The Legal 500

The ‘excellent’ Shearman & Sterling LLP goes from strength to strength. The firm added a further ten lawyers to its practice, expanded geographically its scope of cases to Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, and built up its track-record with more victories, notably wining the first round of battles in the high-profile Yukos Oil Company UNCITRAL disputes. Relying on some 40 lawyers, the firm has the largest arbitration team in Paris. The eight-partner practice is headed by leading figure Emmanuel Gaillard, and includes Philippe Pinsolle, Todd Wetmore and Fernando Mantilla-Serrano, who handles many cases in relation to Spain and Latin America. Yas Banifatemi manages the firm’s public international law practice. Highlights included acting for Areva in one of the world’s largest construction disputes, and winning a major victory for Sonatrach in a case against Repsol and Gas Natural regarding the Gassi Touil project.

Dechert’s ‘solid team’ consists of five partners; the very highly regarded Pierre Mayer, practice head Xavier Nyssen, Philip Dunham, Eduardo Silva Romero and Jacques Sivignon. The firm runs a busy ICC practice, handling large cases for industrial clients, and is also instructed by state entities on investment disputes.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP has an ‘excellent’ arbitration group comprising 27 lawyers, handling high-profile commercial and investment cases. The practice is led by Peter Turner, and includes Jan Paulsson (a strong authority for public international law matters), Georgios Petrochilos, Elie Kleiman and newly promoted partner Noah Rubins. Highlights included representing the Republic of Turkey in a large-scale ICSID arbitration dispute against Libananco, regarding alleged expropriation of power facilities, and the Kingdom of Cambodia on its first ICSID case against a US power producer.

With one of the largest teams in the market (seven partners and 20 associates), White & Case LLP is a major player for commercial and investment cases, delivering ‘great quality work’. Led by the ‘very professional’ Michael Polkinghorne, the team includes leading construction expert Christopher Seppälä, John Willems and Philippe Sarrailhé, while ‘very good’ Charles Nairac and Christophe von Krause are both rising talents. Matthew Secomb was made partner in 2011. The firm runs a busy ICC, SCC and ICSID practice, notably in the energy and construction sectors, representing Eastern European states in a series of cases. The practice acted for the National Environmental Agency of Ukraine on the first-ever Permanent Court of Arbitration dispute.

Bredin Prat’s ‘team is very experienced, responsive and efficient in managing a case’. The multilingual team is a rising force in the market and won several major cases. The practice is made up of Tim Portwood, José María Pérez, Louis Christophe Delanoy and newly promoted partner and ‘always dedicated’ Raed Fathallah, who ‘masters the procedure of ICSID arbitration’ and stands out as a ‘team leader with great ethics’. The group handles large ICC and investment cases, representing state entities and private companies.

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP has a busy commercial and investment practice. The compact and strong team includes Claudia Annacker, whose reputation is growing in the field of investment and public international law, Jean-Yves Garaud and the up-and-coming Roland Ziadé, who was promoted to counsel. The firm advises state entities and large corporations (ArcelorMittal, Sanofi-Aventis). It also represented the Russian Federation in three UNCITRAL arbitrations against former shareholders of Yukos, and the Republic of Argentina in the first attempt to pursue a mass claim in an ICSID case.

Arbitration boutique Derains & Gharavi is led by Yves Derains, a highly-regarded arbitrator who is ‘at the top of his game’, and Hamid Gharavi and Bertrand Derains, who act mainly as counsel but are also active as arbitrators – Serge Lazareff left the firm to set up Lazareff Le Bars. The 11-lawyer practice handles large commercial and investment cases, achieving ‘excellent results’ in 2010, notably on ICSID disputes. The firm represented Repsol and Gas Natural on a $3bn UNCITRAL arbitration against Sonatrach, and the Republic of Turkey on a record $19bn ICSID case regarding an investment in the telecom industry. The firm is also proficient in public international law.

Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is ‘strongly recommended’, the 18-lawyer team providing ‘great strategic input to cases’ while ‘always remaining very client-friendly and responsive’. The five-partner practice includes the ‘very solid’ Carole Malinvaud, Christian Camboulive and Rupert Reece, who offers an ‘excellent combination of French and English law capabilities’. The firm handles a large amount of ICC work, while also being active on ICSID cases. It represented Victor Pey Casado in an ICSID arbitration against the Republic of Chile regarding the expropriation of newspaper publishing companies by the military authorities.

Herbert Smith LLP’s ‘solid and very dynamic’ 15-lawyer team increased the number of instructions by French multinationals and state entities in 2010. The practice is made up of four partners; Charles Kaplan who co-heads the firm’s global arbitration practice, the ‘extremely responsive and very sharp’ Michael Young, Isabelle Michou and newly promoted partner and public international law specialist Emmanuelle Cabrol. The firm handles a high volume of cases, notably ICC, while taking on investment disputes.

The ‘growing’ Castaldi Mourre & Partners has some ten lawyers dedicated to the arbitration practice. The firm includes the ‘very impressive’ Alexis Mourre.

‘Small team, excellent results’ define Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier’s strong practice. The team is headed by the ‘outstanding’ Matthieu de Boisséson, while Pierre Duprey is also praised. The practice attracts high-profile commercial cases, and recently represented Danone before the SCC courts regarding its joint venture with Wahaha.

Eversheds LLP’s ten-lawyer team is led by Rodman Bundy, who ‘stands out in the field of public international law’, an area where the firm represents state entities in a large number of cases before the International Court of Justice. The group, which also includes David Sellers, newly promoted partner Will Thomas and of counsel Loretta Malintoppi, has strong investment expertise and a busy commercial arbitration practice. The team attracts a good amount of work from the Middle East and Africa regions. Highlights included representing the Iranian government in an UNCITRAL arbitration in the telecoms sector.

The ‘up-and-coming’ Hogan Lovells (Paris) LLP has a ‘very dynamic’ practice, the firm gaining new high-profile clients in 2010. The 10-lawyer team is led by the ‘very combative’ Jean-Georges Betto, who is ‘well-versed in the defence sector’, and Laurent Gouiffès, whose practice focuses on energy and investment. The firm runs an active ICC practice, advising key clients in the defence, aerospace and energy sectors.

At Jones Day, the ‘well reputed’ Michael Bühler heads the Paris ten-lawyer team and co-manages the firm’s global arbitration practice. The department, which also includes Pierre Heitzmann and Swedish law expert Sigvard Jarvin, handles numerous ICC cases with a particular focus on engineering, construction and oil and gas disputes.

US firm King & Spalding LLP generated strong press coverage when it opened its Paris office in 2009 as its main arbitration centre for Europe. The firm’s reputation in America was key to attracting a superb team in France, which includes one of the market’s greatest arbitration lawyers in Eric Schwartz (a former general secretary of the ICC who also acts as an arbitrator), and James Castello (a member of the LCIA and an UNCITRAL expert). Both joined from Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, while Kenneth Fleuriet moved from the firm’s London office. The seven-lawyer team handles large commercial and investment cases.

Created in 2010, Lazareff Le Bars is a partnership between Serge Lazareff, a renowned and highly experienced arbitrator with a strong practice in the mining, oil and gas, energy and construction sectors who left Derains & Gharavi, and Benoît Le Bars, who acts as an arbitrator and counsel and has real knowledge of the OHADA. The five-lawyer firm acts in commercial and investment disputes. The practice also benefits from an agreement signed with Girard Gibbs in the US.

Orrick Rambaud Martel has a ‘great and dynamic team’, with key figures including Laurent Jaeger, senior counsel William Laurence Craig and George Rigo. The group has a strong ICC practice, also handles investment work and is involved in large energy disputes. The practice is managing several strategic cases for Vivendi, winning a LCIA arbitration versus Elektrim and acting in an ICC arbitration against Deutsche Telekom and Elektrim.

Salans has a ‘solid’ and comprehensive 13-lawyer team, led by global practice heads Brenda Horrigan and Jean-Christophe Honlet, while Barton Legum manages the investment treaty practice. The firm is handling several key commercial and investment matters in Romania and Western Europe.

Teynier, Pic & Associés has a ‘great reputation in the arbitration world for the quality and seriousness of its services’. Dedicated to dispute resolution, the firm takes on commercial and investment arbitration, mediation and exequatur litigation. The practice, led by Eric Teynier, Pierre Pic and Laurence Kiffer, who act both as advisors and arbitrators, handles cases involving the Middle-East, Eastern Europe and North Africa. The firm successfully represented Financière de France in two arbitration disputes.

Clifford Chance’s Jean-Pierre Grandjean and counsel Peter Rosher handle ICC arbitration disputes representing prominent corporations (Siemens, Carrefour, EADS); they also act as arbitrators.

Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP is involved in several large ICC, ICSID and UNCITRAL cases, often acting in cooperation with the firm’s other European and American offices. The practice is led by the current chairman of the ICC commission on arbitration Peter Wolrich, and also includes the ‘very good’ Geoffroy Lyonnet and David Hesse. The firm has a strong involvement representing state and state-own entities, handling several cases for the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which it is notably assisting in an ICSID dispute versus a US oil company.

Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP’s nine-lawyer team is led by José Rosell, and includes the ‘very honest’ counsel Axel Baum, Marc-Olivier Langlois, Marc Henry and counsel Virginie Colaiuta. The hire of Alfred Hoogveld, a Dutch national and former Paris head of Loyens & Loeff, also further enhanced the practice. The firm handles cases in the mining, pharmaceutical and energy fields.

Latham & Watkins’ commercial and investment practice is led by Rachel Thorn and Robert Volterra, who splits his time between the London and Paris offices. The seven-lawyer team handles a high amount of ICC and energy work, representing the Republic of Macedonia in ICSID and ICC arbitrations against Austrian EVN.

Bruno Leurent and Thomas Bevilacqua head Winston & Strawn’s up-and-coming practice. The team handles a number of ICC cases, acting for Réseau de Transport de l’Electricité in an ICC arbitration against an Italian electricity company. The practice also deals with investment cases, representing the Republic of Ecuador in a number of cases, and notably in two UNCITRAL arbitrations against Chevron and Texaco.