Moscow Offices of Two U.S. Law Firms Searched/Foreign Searches
As reported in LegalWeek.com, Russian authorities raided the Moscow offices of U.S. law firms White & Case and DLA Piper on Tuesday and seized documents relating to an $87.5 million fraud case involving the Hotel Moskva, one of Moscow' finest hotels.
The firms issued statements stating that the searches related to activities of the firms’ clients and not the firms, their Moscow operations or their employees. They insisted that their Moscow offices are now operating normally. The searches were apparently among many others Russian authorities have performed across Moscow.
Russian authorities apparently also raided American law firms last August, prompting the International Bar Association to urge the Russian government to protect lawyer’s rights.
All of which raises a question of how domestic entities with offices and personnel abroad, including law firms, react to searches and seizures by foreign authorities. The only pronouncement from the Supreme Court which we were able to uncover relating to the subject is from U.S. v. Verdugo-Urquidez, 494 U.S. 259, 110 S.Ct. 1056 (1990), in which DEA agents searched residences in Mexico belonging to an alien involved in drug trafficking. The majority opinion, authored by late Chief Justice Rhenquist, held “the history of the drafting of the Fourth Amendment also suggests that its purpose was to restrict searches and seizures which might be conducted by the United States in domestic matters.” Id. at 267. The Court noted that “[f]or better or for worse, we live in a world of nation-states in which our Government must be able to “functio[n] effectively in the company of sovereign nations.” Id. at 275 (quoting Perez v. Brownell, 356 U.S. 44, 57, 78 S.Ct. 568, 575 (1958)).
Some countries have protections similar to the Fourth Amendment, but many others do not. American businesses doing business abroad which have concerns regarding potential searches or seizures, or even criminal proceedings, should consult with counsel, including foreign counsel or counsel familiar with applicable laws.
