Four years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the battlefield has long since expanded beyond territory. Courts, treaties and international accountability now matter just as much as tanks. This week, Ukraine made that point formally.
London-based partner Julianne Hughes-Jennett of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has been awarded the Order of Merit by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, recognising her work advising Ukraine pro bono in its interstate case against Russia before the European Court of Human Rights.
The timing is deliberate. The award coincides with the fourth anniversary of the invasion, a reminder that while the war grinds on, the legal reckoning is no longer hypothetical.
The case that moved international law forward
In July 2025, the Grand Chamber of the ECHR handed down a judgment in Ukraine’s favour on both admissibility and merits. It was a significant procedural and substantive victory, clearing one of the largest legal hurdles Ukraine faced in pursuing state responsibility for systemic human rights violations.
Quinn Emanuel continues to advise Ukraine as the proceedings move into the next phase: damages. That is where legal theory meets numbers, evidence and consequences.
Two KCs instructed on the case, Tim Otty KC and Guglielmo Verdirame KC, were also awarded the Order of Merit under the same presidential decree DECREE OF THE PRESIDENT OF UKRA….
A reminder of what pro bono can actually mean
Hughes-Jennett was characteristically understated in her response, crediting Quinn Emanuel colleagues across London, Sydney, New York and beyond for their contribution, and framing the honour as recognition of a collective effort rather than an individual accolade.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Justice was more direct, describing the award as recognition of “a significant personal contribution to strengthening interstate cooperation and supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
For lawyers, this matters. Not as a feel-good headline, but as proof that complex, well-resourced international litigation still shapes real outcomes. Pro bono at this level is not window dressing. It is years of pleadings, evidence, jurisdictional fights and institutional credibility.
Why it matters for the profession
This is not symbolic law. The ECHR judgment now sits in the architecture of accountability that will shape reparations, sanctions enforcement and future international claims. It also shows how private law firms, when properly deployed, can operate at the sharpest edge of public international law.
The Order of Merit is rarely bestowed on practising lawyers. When it is, it tends to mark moments where the profession intersects with history rather than merely commenting on it.
This was one of those moments.
