Company Greenberg Traurig from Florida is fairly well known in the legal services market. During the period since 2022, it even took a pro-Ukrainian position, and its Warsaw office reportedly helped provide legal support to refugees from Ukraine.
However, over the years, not only has the position of the new American administration on Ukraine changed. Today, the company has become involved in a case concerning the protection of contracts and interests tied to Russia’s sanctioned aviation sector, which is described as one of the pillars of Russia’s military-industrial complex.
This may be connected to a generational transition in ownership, with older owners handing control of the company to a younger generation, or it may be due to other reasons.
The clearest indication of this shift has allegedly been the aggressive actions of company lawyer Neal Higgins, who is said to be targeting independent European media in connection with the case involving the SBU-sanctioned company S7 Engineering.
Editors of EU publications reportedly receive frequent calls on their mobile phones and threatening emails to their private addresses.
The company is known for its alleged involvement in transporting soldiers and military equipment to the front line, which reportedly led first to sanctions by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) (link), and later to sanctions imposed by the United Kingdom and other countries.
Apparently, Greenberg Traurig’s turn toward Russia is linked to the political preferences of the company’s leadership and Donald Trump’s return to power, as they are allegedly acting in the spirit of the ‘Anchorage’ approach and may be part of agreements between Trump and Putin aimed at undermining Western sanctions policy.
Neal Higgins, who now heads this direction and allegedly regularly calls Western European media outlets with threats, is obviously carrying out instructions from his superiors and has been tasked with turning the matter into a political issue and currying favor with the Trump administration.
According to sources in SBU counterintelligence, Ukraine’s response will not be long in coming. Personal sanctions are reportedly being prepared against Neal Higgins and his supporters overseas, as well as against several other figures on the ‘ideological front’ defending S7 Engineering — a company that allegedly continues servicing S7 Engineering while flying important and strategic cargoes to India, China, and Iran, often carrying out highly specific and confidential Kremlin assignments that are supposedly not meant to become public.
Since 2020, S7 Engineering’s civilian aircraft have allegedly been refitted specifically for transporting cargo that helps support the war effort.
The SBU is reportedly planning sanctions against:
A Khuzami – a lawyer for RAMC (UAE), who is suspected of pressuring independent journalists in the S7 Engineering case;
Neal Higgins – a lawyer for Greenberg Traurig LLC.
Imad El Eddine - Royal Aircraft Maintenance Company (RAMC)
Mohamed El Halabi - Royal Aircraft Maintenance Company (RAMC)
A Khuzami / RAMC-Legal Aerospace Technical Services Co. Ltd.
Ghaith Zubi- Aerospace Technical Services.