Sinclair Roche stays put despite shooting

THE shooting of Sinclair Roche & Temperley solicitor John Hyden in Russia last week will not lead to the firm diminishing its Moscow presence.

Sinclair Roche spokesman Pat Adamson said the firm had not increased security since the shooting and intended to keep its Moscow office open.

He said providing security to prevent Hyden's death would have been difficult because he was hit by a stray bullet in a Russian mafia shoot-out while in a St Petersburg cafe.

"You can't prescribe for this sort of thing, really," he said.

"It was [becoming] increasingly dangerous to work there but I don't think there is any feeling that anyone should be withdrawn."

Sinclair Roche's Moscow office also comprised UK assistant lawyer Mark Kirsh, two secretaries and an administrator.

The death follows the December shooting of a Russian paralegal employed by Freshfields. Managing partner of the Moscow office Jacky Baudon said the employee, who he preferred not to name, was shot at close range, late at night while entering her home. The circumstances of her death have not been clarified as an investigation is still underway.

Adamson said Hyden was a valued and respected employee. "He was largely responsible for the success of the firm's practice and for expanding its excellent reputation in Russia."

Hyden was recruited by Sinclair Roche to work with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on a short-term investment programme.

Before joining in 1994, he worked as an assistant solicitor with the West German firm Treibel Weil & Elsing in Dusseldorf, Herbert Smith in London and Edinburgh-based firms Maclay Murray & Spens and Dundas & Wilson.