The Legal 500

France

Administrative and public law

Administrative and public law - ranked: tier 2

Dentons

Dentons has excellent PPP and public law contract expertise. The four-lawyer team is often retained by ministries and public-sector entities to assist with the realisation of some of the country’s largest infrastructure projects. The practice is notably advising on landmark projects in the transport sector. It assisted the RATP Développement and Keolis’ consortium with the awarding of the operation of the Paris-Charles de Gaulle Express rail connection; advised Paris transport operator (STIF) on the awarding of concession contracts for the operation of the Grand Paris Express’ four new automatic metro lines; and assisted the Ministry of Transport with the awarding of the RCEA road concession contract. The firm also advises on a series of school and university projects and handles litigation and regulatory work. Marc Fornacciari ranks among the best in his field. Counsel Dorothée Griveaux is also highly involved.

Leading individuals

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Derivatives, structured finance and securitisation

Leading individuals

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EU, competition and distribution

EU, competition and distribution - ranked: tier 4

Dentons

Emmanuelle van den Broucke leads Dentons’s Paris competition and distribution team and is currently representing a household luxury name in antitrust litigation before the FCA with regards to alleged resale price maintenance practices and internet restrictions, as well as assisting the same client with the review of its selective distribution structure. The team collaborated with its Brussels counterpart to advise a major multinational steel company on a state aid investigation, and is assisting a Canadian company with its master franchise agreements in France. Clients such as General Motors also engaged the group to handle a number of merger control filings pertaining to joint ventures and corporate transactions.

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Employment

Employment - ranked: tier 3

Dentons

Dentons’ 12-lawyer team shows ‘great expertise and professionalism’ in advising key clients in the banking and financial services, luxury goods, hotel and leisure and healthcare sectors. The practice is involved in some key restructuring, mass redundancy and contract requalification matters. The client roster includes BNP Paribas, Constellation, Plaza Athénée and Warner Chilcott. Katell Déniel Allioux, Frédérique Meslay-Caloni and Julie Caussade head the practice. Aurélie Fournier and senior counsel Jean-Louis Magnier are also involved.

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Insolvency

Insolvency - ranked: tier 4

Dentons

Led by Nicolas Theys, Dentons's four-lawyer team advises investors, creditors and debtors. The firm represented Sinenove and subsidiary Sinequanone in Sinequanone's conciliation proceedings. Counsel Audrey Molina is also involved.

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Media and entertainment

Advertising - ranked: tier 2

Dentons

Dentons’ communication, media and entertainment department assists clients such as J Walter Thompson and Coca-Cola with the whole array of contentious and non-contentious advertising issues, but also has an established presence in the television media space. Of counsel Isabelle Leroux and practice head David Masson advised on the launch of a new channel and represented a broadcaster in a dispute with a group of employees regarding the ownership rights of produced content. Masson also frequently handles contentious copyright issues in the literary publishing and music industry. Other notable clients include Al Jazeera, Sony and Flammarion.

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Mergers and acquisitions

Other recommended firms - ranked: tier 1

Dentons

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Project finance

Project finance - ranked: tier 2

Dentons

Dentons has excellent domestic PPP expertise and is often retained by government ministries and public sector entities to assist with the realisation of some of the market’s largest projects. The practice is notably advising on landmark transport projects and represented RATP Développement and Keolis’ consortium on the awarding of the Paris-Charles de Gaulle Express rail connection operation procurement and the Ministry of Transport on the awarding of the RCEA road concession contract. Public law expert Marc Fornacciari ranks among the best in his field, while Jean-Marc Allix is the other key name for finance aspects. The firm also advises on oil and gas and power projects, notably in Iran. Ramin Hariri is also recommended.

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Real estate

Real estate - ranked: tier 3

Dentons

King & Spalding LLP’s ‘technically very good’ five-lawyer team ‘always provides an excellent quality service’ and shows a strong ‘knowledge of cross-border investments’ while ‘answers are always clear and precise’. The practice advises French and international investors on large assets and portfolio transactions in the office and commercial sectors. Highlights included assisting Orion Capital Managers with the sale of the Domus shopping centre in Rosny sous Bois, and STAM Europe with the €160m disposal of its OPCI Madeleine. Benoît Marcilhacy is a top adviser. Pascal Schmitz joined Dentons in 2018.

Dentons provides ‘very good overall services for investments in France and Central Europe’. The ‘highly responsive’ and ‘deal-oriented’ team ‘delivers on time’, has ‘perfect knowledge of the market’ and a ‘real ability to manage negotiations in a complex environment’. The firm advises some high-profile property investors with acquisitions and sales of major office, retail and logistic assets and notably assisted LaSalle Investment Management with the setup of a joint venture with Ardian to acquire the Europa office building, and SAGIMMO with the acquisition of the Reflex office building in La Défense. The practice also has leasing, development, financing and tax property expertise. The client roster also includes Europa Capital and RTE. The practice is co-headed by Alexandre Poupard, Maxime Simonnet and Véronique Lagarde, who is praised for her ‘excellent professional and interpersonal skills, and high-level technique’. Pascal Schmitz was a new arrival in 2018 from King & Spalding LLP.

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Tax

Tax - ranked: tier 4

Dentons

Dentons provides a ‘very good level of services and excellent depth of knowledge’. The ‘very responsive’ ten-lawyer team combines a broad range of expertise spanning M&A, real estate, transfer pricing, tax planning, banking and finance, individual taxation and tax litigation matters and has strong sector expertise in the luxury products and healthcare sectors. It recently advised Belgian developer City Mall on the acquisition of a hotel in Nice. Chanel, Electrolux, Laboratoires Théa and AIG are clients. Benoît Giraux heads the Paris team, while Sandra Hazan is in charge at a European level. Other key names in the practice include Jean-Luc Calisti, the ‘very impressive and responsive’ Jessie Gaston who is ‘calm under pressure and able to provide technical advice while taking a commercial and practical view on issues’, Vincent Lacombe, Julien Le Guyader and of counsel Jérôme Le Berre.

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France: Banking and finance

Transactional work

Banking and finance: Transactional work - ranked: tier 3

Dentons

Dentons’ ‘excellent service’ combined with its ‘proactive approach’ make the team ‘a real business partner’. The group is experienced in acquisition, real estate and asset finance, as well as in debt restructuring and renewable energy and commodities finance. Further expertise includes project and infrastructure finance. Led by trio Jean-Marc Allix, Philippe Max and Pascal Jouannic, who ‘is an expert in receivables financing, factoring and securitisation’ and ‘dedicated to his clients’, the department acts for banks and corporates, with recent examples including advice to TCR Capital on the LBO of Laboratoires Lescuyer. HSBC Factoring, BNP Paribas and Faurecia are other clients. Julien Bacus was a new arrival from Ashurst LLP in 2018.

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France: Dispute resolution

Commercial litigation

Other recommended firms - ranked: tier 1

Dentons

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International arbitration

Dispute resolution: International arbitration - ranked: tier 2

Dentons

The ‘excellent’ Dentons stands out for its ‘ability to convey complex legal issues in simple terms: when they articulate your case in front of the court it is like a light coming on in a darkened room’. The ten-lawyer Paris team has strong investment and treaty expertise and is involved in several billion-dollar cases concerning tax, gas, construction and renewable energy issues involving Africa and Europe. The practice is representing Belgian company Blusun in an ICSID arbitration with the Republic of Italy regarding a 120MW photovoltaic project, and successfully defended the People’s Republic of China in an ICSID dispute brought by Ansung Housing regarding the development of a golf course. Gazprom, Customs and Tax Consultancy and the government of Australia are other notable clients. The team is led by Barton Legum and Jean-Christophe Honlet, who ‘demonstrates the ability to understand complex financial issues and put together a compelling case’. Anna Crevon is also involved.

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White-collar crime

Other recommended firms - ranked: tier 1

Dentons

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France: Industry focus

Energy

Other recommended firms - ranked: tier 1

Dentons

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Healthcare and life sciences

Industry focus: Healthcare and life sciences - ranked: tier 1

Dentons

Dentons provides advice ‘of the highest quality’ to clients in the healthcare and life sciences sectors. Practice co-head Jean-Marc Grosperrin and senior of counsel François Vignaud recently advised Pfizer on the sale of its global infusion therapy business to ICU Medical and Servier instructed the group to handle its acquisition of a stake in Swiss biotechnology company GeNeuro as part of the two companies’ strategic international partnership. In other noteworthy work, Julien Le Guyader advised Bioxis on its distribution agreements with a Chinese clinic as well as on the sale of 18% of its stake to Juvamed. Other key clients include Allergan, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Actavis. Anne-Laure Marcerou impresses with ‘her expertise in the sector and her pragmatic, methodical approach’, practice co-head Pascale Poupelin is ‘a rare specialist in both public and private law’ as well as a ‘great agent for thorny negotiations in the pharmaceutical space’ and Olivia Guéguen is another name to note. Marianne Schaffner was a new arrival from Dechert LLP in 2018.

Leading individuals

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IT, telecoms and the Internet

Industry focus: IT, telecoms and the Internet - ranked: tier 3

Dentons

Dentons is advising Nokia on its compliance with German and French data protection regulations concerning its recording of street-level data, and the Airbus group appointed the group to handle its longstanding software infringement and unfair competition case involving Dassault, IBM and OpenCascade. In other highlights, David Masson acts for a leading designer of invoicing software and services in several projects involving the negotiation of IT contracts and the termination of license agreements, and a major pharmaceutical client engaged the group to handle issues pertaining to the development of a mobile application. Counsel Isabelle Leroux has vast expertise in intellectual property work and domain names; she is also a key contact alongside counsel Clément Monnet.

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Luxury goods

Industry focus: Luxury goods - ranked: tier 1

Dentons

The luxury group at Dentons services clients such as Kenzo in intellectual property, tax, real estate and commercial litigation mandates. In recent highlights, tax specialist Sandra Hazan is advising J. Mendel on private equity injections, and senior counsel Gérard Delile continues to act for Fondation Le Corbusier in ongoing copyright, trade mark and design infringement cases pertaining to iconic furniture pieces designed in the late 1920s. Senior counsel Odile Caron focuses on contractual work, specifically in the context of commercial and distribution agreements, and is a key contact alongside corporate specialist Jean-Marc Grosperrin and David Masson, who heads the firm’s intellectual property offering.

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France: Intellectual property

Patents

Intellectual property: Patents - ranked: tier 2

Dentons

Dentons recently welcomed Marianne Schaffner and her team from Dechert LLP to bolster the patents offering, which services clients such as Essilor. She is currently handling a number of domestic and multijurisdictional patent infringement cases across a variety of sectors, including the life sciences space. On the non-contentious side, Laboratoires Servier appointed the group to oversee the intellectual property aspects of its international partnership with Swiss biotech company GeNeuro. Also notable is Davis Masson who acted for ICT in a patent litigation case brought by Tissues France pertaining to the use of an absorbent paper product and its production process.

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Trade marks, designs and copyright

Trade marks, designs and copyright - ranked: tier 2

Dentons

Dentons’ intellectual property offering provides advice on the whole array of both contentious and non-contentious IP matters: in recent highlights, the team advised Polaroid on branding and enforcement strategies for its trade mark portfolio, and senior counsel Isabelle Leroux represented Coca-Cola and its French and German subsidiaries in a complex copyright and ‘free riding’ dispute arising from the broadcasting of a Christmas advertisement. Of counsel Clémence Monnet is also a key contact and continues to assist well-known advertising agency J. Walter Thompson and its clients with campaigns and direct marketing projects and practice head David Masson carries out both civil and criminal proceedings on behalf of clients in the telecoms, life sciences, luxury goods and media spaces. The firm’s impressive client roster also includes Lactalis, Allergan and Harley Davidson. Marianne Schaffner was a new arrival from Dechert LLP in 2018.

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France: Private equity

Fund formation

Other recommended firms - ranked: tier 1

Dentons

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