MOSCOW — The court-appointed lawyer for Boris Berezovsky predicted his client would be convicted of embezzlement, adding he did not “give a damn,” as the Russian oligarch’s trial opened in Moscow yesterday.

Alexander Dudkin was appointed by the court to represent Mr. Berezovsky, President Putin’s bitterest foe, after the London-based tycoon withdrew his own lawyers and dismissed the case as a politically-motivated farce. For a lawyer who has spent three decades defending vagrants and alcoholics too poor to hire their own counsel, the opportunity to represent Russia’s most infamous figure ought to have been the climax of an otherwise undistinguished career. The 62-year-old, however, has made it abundantly clear that he finds the prospect less than scintillating.

On the eve of the trial, which began in the absence of Mr. Berezovsky, Mr. Dudkin said he had not bothered to read the case notes and saw no point in communicating with his client either.

Asked by the Russian newspaper Izvestia whether he actually had any interest in the case, Mr. Dudkin replied: “Frankly, I absolutely don’t give a damn.”

Such insouciance might have something to do with the fact that Mr. Dudkin knows full well what verdict is likely to be handed down.

Asked whether he thought he could win, he said: “Are you kidding? That’s impossible.”

He may be an archetypal Russian fatalist, but Mr. Dudkin would also be aware that Russia has a conviction rate of over 99%, a figure critics say rises to 100 if Kremlin opponents are in the dock.

Mr. Dudkin is wise to affect nonchalance. Advocates representing opponents of the Kremlin frequently suffer harassment and threats from the authorities.