The Legal 500

France

Compliance

Compliance - ranked: tier 1

Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP

Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP combines French, US, UK and international anti-corruption and money laundering compliance and investigation expertise. Leading French and international companies are clients. The practice is assisting a prominent company with handling sensitive French and UK government investigations. The Paris team includes Bryan Sillaman, Michael Huneke, Marc Henry and new recruit counsel Nicolas Tollet, who previously served as Technip’s vice-president of compliance.

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Media and entertainment

Cinema - ranked: tier 2

Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP

Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP’s lawyers ‘understand the needs and constraints of their clients’ and provide ‘good, sound advice and value for money’. Although present in the music, television and live show spaces, the team is at its strongest in the field of cinema. Recommended practice head Stefan Naumann assisted CTI Bank with the $200m financing of Luc Besson’s science-fiction film Valerian, and continues to advise Warner Bros on anti-piracy campaigns and the protection and enforcement of its intellectual property portfolios. Also notable is his advice to Paramount on the distribution of its audio-visual content in France. On the music front, a client appointed the group to oversee a litigation pertaining to the illegal use of a song in an advertising campaign, and another instructed the team to conduct intellectual property due diligence for its proposed acquisition of a large independent music distributor.

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France: Dispute resolution

Commercial litigation

Dispute resolution: Commercial litigation - ranked: tier 2

Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP

Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP is a strong name for banking litigation. The firm is representing several leading French and international banks in a series of high-stakes class-action-type cases dealing with banks’ duty of information. The team is notably defending BPCE in about 300 procedures linked to its DoublO product, and Banque Populaire Rives de Paris in proceedings launched by more than 150 claimants following investments made in photovoltaic power stations. The firm also handles high-profile commercial and industrial cases for blue-chip corporations. Marc Henry is highly recommended.

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International arbitration

Dispute resolution: International arbitration - ranked: tier 4

Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP

Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP delivers ‘extremely high quality of work, professionalism and a high level of commitment’ and provides ‘client-oriented advice showcasing a high degree of customized strategy that fits the needs of every different case’. The practice handles commercial and investment arbitration and acting alongside the Washington office, the Paris team is representing Ukrainian investors in five arbitrations against the Russian Federation arising from the Russian Federation’s annexation of Crimea. It is also active in energy and telecoms disputes, as well as in a number of cases concerning possible corruption issues in connection with agency agreements. Marc Henry ‘is extremely knowledgeable, fully understands the client’s needs and forms a plan of action that is tailor-made for every possible scenario’; he also acts as counsel in cases and is a regularly appointed arbitrator. Marc-Olivier Langlois ‘is very good at understanding technical details and at working with experts to come up with convincing arguments’.

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France: Intellectual property

Trade marks, designs and copyright

Other recommended firms - ranked: tier 1

Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP

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