Claim on a 2010 loan defeated on limitation grounds

The task

In 2010 Mr K. and Mr S. set up a business project — a chain of dance schools; funds moved between the partners were documented as loans. After the pandemic the business closed, and Mr S. assigned the debt under the promissory notes to Ms P. In 2021 Mr K. learned that Ms P. had sued him for recovery of the money under the 2010 loan.

What we did

• Reviewed the documents filed and developed a strategy for protecting Mr K.'s rights and interests.
• Pleaded expiry of the limitation period: the notes were dated 2010, no demand for repayment had ever been made, the client had never acknowledged the debt, and an assignment of claims does not extend the limitation period.
• After the loss at first instance, prepared and filed an appeal to the Moscow Regional Court.
• Represented Mr K. before the court of cassation.

The result

The appellate court accepted our arguments and set the first-instance judgment aside in full, holding that copies of promissory notes written by the claimant to herself do not establish acknowledgement of the debt. The cassation court upheld the appellate ruling. No unlawful recovery was permitted. Case No. 2-1197/2021.

This description reflects the result in a particular matter on particular facts. A result in one case neither guarantees nor implies a similar result in another.