Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

Ex-Cleary, Yukos Lawyer’s Death in Russia Called ‘Murder’ by Kremlin Critics

The Am Law Daily

Vasily Aleksanyan, a one-time Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton attorney and former head of the legal department for embattled Russian oil giant Yukos, died this week at 39 from AIDS-related complications, according to Russian publication Pravda.

But Aleksanyan’s backers claim the true cause of death was even more insidious. Indeed, according to a report by the Financial Times, the former Cleary lawyer’s backers say he is essentially a victim of state-sanctioned murder as a result of the many years he spent incarcerated as a result of his Yukos ties.
A graduate of Harvard Law School, Aleksanyan worked at Cleary from 1992 until 1994. He spent the next two years as the top Russian in-house lawyer for British investment firm Sun Group, which invests in emerging markets.