What our clients say

“Iain is an exceptional lawyer and an accomplished negotiator who always adds value, both with his legal advice and as a tactician.
Iain combines superb technical knowledge and clear-thinking with extremely good judgment: he is full of ideas, is a can-do lawyer who inspires confidence in clients from day-1 and is willing to give clear, reliable views which make sense to clients. At the negotiation table, Iain is hard-working and can make a real difference to the outcome. His fluency in more than 5 languages is impressive.
A very pragmatic, deal-focused but also technically gifted lawyer with a very deep knowledge of the oil and gas industry.”

“I have known Iain for many years. He is a very professional and competent lawyer, capable of effectively supporting his client both in matters revolving around the interpretation of, and disputes on, Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) as well as in commercial, complex negotiations. He is fluent in many languages, including Russian and Italian, and this helps him in achieving the trust of all parties and in managing conflicts.
I would recommend him and would be happy to provide additional references if required.”

“I relied heavily on the wise and proficient advise on legal matters and government relations from Iain. Iain has a very strong professional foundation supplemented with strong business and deal making acumen. It was a true pleasure and privilege joining forces with Iain.”

“I have known Iain Fergusson since 2001 through our work on Karachaganak project in Kazakhstan.
In his role of main legal advisor to international oil and gas consortium, he has done a great job of consolidating opinions of not only different international companies, but also finding compromise with government representatives, in a great number of difficult negotiations.
Iain’s 20+ years of experience in Kazakhstan’s oil and gas sector, as well as excellent knowledge of the history of the projects, have always been his key assets.”

“Having worked with Iain for twelve years on an extremely challenging but world class oil and gas project in Kazakhstan, I can confirm without hesitation that Iain is an exceptionally talented and extremely hard working lawyer. On a day-to-day basis, Iain was the go-to lawyer on the project – the one who could always be relied upon to get answers and to get them quickly. However, I also had the opportunity to observe Iain at close quarters during several intense, protracted and complicated negotiations. Iain’s performance was invariably excellent; he always came prepared and was able to negotiate and obtain the best terms reasonably possible in the context of major commercial transactions while bringing those same skills to bear (very effectively) when faced with significant disputes. Iain’s fluency in several languages, including Russian and Italian, was also an asset. In short, I have no hesitation in highly recommending Iain as a lawyer.”

“Con Ian abbiamo affrontato diversi contenziosi internazionali ed ha sempre assicurato un eccellente supporto legale oltre che una visione d’assieme e capacità negoziali non comuni. un professionista che si è dimostrato fondamentale nella positiva chiusura dei contenziosi.”

“I have worked with Iain as an oil and gas client for about 10 years. He is fairly unique in his ability to quickly assimilate very complicated legal and commercial matters and offer multiple choice solutions taking into account client strategy and commercial objectives. Additionally, he has an extensive and successful record of representing oil and gas companies in negotiations with governmental authorities to resolve contractual disputes. I cannot think of any other lawyer who I would rather have on my team defending my interests.”

“Iain has proved invaluable by being a totally professional lawyer with excellent knowledge in the development and interpretation of Production Sharing Agreements, Joint Operating Agreements, Major Procurement Procedures and mega project contract boilerplate. He provided excellent support during both the pre and post sanction processes of the mega projects I was involved with which included commercial and complex negotiations with government, partners and major contractors during these phases. ”

“I worked with Iain for many years and he was responsive, quickly turning round queries, provided sound legal advice but also understood the business context in which guidance was being sought. An excellent negotiator and great knowledge of doing business in the CIS.”

“It has always been a pleasure to work with Iain, for the “out of the box thinking”, and for the business oriented legal approach.
Iain manages to get people confident, even if they are not born exactly so …. That’s of great value.”

“I was involved in the management of a giant oil field project in for an NOC in a supervisory, role. Iain was on the other side of the negotiating table. My experience of working with Iain included some challenging and critical issues ranging from negotiation of agreements settling commercial and legal disputes arising under the terms of the production sharing agreement, to negotiation of a 15-year gas sales agreement. Key skills and competences characterizing Iain’s work in tackling all such tasks included his excellent grasp of the underlying agreements and the contextual documentary and legal framework, which allowed him to establish and project an authoritative view on how applicable terms and conditions impact and shape the position of relevant parties at the negotiating table. Besides, I noted his consistent focus and commitment to help his client to achieve fairly quick results mutually acceptable to all other parties involved. His pragmatic, sober and results-driven approach to negotiations was a notable and valuable advantage and an asset.

On a final note, I wish to complement Iain for his integrity and importance he attributes to developing and maintaining interpersonal relationships, which quite often plays a critical role in achieving important solutions to problems and issues he helped his client to resolve.”

“I have worked with Iain over an extended period and thoroughly enjoyed working with him. He is a highly experienced legal professional who is adept at providing insightful strategic advice to large and complex international organisations in the energy sector. His analytical approach and ability to articulate complex problems in simple terms is invaluable.”

“Excellent in teamworking, Iain has always been able to deserve great respect and appreciation from the top managers of the major oil & gas companies with whom he collaborated.

During the exhausting negotiation sessions we have gone through what particularly impressed me is his ability to maintain lucidity and concentration: he never lets you down.”

“I worked with Iain Ferguson from 2013-2016. Iain played a significant role in drafting legal documents for a major oil and gas joint venture. These included a production sharing agreement, a settlement agreement, transportation and marketing agreements, field development plans, and resolutions among the joint venture partners.

It was my pleasure to work with Iain. His wealth of knowledge as it related to legal documents and overall activities was impressive. He could quickly articulate specific details associated with a legal document and gave great guidance to the joint venture. He also had a very good relationship with the Republic of Kazakhstan (RoK) officials. I participated in several meetings where there was a different point of view between the JV and RoK, and Iain provided clear explanations on the JV position. Iain represented the JV very well.

I whole heartily endorse Iain Ferguson for his legal services, especially if those would be associated with activities in the Republic of Kazakhstan.”

“Iain cooperated closely with me in a major project in Kazakhstan during 2007-2013. Iain was an external legal counsel. Iain is an excellent international lawyer, he possesses a very high level of expertise in the area of international energy law and has a sound experience of working in the legal environment of the former USSR. His advice has always been prompt and accurate in spite of the immense amount of requests he was loaded with. Most significantly, his imaginative and committed approach has consistently helped joint venture partners, whose interests were so diverse, to find consensus and maintain their position in discussions with counterparties and state agencies. I can recommend Iain’s services without the slightest hesitation.”

“Iain is a great professional, one of the few who uses feelings and heart and not just his experience to achieve the goals in tune with the needs of the customer. It has always been a pleasure working with him, comfortable to be in good hands.”

“I worked closely with Iain for several years. His advice was always invaluable and timely. He has the ability to simplify complex problems and focus on the core issues to enable an effective solution to be developed. I have no hesitation in wholeheartedly recommending his services.”

“Iain is an asset to any team who can easily mitigate situations to avoid major clashes. The way he uses his knowledge and skills to the benefit of the client is outstanding, he never failed to deliver expectations despite the callings offered by the task.
It is always a pleasure working with Iain both as professional and as a person.”

“Iain provided dedicated legal consultancy support to the Venture and was always very responsive and highly professional in his dealings with us. Iain had an in depth understanding of our contract with the RoK Government which was essential in terms of dispute resolution and ensuring PSA compliance, and was seen as being very objective, pragmatic and reliable by each of the four JV Partners. At this time the project was going through a major cost recovery dispute with the RoK and Iain successfully managed this process alongside external counsel, helping negotiate what was seen as fair and equitable result for all parties. Based on my experience I would have no hesitation in recommending Iain to other clients.”

“I have worked with Iain in Kazakhstan. His firm supported our project. It is difficult to find a firm that understands the law, environment and the culture in Kazakhstan. Iain has been involved with the project for many years and he has not allowed complacency to set in. He responds in a timely manner and due to the quality of his services, his firm has remained the go-to firm. I would recommend his firm to anyone.”

“I worked with Iain as a client for a major oil and gas asset. During this period we had a significant amount of new business activities going on, on top of the resolution of a dispute with the government. Iain and I worked very closely together on these projects. He has a very deep knowledge of the industry and maintains a very good big picture view of all the various moving parts. However, the work rate and attention to detail result in the delivery of a very high quality product to very tight timescales. I would recommend Iain and FSU Law and happily work with him again.”