Private Clients

A wide range of services for individuals in general civil litigation, including family, property, and inheritance disputes.

Case Studies

Termination of a lifetime care agreement with dependency and return of the residential property to the client

Challenge

Our team took on the case at the cassation appeal stage. The plaintiff and C Cases' client, an elderly woman, insisted on terminating a lifetime care agreement with dependency, as the defendant systematically failed to fulfill their obligations: not providing her with a decent standard of living, as stipulated in the contract. By the time our team joined the project, two court decisions had already been rendered against the client. Therefore, the key task was to reverse the unfavorable course of the proceedings and secure a case review.

Legal Work

To achieve this goal, the team needed to

  • develop a strategy aimed at challenging previously rendered court decisions;
  • identify violations of procedural norms committed during previous court proceedings;
  • challenge the credibility and inconsistency of the defendant's key arguments;
  • support their position with case law;
  • prove that the support was either not provided or provided in a lesser amount than stipulated in the contract.
Result
Thanks to a well-chosen strategy, the C Cases team managed to radically alter the initial unfavorable outcome of the case and protect the client's interests: the court decisions were overturned, and the case was remanded for a new hearing. Following the re-examination of the dispute, the court of first instance, the appellate court, and the cassation court fully supported the client's position. The lifetime care agreement with dependency was terminated, and ownership of the apartment was restored.

The prenuptial agreement was upheld, and the client's assets worth over 1.5 billion rubles were protected.

Challenge

During the re-examination at the appellate stage, our team represented the client's interests in a dispute with his ex-wife regarding the invalidation of a prenuptial agreement and the division of assets worth over 1.5 billion rubles. The ex-wife argued that the prenuptial agreement placed her in an extremely disadvantageous position, as all assets remained the husband's property. After the cassation court overturned previous judicial acts, the case was sent for a new review, which created significant procedural risks for the client. The team's primary objective was to uphold the prenuptial agreement and prevent the division of property under the statutory regime.

Legal Work

To achieve this goal, the team conducted comprehensive legal work, which included the following steps:

  • Analysis of the prenuptial agreement, the circumstances of its execution, the structure     of the acquisition of the disputed assets, and case materials.
  • Confirmation of the fact that the disputed real estate     properties were acquired using borrowed funds, the obligations     for which were effectively fulfilled by the client.
  • Justification of the transparency of the agreement's execution procedure — evidence was provided demonstrating no signs of abuse of rights by the client     during the signing of the prenuptial agreement.
  • Refutation of the plaintiff's arguments — the ex-wife's key     arguments were challenged, proving their invalidity and the lack of legal grounds for     declaring the agreement void.
Result
Thanks to the professionally crafted strategy and the proactive stance of the C Cases team, the following results were achieved: Following the re-examination at the appellate and cassation levels, the plaintiff's claims were fully denied. The prenuptial agreement was upheld as valid, and assets worth over 1.5 billion rubles were retained by the client.

Claims for interest recovery under Article 395 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation reduced 26-fold

Challenge

The client's ex-wife filed a lawsuit demanding over 800,000 rubles in interest for the use of her funds. The claim was based on a prenuptial agreement, which stipulated that the client was obliged to transfer to his ex-wife, within one month of the divorce, an amount in rubles equivalent to 4,000 US dollars. Due to the delay in payment, the plaintiff calculated interest under Article 395 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and sought to recover it. The task for C Cases' lawyers was to minimize the financial consequences for the client and achieve the maximum possible reduction in the amount claimed.

Legal Work

During the proceedings, our team:

  • argued that the plaintiff had missed the statute of limitations for part of the claims;
  • drew the court's attention to the moratorium on bankruptcy proceedings, during which penalties and compensatory financial sanctions are not accrued;
  • identified errors in the interest calculations presented by the plaintiff;
  • presented an alternative, correct calculation. This comprehensive approach allowed for a significant adjustment to the amount claimed.
Result
The court agreed with the defense's arguments. The amount to be recovered was reduced 26-fold. The client avoided significant financial losses, and C Cases' legal position was affirmed in the court's decision.

Defending the validity of apartment assignment agreements

Challenge

The opposing party filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate two consecutive assignment agreements for the right to claim an apartment and to restore their right to the disputed property. They argued that the transaction with our client was allegedly entered into due to fraud, and thus should be declared void. Essentially, the case concerned the application of civil law provisions regarding the invalidity of transactions made due to fraud.

Legal Work

Our team built its defense on a key procedural principle — the burden of proof for the circumstances a party relies on rests with that party. We consistently demonstrated that:

  • the opposing party failed to provide proper and admissible evidence of fraud;
  • they could not have been mistaken about the legal nature and terms of the agreements;
  • there were no actions on the client's part aimed at intentional deception;
  • the transactions were entered into voluntarily and with the parties' full awareness of their legal consequences.
Result
Courts of three instances agreed with our legal position and concluded that there were no grounds to invalidate the agreements. The transactions remain in force, and the client's right to the acquired claims is protected.

Individual. Division of jointly acquired marital property.

Financial result

820 million ₽

Challenge

After the cassation court overturned the decision to deny the opponent's claims for the division of jointly acquired marital property totaling over 1.5 billion rubles and remanded the case for a new hearing, the C Cases legal team was tasked with securing a second denial of the claims.

Result
Following the appellate court's review under the rules of the court of first instance, the claims for the division of jointly acquired marital property were fully denied.