Kyrylo Sudnyk

About Kyrylo:

Kyrylo Sudnyk is a solicitor in the Commercial Department at Sterling Law, specialising in complex commercial and civil litigation with a strong focus on cross-border disputes, fraud, shareholder and joint venture conflicts, and high-value contract claims. Since joining Sterling Law in 2022, Kyrylo has progressed from paralegal to trainee and now qualified solicitor, consistently acting as a key caseworker on demanding matters that require meticulous analysis, strategic thinking and close client collaboration.

He has experience of High Court litigation and arbitration-related applications. Kyrylo assisted the principal solicitor in the Commercial Court proceedings in Yermek Alimov v Abdumalik Mirakhmedov, Rashit Makhat, Andrey Kim & Genesis Digital Assets Limited [2024] EWHC 3322 (Comm), a dispute arising out of a bitcoin mining joint venture. He also acted for the claimant in A v B [2025] EWHC, a charterparty dispute in which the High Court was asked to appoint an arbitrator under section 18 of the Arbitration Act 1996 after the opposing party refused to engage with the agreed arbitral process. The Court appointed an arbitrator and awarded the claimant 90% of its legal costs, underlining the enforceability of arbitration clauses and the court’s willingness to intervene where one party seeks to frustrate the process.

Beyond court work, Kyrylo regularly advises on commercial contract issues and negotiates resolutions without litigation. For example, he acted for a private landlord in a dispute with a letting agency that had misdirected rental income to an unauthorised third-party account. He helped prepare the legal position statement, redirected payments back to the client and supported negotiations that secured a full refund of the misappropriated rent and a clean exit from the agency agreement on favourable terms, all achieved without issuing proceedings. He has also acted for a commercial tenant who had been wrongly subjected to a liability order and enforcement action by Westminster City Council in relation to business rates. Working with counsel and colleagues, he helped prepare a strong challenge demonstrating that the tenant was not liable for the sums claimed, leading to a full refund of the liability order and reimbursement of enforcement costs by the enforcement agent.

In his commercial litigation practice, Kyrylo acts for both corporate and individual clients in disputes involving breaches of contract, misrepresentation, shareholder and partnership fall-outs, enforcement of personal and corporate guarantees, and recovery of significant debts. He is experienced in urgent interim applications, including freezing and proprietary relief, as well as case strategy from pre-action stage through to trial or settlement. He is comfortable working with foreign law issues, international parties and assets located in multiple jurisdictions, and regularly deals with evidence and documentation in more than one language.

Kyrylo also has experience in commercial arbitration and international trade-related disputes, including matters governed by English law but involving counterparties and performance abroad. He is familiar with institutional rules and enforcement considerations, and has assisted in drafting notices of arbitration, statements of case and settlement documentation in arbitral proceedings. His work often involves advising on jurisdiction clauses, governing law provisions and enforcement risk, giving clients pragmatic and commercially-minded advice rather than purely academic analysis.

Kyrylo graduated from the University of Liverpool with an LLB in Law and completed the LPC at the University of Law. His academic background included advanced commercial subjects such as international trade, arbitration, banking, company and insolvency law, which now underpin his day-to-day advisory and contentious practice.
His main areas of practice include civil and commercial litigation, construction law, housing law including landlord & tenant disputes, commercial arbitration, international trade and joint ventures, contract and shareholder disputes, and matters involving digital assets and cryptocurrency, with continued experience in immigration and wills and probate where these overlap with commercial or asset-related issues.

Area of expertise:

• Civil and commercial litigation
• Construction law
• Housing law, including landlord and tenant disputes
• Commercial arbitration
• International trade and joint ventures
• Contract and shareholder disputes
• Digital assets and cryptocurrency matters
• Immigration (where overlapping with commercial or asset-related issues)
• IWills and probate (where overlapping with commercial or asset-related issues)

Key cases:

– Yermek Alimov v Abdumalik Mirakhmedov, Rashit Makhat, Andrey Kim & Genesis Digital Assets Limited [2024] EWHC 3322 (Comm) – High Court proceedings concerning a Bitcoin mining joint venture, involving complex factual, technical and jurisdictional issues.

– A v B [2025] EWHC – acting for the claimant in a charterparty dispute and assisting with an application under section 18 of the Arbitration Act 1996 for the High Court to appoint an arbitrator where the respondent refused to participate in the arbitration, resulting in the appointment of an arbitrator and an order that the claimant recover 90% of its legal costs.