juan.[9][10][11]
The Yukos Case
In 2003, Amsterdam was retained by the Russian company Yukos-Group MENATEP to defend former CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Amsterdam & Peroff’s website lists this case as "one of the most high profile cases in modern Russian history". This trial clearly launched Amsterdam’s international fame, exposing him to the world’s media in arguing his case for Khodorkovsky.
In 2005, Khodorkovsky was sentenced to eight years in jail. On the night of the verdict, Amsterdam was accosted by plainclothes security agents in the middle of the night at his hotel room, who attempted to arrest him before he could call his colleagues in the media (the full story of Amsterdam's midnight expulsion was a media sensation).[12] In the years since leaving Russia, Amsterdam has delivered speeches at organizations such as the Carnegie Endowment, Cato Institute, the Fraser Institute and the International Commission of Jurists and frequently briefed politicians and NGOs on the Yukos Group-MENATEP and Khodorkovsky cases.[13] Amsterdam has also become a widely published analyst of Russia and foreign affairs, with articles appearing in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Financial Times, Guardian, Die Press, Tagesspiegel, and Le Monde, among others (see links below).[14][15][16]
In March 2009, Khodorkovsky appeared in court for a second trial for fraud and tax evasion. Though Amsterdam cannot represent Khodorkovsky in Russia (no foreigner can argue before a Russian court, and the Federation has refused to issue a visa), he still represents Khodorkovsky on the international stage.
Some members of the Yukos clan lately expressed their worries on Amsterdam's "radical line of defense" based on the systematic denunciation of the political aspects of the Khodorkovsky's trial, forgetting at some points to respond formally to the charges he is indicted for. [17] None of these supposed "members of the Yukos clan" have ever been named, while others suspect that the "controversy" is the result of a coordinated attack campaign given the lack of credibility of the sources.
Publications
Amsterdam is a prolific non-fiction author, specializing in contemporary Russian politics, Latin American affairs, and business and international law. Among his policy publications is an article in the Fordham International Law Journal, co-authored along with Geert-Jan Alexander Knoops, a Professor of International Criminal Law (Utrecht University) and defense counsel in international criminal courts for Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone. Knoops was recently involved as an expert witness in the historic Hamdan v. Rumsfeld Case at Guantanamo Bay.[18] Amsterdam has also published a highly regarded White Paper on the criminal conduct of Russia's state prosecutors[19], as well as a study on the independence of the Venezuelan judiciary and the Eligio Cedeño case.[20] According to his blog, a new book on post-Putin Russia is forthcoming in 2010.
Blogging activity
Robert Amsterdam has two official blogs listed on Amsterdam & Peroff’s website: "http://www.robertamsterdam.com/" and "http://corporateforeignpolicy.com/". Though he sometimes writes in these blogs, they are mostly used to relay information on world politics, with particular focus on Russia. Given the quantity of articles that are posted everyday on his website, Amsterdam has outsourced much of this blogging work to a consulting firm specialized in online lobbying.
Robert Amsterdam has published more than 5,000 original articles on his main blog, earning some praise and acclaim, and earning him the rank of one of the most read English-language blogs on Russia. The blog Siberian Light has ranked "http://www.robertamsterdam.com/" as one of the "Top 5 Russia blogs."[21] Amsterdam's blog was also a finalist in the 2007 Weblog Awards.[22]
According to an article from Q Magazine, Amsterdam's "blogging and lobbying activities might represent a breach of his Lawyer's legal obligations". [23] The article, which quoted mostly unnamed sources, did not elaborate with any detail as to what rules Amsterdam's blog would hypothetically violate.
Amsterdam is also linked to several other blogs, though none in an official capacity.
Controversies
The Yukos Group-MENATEP/Khodorkovsky affair is highly controversial because of the group’s business dealings in Russia in the tumultuous 1990s. Amsterdam presents his client as a victim of Putin’s authoritarian Russia but has failed to get his client out of jail, or at least get him a shorter sentence. Some therefore suggest that Amsterdam’s methods, lobbying and blogging, are counter-productive. His defenders point to his defense of basic human rights and the right to free speech and free enterprise. There have been some rumors that Amsterdam business is supported by the CIA and the other "philanthropic" organizations that act on behalf of the American government or western elite. So, his company promotes and protects the interests of western quasi-elite.
Honors
In 2005, London's The Lawyer magazine named Robert Amsterdam one of the Hot 100 Attorneys in the UK.
References
- ^ http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_28/b3992068.htm
- ^ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-legal-firm-tackles-a-world-of-law-and-trade/article377757/
- ^ http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_28/b3992068.htm
- ^ http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/international-news/portfolio/2008/07/16/Yukos-Attorney-Bob-Amsterdam
- ^ http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2009/01/le_monde_profiles_robert_amsterdam.htm
- ^ http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2006/12/robert_amsterdam_interviewed_on_charlie_rose_show_1.htm
- ^ http://openjurist.org/320/f3d/1205
- ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/01/AR2005120101287.html
- ^ http://www.eligiocedeno.com/
- ^ http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/1339-robert-amsterdam-acts-for-chee-soon-juan
- ^ http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2009/03/robert_amsterdam_to_represent_nigerian_politician_nasir_el-rufai.htm
- ^ http://www.rferl.org/content/Article/1061767.html
- ^ http://www.cato.org/dailypodcast/podcast-archive.php?podcast_id=171
- ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/21/AR2009012103090.html
- ^ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122479127862163743.html
- ^ http://www.ft.com/cms/s/1/79334a88-8d15-11dc-a398-0000779fd2ac.html
- ^ Who really is Robert Amsterdam, Borba Online, May 10 2009
- ^ http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2007/04/the_duality_of_state_cooperation_within_international_and_national_criminal_cases.htm
- ^ http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2007/02/white_paper_abuse_of_state_authority_in_the_russian_federation.htm
- ^ http://www.robertamsterdam.com/venezuela/2009/06/new_white_paper_on_venezuelas_political_prisoners.htm
- ^ http://www.siberianlight.net/top-5-russia-blogs/
- ^ http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-european-blog-non-uk-1.php
- ^ Robert Amsterdam, a lawyer in troubled waters, Q Magazine, February 22 2009