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Mr Girs is a seasoned, courtroom-tested international lawyer and mediator, adept at navigating intricate legal and cultural landscapes worldwide. The practice is business-focused, enriched by extensive experience in administrative, criminal, and constitutional law, as well as human rights. His certifications in AI, ESG, AML, Corporate Governance, and Anti-Corruption underscore an understanding of modern business regulation.
- One of just five Russian-speaking IMI Certified Mediators worldwide, and the only active in Russia, Britain, and the countries of Africa, Asia and the Middle East. This unique standing makes him an especially noteworthy candidate to mediate or co-mediate international disputes with a Russian element.
Mr Girs also has a professional background in diving, holding SSI Divemaster and PADI Instructor ratings, which provide an especially compelling, real-world dimension to his practice. In mediation, as in diving, navigating complex grounds requires keen situational awareness and highly calibrated action.
- To illustrate it with a transferable skill, the diver stress management rule works:
Stop ⇒ Breathe ⇒ Think ⇒ Act, which is often life-saving underwater, usually helps prevent a situation from spiralling out of control, fostering a thoughtful response at the negotiation table as well.
The experience managing human factors in high-risk underwater conditions enhanced Mr Girs' ability to remain calm under pressure and to maintain a results-oriented approach to dispute resolution.
Mr Girs entered the mediation profession in 2021, following related international experience in law and dispute resolution. Practising law since 2005, his professional record includes numerous lawsuits, corporate matters, negotiations, and a wide range of deals, with quite a few settlement agreements.
- Litigation insight is informed by decades of experience across all levels, incl. the Supreme and Constitutional ones, and the European Court of Human Rights.
- The volume of projects advised over the years totals around $5 billion, with the geographical reach covering dozens of countries worldwide, incl. offshore jurisdictions.
- A genuine all-rounder skilled in handling interdisciplinary tasks, incl. work with the media and politically charged matters.
MMA for Mixed Mediation Arts is Mr Girs' freestyle in mediation, where the process is essential and the aim of settlement is always in sight. Adhering to the needs-based approach, he purposefully deploys all the appropriate means separately or interchangeably, whatever may drive the parties towards the settlement agreement they need.
- The facilitative approach is the priority, a practical and widely used method. Still, it comes with the limitations of a toolkit to overcome negotiation deadlocks and suggest solutions when they are what the parties expect. On the other hand, the evaluative approach, better called 'suggestive', carries a risk of being misperceived as prejudiced or judgmental. While the most delicate, the transformative approach is primarily suitable for cases where restoring the relationship is of interest to parties, which is only sometimes the case.
A rigid restriction of mediation to one or another approach by default is more theoretical than practical. Reality demands mediation beyond pure theory — a true-to-life dispute-resolution process that works best when tailored to the parties' particular preferences, free from redundant formalities.
Building on over two decades of full-fledged law practice, Mr Girs primarily practices mediation in Civil & Commercial Disputes, with specialisation in contractual and corporate matters. Moreover, he is highly skilled at handling workplace conflicts involving complex issues such as injury, fraud, damages, whistleblowing, non-disparagement, non-compete, and non-disclosure agreements.
- The industries and subjects closely known include Arts, Construction, Diving, Finance, Hospitality & Tourism, iGaming, Insurance, IP, IT, Joint Ventures, Media, M&A, Professional Services, Real Estate Development, Production, Trading, and Logistics.
The base mediator's fee is EUR 300 net per hour, subject to reasonable adjustment based on case value and complexity. Open to pro bono practice for those in need.
- Mr Girs is available for international mediation advocacy services of Frontline Law Partners, an Indian boutique law firm based in Bengaluru. See www.frontlinelaw.in
Available upon request.
Mr Girs' continuous professional development encompasses rare multinational training, including foundational courses from Britain, Russia, Belarus, India, Singapore, and America. His interculturally rich and efficient background, coupled with multijurisdictional certification, enables him to transcend national borders.
- Mediation Advocacy Skills Workshops
- Sage Mediation Institute for Leadership Education (SMILE) / Singapore, 2025 - Online Dispute Resolution and Artificial Intelligence Course
- ADR ODR International / Britain, 2025 - MCPC Training under the aegis of the Supreme Court of India
- Main Mediation Centre of Bombay High Court & MNLU-Mumbai / India, 2024 - MST International Accreditation Programme
- The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) / Britain, 2024 - WIPO Workshop & Advanced Course on Arbitration and Mediation
- The World Intellectual Property Organization / Switzerland, 2023 - Workshop on Mediation Advocacy for Lawyers and Legal Academics
- The National Law School of India University, FSRI & CAMP / India, 2023 - UNCITRAL Mediation Framework & International Commercial Arbitration
- The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law / Austria, 2023 - India International Mediation
- Edawards Mediation Academy & CAMP / U.S.A - India, 2023 - State Accredited Mediation Theory and Practice
- The Centre for Mediation and Negotiation / Belorussia, 2022 - Interpersonal Mediation
- UK Mediation, cross-certified by Ofqual regulated AIM / Britain, 2021 - Introduction to Mediation
- The London School of Mediation / Britain, 2020
PROFESSIONAL ACADEMIC EDUCATION:
- Postgraduate Diploma in Mediation *
- The National University of Modern Technologies / Russia, 2022 - Master of International and European Law (LLM)
- The Riga Graduate School of Law / Latvia, 2003 – 2005 - Higher Professional Degree, Qualified Generalist Lawyer
- The Baltic International Academy / Latvia, 1999 – 2003
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* Registered within the Federal Register of Information on Educational Documents and Qualifications, Training Documents of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science of Russia, that is a domestic legal precondition for a full-fledged mediation practice at the national level allowing endorsement of a settlement agreement that is then equal to a writ of execution and can be enforced directly through the Federal Bailiff Service without prior recourse to the court proceedings in Russia.
The IMI Code of Professional Conduct is the primary international standard adhered to. Additionally, Mr Girs is adaptable to other appropriate due process terms, including ICC, UNCITRAL, and WIPO Mediation Rules, etc.
The IMI Professional Conduct Assessment.