Illarion Igorevich Girs, LL.M.
Master of International and European Law
Master of International and European Law
The International Mediation Institute - IMI
Certified Mediator and Mediation Advocate
Certified Mediator and Mediation Advocate
Mediation first
To right the ship
To right the ship
When a dispute hits, the instinct is to fight it out in court, in arbitration, or by sheer attrition. Mediation works the other way: a confidential, structured talk, run by a neutral, where the parties keep control instead of handing it to a judge. Running that talk as mediator, or representing a side within it as mediation advocate, is the whole of this practice, built on two decades at the sharp end of law.
One of the few Russian-speaking holders of the top-tier IMI certification worldwide, and the first and only one of them to be dual-certified in mediation and mediation advocacy.
Multinational Mind
Foundationally trained across Britain, Russia, Belarus, Singapore, India, and the USA, as cross-border as the disputes handled.
Rules-Ready
Bound by the IMI Code of Professional Conduct, while equally at home under UNCITRAL, WIPO, ICC and other compatible mediation rules.
In mediation since 2021, with two decades in law before. One practice, two seats at the table: the neutral who runs a mediation, and the advocate who represents a party in one. Having sat in both, each role sharpens the other: the mediator reads what an advocate is truly after, the advocate understands how the room moves. The roles stay separate; the experience-informed judgment behind them is one.
Mediation typically resolves matters in days or weeks rather than the years litigation can take, at a fraction of the cost, and it spares the time, energy, and relationships a courtroom fight burns through. Across the sector, most cases that reach mediation settle.
Mediation looks past what happened to what's actually needed: real-life solutions shaped around the parties, not the static rulebook. Substance over posturing, every time.
Needs-based at root, drawing on whatever serves the parties rather than a single fixed school of thought. The process has a lasting effect: even when the parties don't settle at once, the clarity it brings rarely goes to waste.
What happens in mediation stays in mediation; it is mostly off the record by design. The Without Prejudice principle on top ensures nothing said or proposed can later be used against either side, leaving both free to speak plainly and test options without risk.
Nothing binds until both sides agree and sign: no imposed outcome. Once settled, it stands as a legally binding, enforceable agreement.
Learned in law
No-nonsense
No-nonsense
The mediation and its advocacy rest on this. In law since 2003: lawsuits, corporate conflicts, and deal-making. Projects advised total around $5bn, spanning Arts, Real Estate, Construction, Production, Trading, Logistics, IT, iGaming, Hospitality & Tourism, and offshore businesses.
Courtroom Tested
Litigation experience across all levels, including the Supreme and Constitutional Courts, the European Court of Human Rights, and the UN Human Rights Committee.
Internationally Agile
At ease across different jurisdictions, cultures, and politically charged contexts.
Reality-Driven
Real life demands advice beyond mere lawyerism, and that's the approach that actually settles things.
Certified in ESG, AML, Corporate Governance, and Anti-Corruption, fluent in the language of modern business regulation.
Counsel & Advocacy
including but not limited to
Agreements that say what they mean and cover what matters. No jargon, no off-the-shelf templates. Just tailored, risk-aware contracts built for the deal at hand.
The corporate vehicle serves the business, never the reverse. Structure follows strategy.
Contentious matters handled litigation-ready and advocacy-led: formalities where they count, determined representation throughout. The credible fallback that makes the first conversation worth having.
Coined from practice and built around what works: the matters that don't fit the textbook, handled by judgment rather than precedent.
Illarion Girs is not a typical lawyer. He is not only into law, but into justice, and he is not only into words, but into truth.
— Prof. Alexander Bretz, Advocate
Design Law Force - German law firm
He is inquisitive, analytical, intelligent and he has a very important sense of justice.
— Prof. Ineta Ziemele, Judge
The European Court of Justice,
earlier of the Constitutional Court of Latvia
and the European Court of Human Rights
