News 05 Dec. 2024
Partner Dr. Alexandra G. Maier Recognized Again in Lexology Client Choice Award 2025, Mining Experts Category 2025
more
Event 23 Oct. 2024
Counsel Mohannad El Murtadi Suleiman to Speak at the 2nd Annual Africa Arbitration Day in New York
Event 18 Aug. 2023
Partner Borzu Sabahi Speaks at FDI Moot Shenzhen
News 25 Jul. 2023
Partner Eric Gilioli Ranked in Top 10 Influential Energy & Natural Resources Lawyers in Kazakhstan in Business Today
News 09 Apr. 2024
Curtis Announces New Partners and Counsels Across Offices in Spring 2024
Client Alert 28 Dec. 2023
U.S. to Impose Secondary Sanctions on Non-U.S. Banks For Financing Russia’s Defense Industry
Client Alert 21 Apr. 2025
Argentina’s Energy Sector: A New Chapter for Project Finance and Foreign Investment
News 04 Apr. 2025
Curtis Argentina recognized for its work on Viterra Limited's US$34 billion strategic merger
News 02 Jun. 2025
Curtis advises Al Ain Farms on two strategic acquisitions, making it the largest integrated dairy and poultry producer in United Arab Emirates
Publications 19 Dec. 2024
Curtis Partner, John Balouziyeh, Authors New Guide to Investing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the GCC
News 24 Aug. 2023
Curtis Attorneys Quoted in CoinDesk on FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s Strategy Ahead of His Criminal Trial
Client Alert 10 Jul. 2024
EU Adopts New Restrictive Measures Against Belarus
Client Alert 26 Jun. 2024
The EU Adopts its 14th Sanctions Package Against Russia
news
First Department Affirms Dismissal in Win for Curtis Client in Zhakiyanov v. Ogai
Permission To Appeal Denied in Curtis’ Landmark Victory for Transneft
News 05 Jun. 2025
Download the press release here.
In a significant win, the New York Appellate Division unanimously affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of claims brought by Mr. Galymzhan Zhakiyanov against Curtis clients including Mr. Eduard Ogai.
Mr. Zhakiyanov alleged that Mr. Ogai had misappropriated assets of a Kazakhstani company in which Mr. Zhakiyanov had an alleged interest and that he had “funnelled” the proceeds into US real estate with a value of over $100 million.
The trial court rejected Mr. Zhakiyanov’s claims, finding that they were barred under the doctrines of comity and act of state.
The Appellate Division affirmed the trial court’s ruling on the basis, advanced by Curtis, that the plaintiffs’ claims were barred under the doctrine of forum non conveniens. The Appellate Division ruled that “an adequate alternative forum” was available in the Kazakhstani courts, even though the courts of Kazakhstan might not be able “to reach foreign property or compel foreign documents or witnesses,” and even though a constructive trust remedy over US real estate might be unavailable through Kazakhstani courts.
While the complaint named as defendants US entities – LLCs holding property allegedly for Mr. Ogai – the Appellate Division ruled that the relevance of these entities “ to this dispute is only limited,” that the US real estate purchases were “not at the heart of plaintiffs’ claims,” and that the US real estate “will not be relevant” if it is determined that the underlying claim regarding events in Kazakhstan is rejected.
The Appellate Division further ruled that even if the courts of Kazakhstan are not available to Mr. Zhakiyanov in the sense that under Kazakhstan’s legal system he has no valid claim because he was not the legal owner of shares in the enterprise at issue, and because Kazakhstani law only provides standing to legal owners to pursue claims based on share ownership, the resulting “unavailability” of a Kazakhstani forum does not stand in the way of dismissing Mr. Zhakiyanov’s claims.
It has been claimed in New York proceedings that New York courts have a broad interest in providing a forum for recovery for alleged conduct having nothing to do with New York on the basis that the proceeds of that foreign conduct were purportedly used to purchase New York assets. The Appellate Division’s decision provides a corrective to any such assumption.
The Curtis team was led by partner Donald Hawthorne, counsel Felix Gilman, and associates Kaitlyn Kocharian, Grace Condro, and Joseph Muschitiello.
Appellate Litigation
Don Hawthorne
Partner
Felix Gilman
Counsel
Kaitlyn T. Kocharian
Associate
Grace Condro
Joseph Muschitiello
New York
+1 212 696 6000
event
Juan Perla Speaks on AI in Disputes at Legal Innovators California