The Legal 500

Within Administrative and public law, Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is a first tier firm,

No firms in France can match Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I.’s array of expertise, volume of high-level instructions, first-class client base and workforce. The ‘really good and quick’ 18-lawyer team is led by Laurent Deruy, Michel Guénaire, Emmanuel Vital-Durand and Thomas Courtel who is ‘certainly one of the up and coming stars in the PPP market’. The firm represented Eiffage’s bidding consortium on the project for the new Defence Ministry headquarters, and Voies Navigables de France on the first ever major PPP contract signed on river dams. The practice was also involved in several administrative disputes in 2010, acting for SNCF and RATP in litigations regarding new electricity tariffs.

Within Aviation, Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is a second tier firm,

Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I.’s Gilles Duquet, Richard Ghueldre and Philippe Rames lead a ten-lawyer team (Emmanuel Fontaine retired in 2010), mainly acting for insurers. The firm also has Eurocopter and ATR as clients.

Within Banking and finance, Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is a first tier firm,

Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. shows outstanding capabilities in terms of breadth of expertise and workforce. The department totals 67 lawyers including 12 Parisian partners and benefits from an international network of offices. It has a leading property, corporate and project finance practice through Kamel Ben Salah and the ‘fantastic’ Eric Cartier-Millon. Serving a first-class client base, the firm was in demand for debt refinancing work in 2010, assisting Eurohypo, CACIB and Crédit Foncier de France on the debt refinancing of three companies holding most of the Areva tower. Jean-Guillaume de Tocqueville d’Hérouville and Stéphane Puel also stand out for regulatory and investment fund matters. Xavier de Kergommeaux, Gilles Saint Marc, Patrice Doat and newly promoted partner Christine Van Gallebaert lead a securitisation practice ranked as ‘one of the top two’ in France. Major client includes the Société de Financement de l’Economie Française – the refinancing vehicle set up for French banks as part of the French state rescue package.

Within Capital markets, Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is a first tier firm,

Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is ‘among the only few French firms able to compete with Anglo-Saxon firms on ECM transactions’. The ‘strongly experienced and brilliant’ Arnaud Duhamel is recommended, as is the equally ‘brilliant’ Jean-Marc Desaché, a ‘good adviser for tricky French corporate issues’. DCM is also a strong field of expertise, notably when ‘the public sector is involved’, through Hubert du Vignaux, who has a ‘good feeling of what is important at the end for the trade’. But structured finance is truly the area where the firm excels with Alban Caillemer du Ferrage, who was instructed by LCH Clearnet to assist on the conception and legal issues regarding the launching of its clearing service for credit default swaps in the Euro zone.

Within Construction Other recommended firms

Within Dispute resolution Commercial litigation , Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is a second tier firm,

Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I.’s 23-lawyer team handles large-scale disputes for leading French and foreign corporations, investment funds and financial institutions. The five-partner practice, including Jean-Marie Burguburu, Gilles Duquet and Michel Pitron, is adept at dealing with strategic commercial, corporate and financial cases. It successfully acted for Francis Bacon’s heirs in proceedings regarding the recovery of the painting “Homage to Van Gogh” against the Van Gogh Foundation in Arles, and represents Trafigura before the Ivorian Courts regarding the management of toxic wastes.

Within Dispute resolution International arbitration, Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is a third tier firm,

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.

Within Dispute resolution Stock market litigation Other recommended firms

Within Dispute resolution White-collar crime, Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is a second tier firm,

Through the ‘very good’ Aurélien Boulanger and ‘procedural expert’ Bruno Quentin, Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is involved in high-profile subprime, financial, fraud, pollution, liability and fraud cases. The firm acts for blue-chip corporations and prominent individuals in cases in France and abroad. It is representing the federation of employers, UIMM, in the eponymous case.

Within EU competition and distribution, Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is a second tier firm,

Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. offers a ‘high-level network in both Brussels and Paris’ combined to a ‘high level of knowledge in European competition issues’. The ‘pragmatic and technical’ team, which includes the highly-regarded Antoine Choffel, Joëlle Salzmann and Yann Utzschneider, handles high-profile merger and antitrust cases at national and EU levels. It represented SNCF on its take-over offer for Keolis and Effia, won a major decision for Yves Saint Laurent and Beauté Prestige International in the perfume case, and is acting for SNCF in an alleged cartel case with Expedia.

Within Employment , Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is a first tier firm,

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.

Within Environment,

The ‘renowned’ Françoise Labrousse leads Jones Day’s six-lawyer practice, which was strengthened by recruiting of counsel David Desforges from Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I.. The team represents leading industrials in environmental and safety litigations and regulatory issues in the nuclear, gas, mining and renewable sectors. It recently assisted EDF on regulatory and permit issues regarding the building of an LNG gas terminal in Dunkirk.

Within IT, telecoms and the internet, Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is a first tier firm,

Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. has a strong telecoms practice in Olivier Cousi and Rémy Fekete. The firm has extensive experience advising on the opening of telecoms markets in emerging countries, and recently assisted the government of Burundi on the first PPP project in Africa regarding the setting of a broadband telecommunication network. Thierry Dor is the firm’s contact for IT work.

Within Insolvency, Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is a second tier firm,

Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I.’s practice has a strong reputation through the ‘extraordinary’ Olivier Puech. Thanks to its comprehensive expertise and international capabilities, the firm regularly acts in the market’s most high-profile cases. Recently, it represented Eurotitrisation in Cœur Défense and Orco Property on its safeguard proceedings.

Within Insurance, Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is a first tier firm,

Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I.’s 16-lawyer team, led by Philippe Rames and Richard Ghueldre, offers the market’s largest breadth of expertise acting for large insurers (Axa, Allianz, Groupama). The practice assisted AIG on the restructuring of its life insurance business, and Natixis Assurances on the setting up of a distribution scheme for life insurance products.

Within Intellectual property: Full-service firms , Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is a first tier firm,

Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I.’s ‘superb team’ is ‘very responsive’, ‘practical’ and delivers very ‘focused advice’. The 20-lawyer practice is led by Emmanuel Larere, Arnaud Michel, who has strong trade mark and licensing experience, and Grégoire Triet, whose patent expertise is second to none. Representative clients include adidas, Johnson & Johnson and Levis Strauss. The team successfully acted for Sinequa in a case against Exalead regarding the alleged infringement of a European patent covering a web-search engine. The practice also represented Sara Lee in a patent infringement case launched by Nespresso regarding capsules on coffee machines.

Within Media and entertainment: Full-service firms Other recommended firms

Within Mergers and acquisitions, Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is a second tier firm,

Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I.’s ‘very high-level team’ consists of some 70 lawyers who handle strategic French and cross-border transactions through the firm’s international network of offices. The 17-partner practice includes Youssef Djehane, Antoine Bonnasse, Christophe Eck, Didier Martin, Jean-Emmanuel Skovron, the ‘hard working and great advisor’ Serge Tatar and Guillaume Rougier-Brierre. Highlights included advising Areva on the sale of its T&D business, and SNCF on the creation of Eurostar International Limited.

Within Private equity Other recommended firms

Within Project finance and energy: Energy Project finance and energy: Energy

Within Project finance and energy: Project finance, Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is a first tier firm,

Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. ‘always provides a reliable and fully responsive team ready to master any type of financial deal, especially where quirky jurisdictions are involved’. Through its ‘broad and talented’ pool of 26 lawyers, the firm has a comprehensive practice, handling high-profile instructions in France and abroad in the fields of energy, transport and infrastructure. Bruno de Cazalet, François Krotoff, John Crothers, Rupert Reece and Stéphane Vernay are the key contacts for international projects, especially in Africa and Eastern Europe. The team assisted GDF Suez on its contemplated acquisition of a 9% interest in the Nord Stream project and is involved in the Saudi high-speed train project. The firm is also a leading player on the French PPP market through practice head Thomas Courtel and newly promoted partner Christine Van Gallebaert. Highlights included assisting a bidding consortium on the BPL project, and Eiffage on the Defence Ministry’s new headquarter project.

Within Real estate, Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is a first tier firm,

‘Remarkable responsiveness’, ‘highest technical standards’ and ‘in-depth analysis leading to practical solutions’ make Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. a market leader. With its large team (36 lawyers in Paris, 58 worldwide), the firm is viewed by many as France’s first property practice. The ten-partner group includes Jean-Jacques Raquin, the ‘excellent’ Frédéric Nouel, Stanislas Dwernicki, Eric Martin-Impératori and Renault Baguenault. Erwan Le Douce-Bercot, who is praised for his ‘remarkable work handling’ and ‘acute deal-driving sense’ is recommended, as well as newly promoted partner Christopher Szostak. Highlights included advising Hammerson on the setting up of a joint venture with Allianz Real Estate on a shopping centre, and Unibail Rodamco on the acquisition of Simon Ivanhoe.

Within Shipping , Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is a second tier firm,

Philippe Rames and Richard Ghueldre head Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I.’s team. The practice has strong litigation expertise, representing shipping constructors, insurers and ship owners, while also handling financing and yachting matters.

Within Tax, Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is a third tier firm,

Through its 18-lawyer team, Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. has a good breadth of expertise, spanning M&A, banking, property, private client and litigation. The team consists of Richard Beauvais, Olivier Dauchez, Gilbert Ladreyt, Laurent Modave, Guillaume Goulard and newly promoted partner Guillaume Jolly. It advised UFG Real Estate on the acquisition of a hotel portfolio from Accor.