The Legal 500

France

Administrative and public law

Administrative and public law - ranked: tier 2

Dentons

Dentons provides ‘sharp and in-depth analyses from which clients are able to make fully informed decisions and be well prepared to defend their own interests’. The three-lawyer team has exceptional public law contract expertise, and has been instructed by the government, major public sector entities and sponsors to advise on France's most high-profile projects and public procurement contracts. In addition, it has strong litigation capabilities and is regularly consulted on future legislative reforms and on devising new legal schemes. The practice recently advised the transport authority for the Paris region (STIF) on the awarding of concession contracts for the operation of four new automatic metro lines as part of the Grand Paris Express transport project, as well as assisting RATP Dev and Keolis' consortium with the awarding of the contract for the operation of the future CDG Express airport train link project. The team also advised on an investment project for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Other highlights included advising on major university and school projects, as well as assisting the Transport Ministry with awarding the concession contract for the RCEA highway project. Practice head Marc Fornacciari provides ‘fine analyses and is highly committed to his clients’. Also recommended are counsel Dorothée Griveaux and associate Nicolas Vital, who both ‘show great workload and analysis abilities that efficiently address clients' needs’.

Leading individuals

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Banking and finance: transactional work

Banking and finance: transactional work - ranked: tier 3

Dentons

The Dentons team stands out through its 'proactive and responsive attitude' and its 'ability to address its clients' needs and concerns'. 'Friendly and approachable', the group acts with the 'highest standards of integrity and ethics' and impresses with its 'excellent legal knowledge'. The team's 'in-depth expertise in fund financing' makes it a key player in this area, with project finance, public-private partnership (PPP) financing, structured finance and real estate finance as other core areas of strength. Following the arrival of Julien Bacus from Ashurst LLP, the practice is now led by a quartet which also includes Jean-Marc Allix, Pascal Jouannic and Philippe Max. Vinci Construction France, Mirova and SaarLB instructed the team to advise on the financing of a PPP for the construction and maintenance of three schools in France. BNP Paribas, RATP Development and Faurecia are also clients.

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Derivatives and structured finance

Derivatives and structured finance - ranked: tier 2

Dentons

Leading individuals

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Dispute resolution: International arbitration

Dispute resolution: International arbitration - ranked: tier 3

Dentons

Dentons' ‘multilingual and friendly’ 11-lawyer team pays ‘great attention to detail, ensuring that no avenue is overlooked’. The team has ‘unparalleled knowledge of the ICC arbitration process’ and handles a wide variety of cases, including matters relating to the M&A, construction and pharmaceutical sectors. The ‘very solid’ practice has an equally strong investment arbitration caseload and is handling matters relating to various parts of the world, including Egypt, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia and North America. It recently obtained a favourable award for Swedish investor Misen Enterprises in a Stockholm Chamber of Commerce arbitration relating to a joint activity agreement on the development of gas fields in Ukraine. Acting for GPF GP, the team also obtained the annulment of an investment treaty award for the first time, together with a negative jurisdictional ruling from the High Court in London. The practice is also representing investors in a billion-dollar ICSID arbitration against Romania regarding the sale of alcohol in the country, and OmniTrax Enterprises in a Nafta arbitration against Canada. Jean-Christophe Honlet, who co-heads the firm's global practice, is ‘an exceptional communicator able to convey the most complex issues in layman's terms’. The ‘very solid’ Barton Legum heads the firm's global investment treaty arbitration practice. Anna Crevon is also recommended.

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Dispute resolution: White-collar crime

Dispute resolution: White-collar crime - ranked: tier 4

Dentons

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EU, competition and distribution

EU, competition and distribution - ranked: tier 4

Dentons

The competition and antitrust offering at Dentons is especially strong in the pharmaceutical and luxury sectors, where it primarily advises on distribution agreements and commercial relationships. The practice is headed by Emmanuelle Van Den Broucke, who recently obtained clearance for the acquisition of retail activities in the automotive sector by Groupe Maurin as part of its strategic expansion. In terms of recent distribution work, associate Alexia Delaunay - who joined the firm from Baker McKenzie - was part of the team which advised on the strategic review of a high-profile luxury brand's selective distribution policy, as well as pre-litigation issues pertaining to its network in Europe. Also notable is Delaunay's work for a foreign steel manufacturing client with regard to an investigation into funding granted to it by an EU government branch.

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Employment

Employment - ranked: tier 2

Dentons

Dentons stands out for its ‘great expertise, responsiveness and availability’. The practice has a high-profile client base in the luxury hotel and life sciences sectors, while also advising major banks and key clients in the retail sector. The 14-lawyer team handles a broad range of matters. It recently acted in high-stakes litigation in the luxury hotel sector, which concerned issues including strikes, remuneration and employment contract re-qualification. The firm is also sought out to advise on restructuring, M&A, international mobility, remuneration and working hours issues, and also handles claims concerning discrimination, harassment and other types of litigation. Lundbeck is a client. Julie Caussade, Katell Déniel Allioux and Frédérique Meslay-Caloni are the key names to note at partner level. Aurélie Fournier joined Dethomas Peltier Juvigny & Associés to set up an employment practice.

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Insolvency

Insolvency - ranked: tier 4

Dentons

Dentons has ‘excellent legal and market knowledge’. The ‘proactive and very responsive’ four-lawyer team has ‘very good communication abilities’. The firm represents creditors and some debtors. It assisted Italian bank Credito Valtelinese as main creditor of View Star Roquebrune and acted for Financière de l’Avenir and its four subsidiaries in conciliation and reorganisation proceedings. The practice is jointly headed by Nicolas Theys and counsel Audrey Molina, who demonstrate ‘excellent skills and involvement and whose contribution is a key factor to successful matter completion’.

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Media and entertainment

Advertising - ranked: tier 2

Dentons

Dentons' David Masson recently acted for several high-profile luxury brands on a host of issues pertaining to their advertising campaigns, including intellectual property, contentious and regulatory matters. Senior counsel Isabelle Leroux is currently advising a major food and drinks company on a free riding and copyright dispute arising from the broadcasting of one of its festive advertising campaigns, while counsel Clément Monnet is part of the team which provides ongoing advice to an international agency on a variety of issues, most recently regarding actions brought by parties alleging illegal advertising.

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Mergers and acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions - ranked: tier 3

Dentons

'Pragmatic and innovative', Dentons' 'analytical and creative' team is 'efficient, reliable' and 'goal-oriented'. Life sciences and energy transactions form the group's mainstay, but the recent caseload spans a range of sectors, from advising new client Amrest on its acquisition of SAS Sushi Shop Group from Naxicap Partners, to advising Rio Tinto on the sale of its Dunkirk plant to GFG Alliance, and assisting Dries van Noten with its strategic partnership with fragrance group Puig. The team, headed by Olivier Genevois, includes Olivia Guéguen, who possesses 'good commercial understanding', and key practitioner Jean-Marc Grosperrin. New clients Biogaran and BPCE as well as Blackstone, EDF and Pfizer form part of the client roster.

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Project finance

Project finance - ranked: tier 2

Dentons

Dentons has 'a solid team for infrastructure projects in France’. The firm is notably advising on several of the market's largest rail and road projects, including assisting the Ministry of Transportation with the awarding of the RCEA highway road project. The practice also advised on domestic university and school projects and is assisting Vinci Airport with its bid for the Belgrade airport Nikola Tesla concession project. Public law expert Marc Fornacciari and project finance partner Jean-Marc Allix are ‘very good’. The firm also handles energy projects abroad. It was recently involved in large wind and solar projects in Africa and Iran, advising Meridiam and Eiffage on the development of a 30MW solar plant in Senegal, as well as Quercus on a €500m deal with Iran’s Ministry of Energy for the development of a 600MW solar energy plant in Iran. Ramin Hariri and Leïla Hubeaut are key names for energy projects.

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Real estate

Real estate - ranked: tier 3

Dentons

Dentons' 19-lawyer team ‘is really deal-oriented and has exceptional negotiating skills’. The group acts for French and international property investors, developers, a leading commercial property company and tenants. The team recently advised on office, logistics and commercial property investment transactions. It notably assisted RTL with the disposal of its Infinite office French headquarters and Stam Europe with the acquisition of the Concerto office building near Paris. The practice also advised on lease negotiations and assisted Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield with the acquisitions of shopping centres in Eastern Europe. Other work includes assisting Bouygues Immobilier with the establishment of new co-working company Nextdoor through a joint venture with Accor Hotels. Practice head Pascal Schmitz is highly regarded. Other key names in the practice are Maxime Simonnet and Véronique Lagarde. Alexandre Poupard joined Mayer Brown in 2019.

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Tax

Tax - ranked: tier 4

Dentons

Dentons ‘is available at short notice and adapts promptly to all kind of requests’. The large-12 lawyer team has ‘solid technical knowledge’ and stands out for its ‘exceptional communication, availability and strategy in dealing with complex issues’. It has a broad range of transactional and litigation expertise combined with in-depth knowledge of the property, luxury goods, pharmaceutical and insurance sectors. The practice recently assisted leading insurance companies as insurers of high-profile private equity transactions including assisting AIG as insurer with the mega buy-out of Saur. The team also advised Piquadro on the tax structuring of the acquisition of Lancel. In the property sector, the team acted for City Mall on the acquisition of the four-star Park Hotel in Nice. The practice also obtained a major victory for its client before the Conseil d'Etat. The practice is jointly headed by  Sandra Hazan and Jean-Luc Calisti. Other key names in the practice are: the ‘highly skilled’ Jessie Gaston, who is ‘an exceptional team leader who thinks out of the box when needed and never seems to take no for an answer’, Julien Le Guyader and of counsel Jérôme Le Berre. The arrival of Siamak Mostafavi as senior counsel from Jones Day adds high-level banking and finance and derivatives expertise from a tax perspective. Vincent Lacombe left the firm.

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France: Dispute resolution

Dispute resolution: commercial litigation

Dispute resolution: commercial litigation - ranked: tier 4

Dentons

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France: Industry focus

Industry focus: Healthcare and life sciences

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

Dentons

The 'involved' healthcare offering at Dentons is noted by clients for its 'responsiveness and accuracy', especially in the area of 'regulations and compliance issues'. Practice co-head Pascale Poupelin 'knows exactly what in-house lawyers expect' and is distinguished by her 'pertinent legal advice regarding market access for drugs'. In recent highlights, team co-head Jean-Marc Grosperrin collaborated with tax expert Sandra Hazan and IP specialist David Masson to advise Servier on several investment ventures with startups operating in the connected devices space; the team also acted for Servier in a strategic partnership with Swiss biotech company GeNeuro to develop and commercialise products to treat MS. On the M&A front, François Vignaud represented longstanding client Pfizer in the sale of its global infusion therapy business to ICU Medical. Marianne Schaffner recently joined the firm from Dechert LLP with counsel Pierre-Olivier Ally to strengthen the intellectual property and contentious offering.

Leading individuals

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Industry focus: IT, telecoms and the internet

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

Dentons

Dentons' senior counsel Isabelle Leroux recently obtained a favourable decision at the appeal stage of a software and unfair competition claim brought by Dassault on behalf of the Airbus Group, and David Masson is advising Nokia throughout Europe on the GDPR compliance of its recording of street-level data. The firm is also assisting Scalefast with all contractual issues relating to its cloud platform and e-commerce structure.

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Industry focus: Luxury goods

Industry focus: Luxury goods - ranked: tier 1

Dentons

Odile Caron is senior counsel within Dentons' commercial and distribution practice and a key name to note within the luxury group alongside intellectual property specialist David Masson, tax expert Sandra Hazan and corporate partner Jean-Marc Grosperrin. Pascal Chadenet is part of a multi-disciplinary team advising an independent designer fashion house on its strategic partnership with an international group, while Olivier Genevois assisted Piquadro with its acquisition of the entire share capital of Lancel. The team was recently strengthened by the arrival of Marianne Schaffner from Dechert LLP; she represented a heavyweight luxury client in a major cross-border trademark infringement and unfair competition action against a fashion group. Other key names include senior counsel Isabelle Leroux and Frédérique Meslay-Caloni, who is part of the employment and labour team.

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Industry focus: energy

Industry focus: energy - ranked: tier 2

Dentons

Dentons assists French and global energy, power, oil, gas and mining companies. On the domestic side, public law partner Marc Fornacciari successfully acted for US client Schuepbach Energy in a dispute with the French state relating to shale gas exploitation; the French state was ordered to pay damages to the client. The firm is primarily involved in wind, solar, mining and oil and gas projects in Africa and Iran. It recently advised on several large projects including assisting Meridiam and Eiffage with the development of a 30MW solar plant in Senegal, as well as Quercus with a €500m deal with Iran’s Ministry of Energy for the development of a 600MW solar energy plant. Practice co-heads Ramin Hariri and Leïla Hubeaut are noted.

Next Generation Partners: Energy project

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France: Intellectual property

Intellectual property: Patents

Intellectual property: Patents - ranked: tier 1

Dentons

Dentons recently recruited the 'hard-working, extremely responsive and strategically brilliant' Marianne Schaffner from Dechert LLP; one client describes her as 'by far the most knowledgeable and best prepared patent litigator in Paris'. She joins David Masson, who is currently representing a global technology leader in French proceedings against a competitor in the telecoms space, and leading the advice to clients regarding FRAND and European patent law issues. Of counsel Pierre-Olivier Ally and associate Clémence Boland arrived alongside Schaffner to join the ranks of counsel Clément Monnet and consultant Michel Vivant. The firm also gained a number of new clients including Essilor, Pierre Fabre and St-Gobain.

Leading individuals

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Intellectual property: Trade marks and designs

Intellectual property: Trade marks and designs - ranked: tier 1

Dentons

At Dentons, the intellectual property team recently gained Marianne Schaffner and her team, who arrived from Dechert LLP, as well as several new clients including Sandoz. Associate Clémence Boland - who arrived with Schaffner and Pierre-Olivier Ally - recently acted for Square in several trade mark infringement cases in the French and European courts, and senior counsel Isabelle Leroux is currently representing Merial in litigation against Virbac arising from the defendant's registration of the European 'Frontline' mark. David Masson leads the practice and recently collaborated with counsel Clément Monnet to assist Polaroid with the protection and enforcement of all of its European assets, including R&D arrangements. Other key clients include Wavestone, CGI, Delta Air Lines and Lactalis.

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France: Private equity

Private equity: Fund formation

Private equity: Fund formation - ranked: tier 3

Dentons

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