The UBA International Law Committee invites you to join the event on the topic «Overcoming force majeure, hardship, impossibility: How lawyers can help keep their client’s contracts on foot and deal with obstacles to performance».

Overcoming force majeure, hardship, impossibility: How lawyers can help keep their client’s contracts on foot and deal with obstacles to performance

The ongoing Russian war in Ukraine, the attacks against shipping in the Red Sea, shortages of electronic components, inflation, high electricity prices, bad weather – and 2024 has only just begun.

Businesses have faced numerous challenges in recent years and a common response to difficult circumstances has been a force majeure notice to the counterparty. Yet, while force majeure is easy to claim, it is much harder to prove.

If a business is facing an obstacle that will prevent the timely performance of its obligations, there are ways to keep the contract on foot. This avoids a drawn-out legal battle over the question «Is there a situation of force majeure?».

In this online session, we will discuss ways to keep the contract on foot and business rolling in challenging times, including but not limited to:

  • Determining whether there are grounds to suspend performance of a contract, with a focus on:

 • Hardship and force majeure clauses in the contract,

 • Mandatory rules of the applicable law, and

 • Sanctions and export control restrictions.

 • Negotiation strategies

 • In the absence of legal ways to suspend performance, how to talk to the counterparty to minimize the costs for all involved.

 • The SCC’s recent experience of cases involving allegations of force majeure, etc.

Speakers:

Yulia Atamanova, Partner LCF Law Group (in Ukrainian)

Jake Lowther, Legal Counsel at SCC Arbitration Institute.

Olga Kuchmiienko, PhD, Attorney-at-law, Head of the International Law Committee of Ukrainian Bar Association.

Date & Time: 31 January 2024 18.00 Kyiv time

Event format: online (Zoom) 

We look forward to seeing you there (assuming no situation of force majeure, hardship, or impossibility)!

You can make a charitable contribution and support the activities of the Ukrainian Bar Association at the following link.

For all questions regarding the event and the possibility to partner, please contact the Secretariat of the Ukrainian Bar Association by phone at +380664953014 or write to komitet@uba.ua. Contact person – Viktoriia Motia.