Last year saw the largest corporate transaction in Russian history, when Yukos, the Russian oil giant, acquired a majority shareholding in Sibneft in a $14bn (£78.6m) deal. Although the deal has been dogged by controversy, it is a reflection of the expanding opportunities for business and, correspond-ingly, the commercial lawyer in the new Russia.

"The opportunities in present day Russia are very broad," confirms Brian Zimbler, managing partner of the Moscow office of LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae. "The Russian market is booming. There is an increasing demand for all forms of legal services – M&A work for Russian and foreign companies general corporate work, security and capital markets work, banking, finance and litigation."

Russia has been in a state of flux since the collapse of communism more than a decade ago. While recent attention has focused on the accession states of Central and Eastern Europe, their growth potential is dwarfed by that of Russia, which boasts a market of 170 million people – almost three times the population of the accession states – and enormous natural resources. "Russia has the potential to be a very, very significant market," says David Griston, managing partner of CMS Cameron McKenna's Moscow office.