The Legal 500

August & Debouzy has a stable 30-lawyer team that delivers ‘excellent work where nothing is left to chance’. Five partners lead the practice; the excellent Emmanuelle Barbara, Fabienne Haas, Philippe Durand, Marie-Hélène Bensadoun and Virginie Devos. The department provides cutting-edge advice on the latest issues, such as psycho-sociological risks in the work place. It advises numerous CAC 40 groups, small and mid-cap companies and top executives, handling major acquisition, restructuring and litigation work.

Bredin Prat’s Pascale Lagesse manages the 14-lawyer team, with counsel Cyril Gaillard and Cécile Zoro also playing a key role in the practice. The group handles the labour aspects of high-profile M&A transactions, alongside a highly-regarded stand-alone practice, dealing with major restructurings and large collective litigations. In 2010, the practice was selected by Hewlett-Packard to advise on its merger with EDS and on numerous collective litigations. The team also assisted Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel on the acquisition of Cofidis and Monabanq.Anne Le Quinquis moved to Fromont Briens & Associés in March 2011.

With some 60 lawyers including 12 partners, CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre has one of the market’s largest teams. Leading figures include Nicolas de Sevin, Jean-Claude Anisten, Laurent Marquet de Vasselot and Pierre-Jean Sinibaldi, while Ghislain Beaure d’Augères, Nicolas Callies and Thierry Romand are all up-and-coming partners in the ‘extremely responsive’ practice. The department advises a large number of listed and international companies, dealing with large restructurings and handling significant discrimination-related disputes. The firm recently won a major case for France’s largest employer, La Poste, regarding the status of temporary staff.

Capstan, member of Ius Laboris provides an ‘excellent level of service’ with ‘outstanding response time and appropriate advice’. France’s largest employment boutique is home to some 180 lawyers split between nine offices. Leading figures among the 35 partners include Jean-Michel Mir, Bruno Serizay, Guillaume Bordier, Alain Sauret and the ‘outstanding’ Thomas Lestavel, who is ‘very focused and responsive’ in addition to being ‘a pleasure to work with’. The firm serves a large CAC 40 client base, as well as small and medium companies for which it handled large restructurings in 2010.

Made up of some forty lawyers, employment boutique Flichy Grangé Avocats has a large workforce and is home to two of France’s leading advisors in Hubert Flichy and Joël Grangé. The practice consists of partners including Claire Toumieux, Arnaud Chaulet, and renowned remuneration and employee benefit experts Philippe Langlois and Philippe Montanier. The firm stands out for its client base, which includes numerous CAC 40 companies, leading international groups, funds and top financial institutions. The practice assisted DHL on the sale of its French parcel unit division to Caravelle.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP’s ‘solid’ 18-lawyer team, led by the prominent Gilles Bélier, the ‘really good and friendly’ Emmanuel Bénard and Gwen Senlanne, advises large French and foreign corporations. In 2010, the practice handled the labour aspects of a number of corporate transactions, including assisting Chartis Europe on its merger project with Chartis UK. The team also attracts stand-alone work from clients such as Electrolux and France Telecom.

Based in Lyon and Paris, 80-lawyer employment boutique Fromont Briens & Associés is regarded as France’s leading practice for complementary social insurance work, while the employment law practice is also of a high level. Yves Fromont, Gilles Briens and David Rigaud are strongly recommended. Anne Le Quinquis joined from Bredin Prat in March 2011.

Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I.’s 20-lawyer practice advises a large base of French and foreign multinationals on strategic matters, including site closures, collective litigations and restructurings. The team is made up of five partners; Gilles Duquet, Baudouin de Moucheron and Aurélien Boulanger are great litigators; the contacts on the advisory side are Philippe Desprès and the ‘responsive’ David Jonin.

Led by Yasmine Tarasewicz, Proskauer’s ten-lawyer team is first choice for complex restructurings and employment issues such as union representation, discrimination, executive remuneration and termination. Béatrice Pola is a key element in the team, while newly promoted international counsel Jean-Baptiste Martin is also recognised. The practice is trusted by leading French financial institutions (BPCE, Natixis). It also assists numerous blue-chip corporations from various industries including the luxury and automotive sectors (Gucci, Renault).

Clifford Chance’s practice head François Farmine shows a ‘high level of involvement in defending clients’. The 13-lawyer practice, which also includes counsel Viviane Stulz, delivers ‘outstanding services’ thanks to an ‘excellent understanding of business constraints’. In 2010, the team was called upon to advise on challenging restructuring and contentious matters, notably by Trèves and Visteon.

Coblence & Associés’ practice is ‘exceptional’, ‘very reactive and efficient’. The 10-lawyer team is led by Chantal Giraud-van Gaver, whose practice advising executives is highly regarded, Elisabeth Laherre, the ‘very good’ Catherine Davico-Hoarau who ‘reacts immediately to any question regardless of any emergency’, Martine Riou and Charlotte Hammelrath, whose advice is ‘always perfect and clear’. The practice has first-class clients which it recently assisted on restructuring, collective litigation, psychosocial risk, harassment and golden parachute issues.

Cotty Vivant Marchisio & Lauzeral delivers ‘very high-level service and deep and operational advice’. The ‘reactive and efficient’ team, which concentrates on ‘what really matters to the client’, is led by Florence Froment-Meurice and the ‘outstanding’ Antoine Vivant, who is a great advisor for ‘labour relationships and trade union negotiations’. The practice handled high-profile restructuring and litigation work for clients such as Manpower France, SFR and ThyssenKrupp.

Eversheds LLP’s ‘great and dynamic’ 11-lawyer practice is led by Stéphanie Stein, with Valérie Blandeau being the other key figure in the group. The stand-alone practice handles high-profile work, such as representing Molex on a mass redundancy plan. It assists some prestigious French clients (La Comédie Française), deals with cross-border work and advises on corporate acquisitions, including representing Merck on the French labour aspects of its merger with Millipore.

Fidal has impressive resources thanks to a workforce of more than 300 lawyers spread across the firm’s 100 offices. The practice advises a broad range of clients from small to CAC 40 companies. Michel Hallopeau is highly regarded for pension and benefits matters.

Hogan Lovells (Paris) LLP’s merger created a large employment team of some 20 lawyers. Practice head Dominique Mendy is highly-regarded, while Philippe Thomas, Jean-Marc Albiol, Thierry Meillat and Murielle Pariente are also recommended. The firm recently advised on major restructuring work in the life-sciences and car device manufacturing fields. The practice is also a good choice for high-executive termination issues.

Employment boutique Cabinet J. Barthélémy & Associés has 12 offices across France with Clermont-Ferrand, Paris and Rennes being the three main centres. Founding partner Jacques Barthélémy is an undisputed authority on employment law.

JeantetAssociés AARPI’s 14-lawyer team is led by Patrick Thiébart, who handles large restructuring work, and litigator Jean Néret. The practice advised high-profile French and foreign companies on site closure, mass redundancy, work accident and psychosocial risk issues in 2010. Highlights included representing Continental on the closure of one of its sites, and ThyssenKrupp Mavilor on the projected closure of one of its sites.

La Garanderie & Associés consists of a stable team of ten lawyers, led by six partners including the recent hire Mary-Daphné Fishelson from Lefèvre Pelletier & associés. Dominique de La Garanderie is a strong reference for corporate governance and criminal law issues, Marie-Alice Jourde is recommended for litigation and restructuring matters, Guy Alfosea is a pension and benefit specialist, Saskia Henninger focuses on individual litigation, with Bertrand Merville also recommended. The client includes leading media groups, property and industrial companies and top executives.

At Latham & Watkins, Agnès Cloarec-Mérendon and Matthias Rubner’s nine-lawyer team handled high-profile restructuring and mass litigation work. The practice has strong litigation expertise and is also selected by large companies to advise on compliance and criminal risk matters. Representative clients include Axa and Accor.

Lefèvre Pelletier & associés’ practice is chaired by Françoise Pelletier, who is consulted on a wide range of matters, notably on the high-profile issues of health in the work place and Sunday work. The team lost two key partners recently; Mary-Daphné Fishelson who joined La Garanderie & Associés and Emmanuel Nevière who is now at Quadrige. The department has a large client base in the property sector.

Racine advises leading groups from the luxury, construction, banking and insurance sectors, as well as small and mid-size companies. The 15-lawyer team is led by Carla Di Fazio Perrin and Alain Ménard in Paris, Elsa Bartoli in Marseille and Charles Philip in Nantes. The firm handled large restructuring projects and also dealt with litigation, union and work-induced stress case matters.

Salans’ team consists of four partners; practice head Jean-Louis Magnier, Katell Déniel Allioux, Frédérique Meslay-Caloni and newly promoted partner Julie Caussade. The group serves prestigious clients from the banking, hotel, pharmaceutical and luxury sectors, handling large redundancy and litigation cases.

UGGC & Associés’ ten-lawyer team, led by Sophie Uettwiller, Roseline Sauser and Pascal Bathmanabane, advises large companies. The firm handles restructuring, litigation, moral harassment and work-induced stress cases. It represented Six Telekurs on a restructuring project.

Led by Sabine Smith-Vidal, Allen & Overy LLP has a ‘consistently helpful and knowledgeable’ eight-lawyer team. The practice assists leading names in the pharmaceutical and banking sectors. It was recently called upon to advise on corporate acquisitions, contract termination and insolvency issues, representing GE Capital on the acquisition of the business activities of RBS Factor France.

Altana’s six lawyer team advises leading French and international clients, handling numerous restructuring and litigation cases. The practice is led by Pierre Lubet, who is also recommended for issues relating to hiring and terminating high-level executives, and Caroline André-Hesse, who advises on work accident and psychosocial matters.

Baker & McKenzie SCP’s 19-lawyer team, led by Denise Broussal, Gilles Jolivet and Olivier Vasset, was notably called upon to advise on restructuring projects in the industrial sectors in 2010. IT and pharmacy are the two other areas where the practice is strongly involved.

Bird & Bird AARPI’s practice head Benjamine Fiedler and Philippe Danesi have built a large client base, including prominent names in the telecoms, IT and life sciences sectors. The seven-lawyer team handled numerous restructuring projects in 2010.

At DLA Piper, Bijan Eghbal’s growing practice required the firm to add new faces to the team, with five new associates joining in 2009 and 2010, Marine Gicquel was promoted partner and François Millet was appointed counsel. The ten-lawyer team advises leading French and Anglo-Saxon companies, handling large cross-border mergers and restructurings.

Herbert Smith LLP’s practice is led by Sophie Brézin, and also includes of counsel Emma Röhsler. The six-lawyer team dealt with a number of restructuring and litigation cases in 2010, and continued to advise on the high-profile Nortel case. The practice was also selected by clients to assist on the issue of executive departures.

Mayer Brown was involved in several high-profile cases, representing Caterpillar on its restructuring and Molex on the reindustrialisation of one its sites. The ‘very meticulous and responsive’ Laurence Dumure Lambert leads the five-lawyer team while the ‘very friendly and reactive’ Régine Goury was promoted counsel. The practice has a large Anglo-Saxon client base, and handled litigation, gender remuneration, working time and data protection matters in 2010.

Moisand Boutin & Associés is a ‘modestly sized firm which offers added value expertise that ranks above large players’. The five-lawyer team, led by Christine Hillig-Poudevigne and Marianne Franjou, provides ‘complementary expertise in advice and litigation’. The practice handles high-profile work.

Morgan Lewis’ François Vergne is ‘very knowledgeable on executive termination and restructuring matters’. The three-lawyer team is highly regarded and advised on complex restructuring projects in 2010. The client base is made up of leading French and US companies.

Deborah Sankowicz heads Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker (Europe) LLP’s three-lawyer team. The practice handled high-profile work in 2010, representing Monoprix on the issue of Sunday work and UTI on the closing down of a business unit.

Employment boutique Raphaël is led by the ‘remarkable’ Isabelle Ayache-Revah and Marion Ayadi. The six-lawyer team advises leading financial institutions, including Société Générale.

Employment boutique Bardavid Tourneur is recommended for ‘company strategy matters’. The four-lawyer team, led by Elisa Bardavid and the ‘excellent’ Jean-François Tourneur, assists large companies on restructuring projects. The client porfolio also includes several law fims.

With some 50 lawyers, Ernst & Young Société d’Avocats has large resources and enhanced its practice through the hiring of Anne-Elisabeth Combes from JeantetAssociés AARPI in 2010. The team, led by Roselyn Sands, is a good choice for restructuring projects.

Frédéric Navarro leads Foucaud Tchekhoff Pochet & Associés’ four-lawyer team. The department focuses strongly on litigation and handled several restructuring projects in 2010, including assisting Oregon Sientific and Casio on the restructuring of their French subsidiaries.

Franklin has a five-lawyer team of ‘high quality’, led by Claire Fougea. Representative clients include Bacardi, PPR, Unicredit and YSL.

IDAvocats’ team is led by Hervé Duval, Pierre-Jacques Castanet and Bernard Gauriau. The practice handles restructuring, criminal labour law and union matters.

Jones Day’s of counsel Emmanuelle Rivez-Domont manages the seven-lawyer team, in which of counsel Anne Boileau is the other key figure. The practice has a strong stand-alone profile, advising several blue-chip US and French clients on restructuring, litigation and collective employment relationships issues. It assisted General Motors on the acquisition of GM Strasbourg.

Latournerie Wolfrom & Associés’ Joëlle Hannelais represents public sector companies and large audiovisual groups. The team assisted the management on the sale of Cofathec Coriance to A2A.

Nixon Peabody LLP’s Pascal Guinot leads a ‘really reactive’ four-lawyer practice delivering ‘concrete advice’. The firm advised La Poste on the implementation of collective agreements in the postal sector, and Carrefour on the restructuring of its banking and insurance activities.

Reed Smith added employment capabilities through the hiring of Courtois Lebel’s former team, led by Nicolas Sauvage and Caroline Masson. The eight-lawyer practice has particular experience dealing with discrimination and expatriation issues. It assisted Frulact on the closure of an industrial site.

Reinhart Marville Torre’s Catherine Broussot-Morin has thorough experience handling restructuring work, while Olivier Bluche is a litigator who represents companies and top executives, including on discrimination, liability and criminal matters. Agathe Moreau has unique expertise in professional risk matters, pleading before specialised jurisdictions. The five-lawyer team advises leading French companies.

Laure Joncour manages Simmons & Simmons LLP’s eight lawyer practice, with Laurence Renard the other key element in the team. The practice advises international companies on matters such as restructuring, collective litigation and implementation of group policies. It represented Acland Capital Investissement on a collective dispute against 200 employees and unions following a mass redundancy.

Winston & Strawn’s team provides ‘solution-based advice’. The practice, led by Sébastien Ducamp and Barbara Hart, has a large client base in the IT sector (Cisco Systems) and is particularly adept at handling data privacy matters. The department also benefits from the firm’s leading practice in environment, working alongside large industrial groups (Rhodia) on health and safety issues. The team also deals with litigation and restructuring cases, assisting Fast Retailing on the closing of Kookai’s company and Novescia on its restructuring.