[Japan] Legal Consultation with the Egyptian Government

[Suvorov]

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Mori Matsumoto & Otsui
森・松本・大津井法律事務所 Mori Matsumoto Otsui Hōritsu Jimusho
Attorny-Client Privileged Confidential Communication
EMAIL IS ENCRYPTED AND SECURELY SENT

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Recipient: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the Arab Republic of Egypt (@Naio90)
Subject: Legal Counsel Request
Classification: Secure

To the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the Arab Republic of Egypt ,

We are in receipt of your international advertisement seeking legal counsel. As discussed, we would like to meet to discuss what current legal needs your government has such any possible or pending cases, contract drafting needs, etc. We are happy to be placed on retainer or to serve as legal counsel for a specific matter.

Please let us know the time and place for this meeting and we will send a team to begin initial communications.


Yours Sincerely,

森竜

Ryū Mori

Senior Managing Partner,
Mori Matsumoto & Otsui
森・松本・大津井法律事務所 Mori Matsumoto Otsui Hōritsu Jimusho

This email message may contain legally privileged and/or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient(s) or the employee or agent responsible for delivery of this message to the intended recipient(s), you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please immediately notify the sender and delete this e-mail message from your computer.

 

[Naio90]

​ ​	Secret and Encrypted ___________________________________________________________​ Message to: Ryū Mori, Senior Managing Partner, Mori Matsumoto & Otsui Message from: Sadiki Aswad, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the Arab Republic of Egypt

The present message has been encrypted and encoded with the Advanced Internal Communications System. The unauthorized divulgence of the content of the present message, or part of it, is strictly prohibited. ​

Mr. Mori, I would like to thank you for the interest shown by your renowned legal company in our potential case. I am able to tell in in advance that the potential case we are analizing implies a multi-billion contract, plus potential additional compensations of similar figures. We would like to invite your legal team to Cairo to have a private face to face discussion as soon as possible. We are attaching to the present fax open airline tickets through EgyptAir on the new Tokyo-Cairo direct flight. We will be awaiting your team at the airport and will cover all expenses. Please, let us know the exact date, flight number and number of participants for us to arrange everything. Sincerely yours, Sadiki Aswad Minister of Foreign Affairs Arab Republic of Egypt

@Suvorov

 

[Suvorov]

Private

Ryū Mori personally led the delegation of 6 senior attorneys, 10 associates, and 5 support staff to Egypt. Upon landing in Cairo, the team would greet the team waiting for them. This opportunity was a major one for the firm. Representing entire foreign governments was a hallmark of the top international firms and he wished to secure this contract to put MMO on the map. This contract could springboard the firm to other major international disputes. The team was so large because Ryu was effectively bringing the team that would work on the Egyptian case should a contract be formed. The senior attorneys had varied experiences and expertises that would allow them to take point on any of the common issues that were likely to arise.

@Naio90

 

[Naio90]

The japanese delegation, led by Mr. Mori himself, would be received by representatives from the egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the airport. They would be then led to a convoy of luxury minivans and drive to one of Cairo's prominent hotels and left there for the rest of the day. They would be informed that next dayr in the morning they would be picked up again and brough to the Ministry for a meeting with the egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the legal staff of the MoFA.

The night would go uneventful, and next morning the 3 black minivans would be ready. They would go directly to the Ministry and would be received in the Ministers private meeting room. The big wooden table had space for 12 participants, the rest would have to take the second row seats.

The Minsiter would welcome the japanese lawyers one by one: "Gentlemen, thank you very much for taking our message and coming so swiftly, I hope you have been well attended since your arrival yesterday."

The meeting would be private, media would not be informed of this visit and meeting.

@Suvorov

 

[Suvorov]

@Naio90

The team followed their escorts to the location of the meeting with the Egyptians. They joked among themselves in Japanese to an extent and their translator helped them speak to their drivers and Egyptian counterparts every-so-often. They continued to follow the Egyptians into the meeting room. The Japanese bowed to the Egyptian team assembled in the room. The senior team members would sit at the table while the rest sat around the edges. Ryū Mori spoke first, "Thank you, sir. We have been very comfortable since we have arrived. We are glad to see that we will begin working immediately. As you know we are a full service firm capable of handling all of your needs. Please let us know how we can help you."

 

[Naio90]

"Straight to the point, I like this." The Minister would take a seat, accompanied by other 3 officials from the Egyptian Ministry.

"Mr. Mori, we put the public advert because we are considering direct legal action against a very well-known international firm, Storhet Group. You surely have heard of them.

Recently, the egyptian state published the sale of a determined amount of shares that were under our possession. Storhet Group made an offer, which was substantially lower than the published price, sparking that way a negotiation, which ended up with a written contract, signed by both Parties. Egypt transferred the shares, effectively honoring its part of the deal, but, at the moment of complying with its responsibilities Storhet Group disavowed its part of the deal, refusing to pay the agreed sum of money.

Egypt called them privately and reminded them of their duties. Instead, SG apparently citing something they mentioned verbally during the negotiation but that was NOT included in the written contract reviewed and signed by them, refused to pay... And there are we now.

Obviously, we have everything on record, including originals and copies of transcripts and other documentation of the negotiation process.

We are basically seeking international representation to take Storhet Group to the International Court of Justice, and expose them as they truly are, a vulture group that endures on scamming sovereign nations and only looking for profit. Egypt just wants to obtain the agreed sum of money, plus obviously compensation for cost of opportunity."

@Suvorov

 

[Suvorov]

Ryū Mori Would review the provided documentation, transcripts, and the contract itself. He then passed around the copies to the legal team. They whispered among themselves as they went through the documents, taking only a cursory view at this point. They nodded and spoke to Ryū. He then turned to the Egyptians gathered. “We believe we can make a strong case for you in a court of law to have the contract enforced.

Do you have any specific evidence or a means to quantify any additional damages for loss of business, opportunities, etc? It is easier to make such an additional ask if we have a means to prove it. Additionally, we could potentially seek punitive damages which are slightly more speculative depending on the message the court wishes to send.

Finally, should you wish to retain us as your counsel, we would want to know how you wish to engage us.

Our fee structure is $3 Billion per year as a retainer to address any and all legal matters faced by your government - these could include drafting treaties, terms and conditions, keeping your government informed of relevant international law and provided advice as requested. Or, we could represent you on this specific matter. On a matter as complex as this, we anticipate our fees ranging from 300 million to 500 million plus 30% of any additional recovered funds exceeding our base fee. Meaning if your government were to recover 550 million in excess of the amount your government was owed under the contract and our fee was 500 million, we would gain an additional 30% of the 50 million above 500 million. Granted, in this case we may be able to ask for reasonable attorneys fees to be awarded to you so that Storhet might be forced to pay our fees for you.”

@Naio90

 

[Naio90]

"Well, lately Egypt has been acquiring multiple Royal Treasury Bonds from Norway, worth several billion USD as an investment method. A big portion of the revenue from the share sales to Storhet Group was destined to acquire further bonds which in turn would have generated interests in Egypt's favor, something we could not do due to SG's failure to comply with the signed legal contract. Norway's bonds are publicly showcased, and total today over 2bn in potential interests and royalties, which we consider a lost opportunity.

As for the payment for Mori Matsumoto & Otsui, obviously we understand the costs of international lawsuits and legal processes and are willing to reward your company accordingly.

If I understand it correctly, for this particular case, we would have to pay your company between 300 to 500 million, plus 30% of the excess of the 5bn that SG currently owes Egypt, which would be the compensation for loss of opportunity. Is this so?"

@Suvorov

 

[Suvorov]

"Excellent, that type of objective measurement of losses makes our case stronger to the court.

To explain our fees more clearly: We do not wish to harm your expected returns from this deal as much as possible. This means that while we will charge a minimum of 300-500 million, depending on the level of work involved, we will not charge anything extra unless the award exceeds your expected returns plus our minimum fees. This means that if we charge $500 million, we will not apply our 30% fee unless your award exceeds 5.5bn in damages. Should the award hit $6bn, we would charge 30% of the additional 500 million. Our goal is to try to help you secure your rightfully deserved return before we begin to share in any windfall your government might gain. Of course, if you keep us on retainer as your general counsel, our fees are flat and we will handle all your legal issues.

Once your government has agreed to the terms of our representation, we will begin a case strategy and present it to you once we have dug into the case files."

@Naio90

 

[Naio90]

"I think we the state of Egypt can agree on these terms. We would like to highlight the importance of this case and the potential showcase for your company, an opporutnity to earn international respect. Also, a positive outcome would surely lead to a long term connection between Mori Matsumoto & Otsui and the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Please, let us know what you will need to complete the task. We can offer you office space here in Cairo, plus national and international transportation and lodging."

@Suvorov

 

[Suvorov]

@Naio90

"Just for clarity, is it your intention to retain our general services, or just for the purposes of this case? We will have a case presentation sent to you soon. Once a method of service have been chosen and the deposit of $100 million is paid, we will begin to litigate this case. We have confidence in our chances and we thank you for choosing us. We apologize for the delay thus far, we are gathering all evidence and arguments. If you have any questions for our office, please let us know."

 

[Naio90]

"Fue to the urgence and economic importance Of the present matter we wish to jure your services for the particular case. Once this is all over, we will make the proper calculations and respond to you on the matter of a long term cooperation. I can tell you that se are seriously considering continuing with your services, specially if you are succesfull with the present litigation.

We look forward to see your work, and please let us know if there is anything se can provide you to help the case."

@Suvorov

 

[Naio90]

"Mr. Matusomo, any new developings on the current case? We are eager to start and see your legal team in action, given we are very confident in your success. Timing would also be a matter of importance, as we do not wish to let Stromberg continue much more time unpunished and without concerns. This time is also their oportunity to continue scamming other international actors.

Please, let us know if we can aide you in tour presentation at the ICJ. We are always open and eager to collaborate"

@Suvorov

 

[Suvorov]

@Naio90

"We again apologize for the delay, all paperwork has been filed with the ICJ. We hoped that the requested deposit would have been rendered before hand but given our initial delay, we have filed the complaint regardless. We hope that the requested deposit can be placed as soon as possible. We will fight for your nation in the courts and we are confident in our chances. We hope to have the wrongs done to your people corrected before this is all over. Please leave this issue to us and we will ask you to present any evidence as necessary. If you have any questions or concerns during this process, we will remain open to communications and you will have 24 hour access to our staff."