Preparing the Ukrainian government’s case against Russia for its invasion last year is one thing. Doing so from hospital when you had knee surgery the day before the outbreak of war is another. But that’s exactly what happened to Covington partner Jonathan Gimblett, who describes getting the application filed in the International Court of Justice and a provisional measures decision issued in just a few weeks as a career highlight.
Gimblett has been at the forefront of Ukraine’s legal response to the invasion. Having returned to London in 2019, the former British diplomat was already acting, with his Washington DC colleagues, on disputes concerning Russia’s annexation of Crimea, involvement in Donbas and issues relating to the shooting down of passenger flight MH17.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s richest man, the steel and grain tycoon Rinat Akhmetov, called on Gimblett to bring proceedings against Russia in the European Court of Human Rights for damage to his property. Akhmetov is the owner of the Azovstal steel works in Mariupol, the site of intense fighting earlier this year.
Apart from his work in public international law and investor-state arbitration, Gimblett also carries on a practice in commercial arbitration.