At the outset of the full-scale war, our client, a freight forwarding company, faced substantial outstanding debts from its customers. In one shipment, additional demurrage charges reached approximately US$150,000. Recovering these funds was important to keeping the business operating, but the customer disputed the claim, invoked force majeure and attributed responsibility to the freight forwarder.

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The case was complicated by incomplete evidence: some employees had relocated or left the company, while documents and correspondence from the first months of the war remained scattered. The ADVISERS team reviewed the available materials, analysed the basis for the charges and the allocation of responsibility, and developed a position for negotiations and court proceedings.

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We recognised that additional charges cannot automatically be passed on to the customer: each claim must be substantiated. After more than a year of negotiations and the commencement of court proceedings, we secured a settlement that took both parties’ interests into account and established a payment schedule.

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“Natalia, we’ve received 1,000,000!” was how the client reported the first payment. This was one of five cases resolved through settlements out of the six court cases we handled for this client. The outcome was a resolved dispute and the start of funds flowing back into the business.