Hyundai turns to Akin Gump to claim Iraqi debts

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld has been appointed by South Korean giant Hyundai Engineering & Construction to fight its case to make Iraq pay for $1.1bn (£657m) of construction work undertaken during the Ba'ath regime. Three Akin Gump lawyers, all former officials at the US Treasury Department, have been assigned to Hyundai's case, but their position looks bleak. The US Government is adamant that Iraq's resources and the aid it is receiving will not go to pay foreign creditors. Hyundai has already turned to the courts. It won a judgment in the US and is now seeking $860m (£513.7m) plus interest through a UK court. However, the UN has protected Iraqi assets from such court orders until 2007.
First revealed on www.thelawyer.com 14 October