In cross-border business, formal agreements are only part of the picture. When legal tools cannot keep pace with reality, the ability to detect hidden dynamics, understand influence structures, and act before escalation becomes legal is critical.

One of our recent cases illustrates this clearly. A foreign investor holding a stake in a company operating in the CIS delegated operational management to a local partner. This setup is common in transnational structures, especially under regulatory constraints. But the trust was used against him: the partner orchestrated a fake transaction, replaced the general director, and fully excluded the investor from management. His justification? "Sanctions protection."

Once the dispute became apparent, legal escalation proved ineffective: litigation stretched over months while the business began losing assets and operational control. What was needed was not just a reaction but a real-time recovery strategy.

‍

First, we ran diagnostics. We gathered and organized data from corporate registries, ownership structure changes, transaction chains, beneficial owners, and affiliated parties. Interviews with key figures and staff helped us build a clear picture of actual control and influence mechanisms.

Next, we translated the findings into legal strategy. The data formed the basis of an analytical report, which became the foundation for a management-level response plan: how to change leadership without a court ruling, how to consolidate disputes into a unified legal argument, how to secure assets and reduce challenge risks.

‍

At the same time, we implemented operational measures. A temporary management team was assembled, a crisis manager was appointed, unauthorized actions by the fictitious leadership were blocked, and communication was established with key counterparties.

This was not a classic legal engagement. It was the restoration of operational control through analytics, structured thinking, and strategic decision-making.

When formal tools fall short, the foundation shifts from law to information — the ability to collect and interpret data, identify patterns, build scenarios, and make anticipatory decisions. In such cases, structure and clarity of influence dynamics make it possible to act precisely, without chaotic legal moves or after-the-fact reactions.

• A full-scale collection and analysis of corporate and financial information;

• An analytical model of actual influence and control lines;

• A structured plan for legitimate leadership change and blocking hostile decisions;

• Consolidation of isolated events into a unified dispute strategy;

• Launch of a real-time control recovery model;

‍

This case is not an outlier. Increasingly, we encounter situations where formal procedures are insufficient. Structured diagnostics based on data allows clients to see not just the form, but the substance. This creates a strategic edge — before the courtroom sets the rules.

If you suspect that formal control no longer reflects the real dynamics — acting early makes all the difference. We are ready to discuss your case — confidentially, precisely, with a focus on restoring control.