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You might be sorry you asked!

Seems another court case is brewing. Taylor English seek $2.8m from FRC -( full access to the article needs registration with a company email)

https://www.law360.com/texas/articles/1448608/taylor-english-seeks-2-8m-in-fees-from-ex-client

Earsbern - I think you are spot on. With regard to salary he was claiming US$11m+ back pay. The company have challenged that and they mention his shareholding as being in relation to his employment T&C's - which the the court has found he breached in granting the T.I.

Goit - yes you are right as I don't recall any message / statement from the company about a return to the market. So far they are using generalities like 'evolving business plan' and 'constructive cooperation'. Of course that doesn't mean it won't happen, but I don't think its been stated as such thus far.

Earsbern - ZM had a 39% stake and lost the lot. I can't recall if it was in the livestream or its in one of his many filings, but he complained bitterly that someone had swooped in and legally stolen the company from under his nose. Unlike our situation, they actually got away with it.

Did the Bard have him in mind when he wrote -

"I am disgraced, impeach'd and baffled here,
Pierced to the soul with slander's venom'd spear!"

Lifeishard – The company did make it clear that there is much going on that is not currently in the public domain. It can be exhausting looking back to try and correlate the rational with the seemingly irrational. I personally don’t see any grand plan connecting or packaging the past with the present into one conspiratorial ‘event’. I base that on the chronology of the Texas cases. At the same time, I do agree that something is going on as the company, to use their own term, ‘evolves’ its new business plan.

Ziggy - I do't think this development will cause any delay in Texas. Next steps in the appeals will be decided by the courts who can agree to hear oral evidence or decide the outcome themselves. The full trial date is already set. All filings, motions etc are already submitted. I think this is purely to show the courts in Georgia "it ain't over!" and is an attempt to delay the courts in Texas issuing any decisions or throwing the cases out because he no longer has representation.

ODR - Orrick's made ZM pay a sizable retainer given they are a well respected firm. They told him in advance that in order for them to continue he would need too make another payment at which point all comms, and payments stopped. Orrick's gave him some warnings which he didn't respond to culminating in their motion to withdraw.

Also, Claudia must have had her head in her hands with his blatant disregard of the TI and contempt. I imagine Orrick's were glad to see the back of him. It's possible, based on his actions, that no other respectable law firm would touch him so he has no choice but to go it alone.

I think Avi8r has it right - this is him on life support trying to delay the inevitable. As we have seen, what this person says and what this person does are rarely the same thing!

Under US law he does have the right to represent himself (if it did actually get that far) and Google states that less than 4% of such pro se cases are successful. That doesn't even begin to take into account the T.I. and everything else that is stacked against him.

Rest assured the courts will have seen all this before.

ZM has declared himself ‘pro se’ which is legalese for saying he will represent himself in the Texas cases.

The formidable team from Orrick’s were unable to secure any success, so it's quite the legal minefield he must try and navigate. That must be even harder given his seeming lack of funds and poor standing with the courts.

Based on what we have seen thus far, the trajectory of the various cases all seem to be heading away from ZM.

We should soon see what, if anything, happened in the two hearings held yesterday.

Arsenal221 - absolutely. The Order reads very clear and has been signed by the judge, its the description of the Order that is confusing as we know Orrick's made such a motion.

I will try to dig some more but its ZM's name not Orrick's on that motion.

Now, I need to try and check that this is really the case, but....

The Harris County website shows the Order as "ORDER GRANTING WITHDRAWAL OF ATTORNEY SIGNED" which you would expect given Orrick's motioned to withdraw and FRC supported the motion.

But I checked again -

The actual wording of the signed Order reads - "On this day came to be considered Plaintiff Zaza Mamulaishvili's Motion to Withdraw. After reviewing the Motion, any replies and responses hereto, and hearing all argument of counsel, the Court determines the Motion should be GRANTED"

No mention of Orrick's and so it seems to read as though it's ZM throwing in the towel in this particular Motion.

With two cases scheduled to be heard today in Georgia events on the ground might make whatever happens in Texas redundant now. But that Order reads that ZM has raised the white flag. Lets hope we get some confirmation so we are 100% sure.

The Texas court has issued an Order allowing Orrick's to withdraw as ZM's legal representatives.

The document contains no further information on what might happen next.

What follows is a best guess as information starts to trickle out of Georgia following a spate of recent / ongoing court cases.

The filings by FRC in Texas state that “Even though it is undisputed that ZM was removed from FRC’'s board of directors and from his corporate management authorities and responsibilities on August 28, 2020, and terminated for cause on January 15, 2021, ZM continues to purport to represent FRC and/or its subsidiaries in court proceedings and in communications”

It now appears that a court in Georgia agrees with the company and has stated that ZM is not authorized to make any decisions on behalf of FRGC / the company due to the following reasons:-

1- ZM was removed from his positions with the company, and,

2- FRGC Georgia is under the control of FRGC Cayman as a result of liquidation proceedings

The same court decision has also cancelled the bankruptcy proceedings against FRGC Georgia (The company is now listed as ‘active’ on the registry) citing various technical reasons related to events in Cayman and also due to the relationship between a foreign enterprise and a state body in Georgia.

From the Texas filings the company brushes off events in Cayman as the entity is effectively an empty shell.

These decisions can be appealed, and it is possible one of the two court cases scheduled for Dec 1st is such an appeal, so the situation could change (in theory).

It is possible these decisions, together with the US issued T.I. further undermine decisions made based on ZM passing himself off as FRR. An obvious example would be ZM representing the company in the Green Capital case.

This is hopefully part of a sequence of events that will finally unravel – and leave behind - the disastrous mess wrought by ZM and his cohorts. Don’t forget that criminal charges are in the works.

What we now need is more evidence of the constructive relationship being rebuilt between the company and the state so we can all move forward.

Well so much for no news on court action!

The first judge is already 'well known' to the company, as stated in the filings -

"The accelerated basis on which the case was rushed to judgment is also highly unusual and confirms suspicions about the conspiracy that led to the court’'s decision. With the lawsuit being filed on approximately March 4, 2021 and the court’'s decision on March 31, 2021, the case was decided in less than 30 days. This is an unprecedented short period of time for hearing and adjudicating a complex civil case involving a sizeable monetary claim.... On March 31, 2021, the judge in the case, Judge Archil Kochlamazishvili, issued a decision against FRGC ordering FRGC to pay USD $5,800,000 to Green Capital."

In the second hearing, it could be that Givi Bakhtadze is the same as George Bakhtadze, who is the DG of GOGC.

To an extent the cases in Texas have likely already had the desired effect. The T.I. has stopped ZM in his tracks as well as being something the GG will take note of. The GG had previously stated they would honor the findings of courts outside Georgia.

His arbitration appeal was for a multi-million dollar settlement (US$11M+) - the company dispute that and also seem to be bringing his shareholding into play by linking his holding directly to his employment and the T&C's of his employment contract which are in dispute. We don't yet know if he has walked away from that case but things must be dire if you have to give up that fight.

Even if we don't get US court updates, the TI remains in effect until the full trial date unless the courts decide otherwise.

The company had said they are focusing exclusively on the US and Georgia. They seem to have the US side of things going their way for the most part so I expect the focus is on Georgia now, in the courts and with the GG.

Its Thanksgiving in the US and the Texas courts haven't sat since Tuesday. There is nothing scheduled in the short term except for a procedural hearing in the FIC case in Dec. Presumably the judge will decide next steps regarding the Motion to Withdraw by Orrick's, and that could come at any time.

They don't publish court records in Georgia, so we have to reply on an update from the company, changes to the Georgian Registry, media reports, or announcements from the Prosecutors Office who occasionally comment on high profile cases.

No news doesn't mean things aren't going on behind the scenes. The T.I. remains in force, The Georgian courts have also stopped ZM & Green. Criminal proceedings are incoming (maybe already underway) against ZM & Co, and the GG haven't publicly contradicted their previously positive commentary on working with the company.

I am sure ZM would be the first to announce if matters had suddenly turned in his favor.

Life - Hard to say precisely. Most of the cases are at the "oral hearing requested" stage so the judge could agree to proceed as requested which, as things stand today, means the judge asking questions to FRR counsel. As Arsenal says, new counsel could be appointed, he might try to represent himself, but it doesn't look favorable given the TI is in place.

Its also possible the Texas cases have served their purpose and the focus is now on Georgia. This might be a reason ZM is no longer in comms / paying Orrick's for representation in the US.

We also know that ZM has a few local court appearances this week, so we might get news if any changes are made to the Georgian Registry to reflect decisions of the Georgian courts.

Dentons have started to file their Motions of No Opposition to Orrick's notice to withdraw, presumably there will be one per case:-

"NOTICE OF NO OPPOSITION TO ORRICK’'S MOTION TO WITHDRAW AS COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF, ZAZA MAMULAISHVILI

TO THE HONORABLE JUDGE CHRISTINE WEEMS:
Defendants, Steve Nicandros, Luis Giusti, Tyler Nelson (collectively, "“Individual Defendants”"), Counter-Plaintiff, Frontera Resources Corporation ("“FRC”") and Third-Party Plaintiff Frontera Resources US, LLC ("“FRUS”") hereby file this Notice of No Opposition to the Motion to Withdraw filed by the law firm of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP on November 10, 2021. Defendants/Counter-Plaintiffs have no objection to the Motion to Withdraw."

Ignore my earlier message on the various players, this is hopefully a more accurate description of the links of some of the players to our cases in Georgia.

Liana Kajashvili was the judge sitting in the Tbilisi City Court on 15 October 2021 dealing with the insolvency proceedings against FRGC brought by JSC Bank of Georgia.

Elene Kishmaria is a lawyer and with Giorgi Kishmaria she represented GC in the Tbilisi City Court on 31 March 2021 so it’s likely she represents ZM.

With regard to the other case, Merab Gvilava represented FRUS and FRGC in presenting the administrative complaint in July 2019, that’s the case that failed to register Dustin as the director of the Georgia branch office.

If the public record is up to date, those lawyers would seem to be the equivalent of pro-bono lawyers working for Tbilisi Legal Aid which "provides free legal assistance for socially vulnerable citizens who would not be able to pay for attorney’s services otherwise."
Liana Kajashvili is listed here - http://www.legalaid.ge/en/tbilisi/members
Elene Kishmaria is listed as "a representative of “Service for Justice”, -https://pog.gov.ge/en/news/prokuraturis-organizebiT-goris-saxelmwifo-saswavlo-universitetshi-sajaro-leqcia-konstitucia-da-ad

And Orrick's have also motioned to be removed from the Mourant case, so that leaves ZM without representation in any of the Texas cases.