Russell Strong

Russell establishes excellent relationships with his clients. His focus from the outset on their objectives allows him to develop an outcome-focused strategy which underpins the instruction, whether that is a commercial negotiation, mediation, or contested proceedings.

Russell is competitive and wants to win. He believes this is best achieved through teamwork and that the client is a vital member of the team. As an experienced dispute resolution lawyer and Oxford Executive Leadership Programme alumnus, Russell is expertly placed to lead the team to a successful outcome.

Testimonials

“Russell Strong’s leadership and vision contribute much to the success of the commercial litigation team.”

(Legal 500 2025)

“Russell Strong is a fantastic lawyer with great empathy for clients. Clients can’t recommend him highly enough!”

(Legal 500 2025)

“Russell is recognised as being “a real fighter and a good negotiator, who has a good grasp of both law and procedure.”

(Legal 500 2021)

“I would highly recommend Russell Strong. He has a broad commercial practice, involving international disputes. He is a strong litigator and tactician. He looks at the end goal which his client wishes to achieve and then works out how best to achieve that goal. A real fighter and a good negotiator, who has a good grasp of both law and procedure. He is also very user-friendly.”

(Legal 500 2021)

Russell is regularly instructed to act in high-value, multi-jurisdictional claims, including contract disputes, shareholder petitions, and issues arising out of the international carriage of goods.

He has a broad commercial practice, with a particular focus on commodities and dry shipping, and has handled disputes ranging from alleged breaches of a variety of commercial agreements, to challenges to arbitral awards before the English Commercial Court, to ship arrests in a number of jurisdictions. Russell has acted for clients in the Business and Property Courts, the major arbitral forums, and in specialist maritime procedures such as LMAA, GAFTA and SCMA.

He has more than 15 years’ experience acting for commercial and individual clients across this broad range of contentious issues and has significant experience of international arbitration. Russell joined Greenwoods from a leading international dispute resolution firm, Zaiwalla & Co, in June 2021.

Recent work has included:

Acting for a claimant in a LCIA Arbitration claiming orders for payment (of circa US $190million), account of assets and disclosure, in a dispute arising out of various breaches of agreements relating to the division of international assets.
Acting for a director/shareholder and a director in a heavily contested unfair prejudice petition and cross-petition in the Chancery Division. The relevant company, incorporated in the UK, but principally operating worldwide from Moldova, was turning over in excess of US $166million.
Acting for a Ras Al Khaimah domiciled shipowner against a global specialty insurer and reinsurer in a claim in the Commercial Court. The claimant sought circa US $4million by way of an indemnity and/or sums due from the defendant pursuant to a contract for marine insurance.
Acting for a private investor claimant in a LCIA Arbitration claiming specific performance against another shareholder, a state-associated capital fund, of the respondent’s obligation to purchase all the claimant’s shares in a technology company for circa US $24million pursuant to a contractual notice served in a deadlock situation.

Russell Strong

Case studies

Successful counterclaim proving the existence and terms of an oral agreement

Articles by Russell

The King’s Speech: Arbitration on the Agenda

UK signs 2019 Hague Judgments Convention: but what does that mean?

Unenforceable foreign judgments can still be enforced in England and Wales

Fine-tuning the fundamentally sound: recommended reforms to the Arbitration Act 1996