The Legal 500 > Europe, Middle East & Africa > France > Insurance

Under the lead of practice heads Séverine Hotellier and Frédérique de La Chapelle, Dentons has established itself as one of France's leading insurance and reinsurance practices. The team assists with the full range of insurance-related matters in litigation, regulatory work and transactions, ranging from distribution matters to policy review and drafting, claims management to industrial risks. The transport, energy and construction sectors are particularly active sectors for the group. Thanks to the firm's own international network, the practice is very well suited to complex cross-border work, with the firm's Direct Technology platform providing the necessary technological hub to ensure comprehensive and smooth service across jurisdictions. In Paris, the cross-practice offering, especially the availability of tax and corporate teams, is another asset.

DLA Piper bolstered its practice with the arrival of counsel Sophie Cochery , formerly at HMN & Partners, in March 2020. Cochery's specialisation in insurance and reinsurance matters with a particular focus on industrial risks and the aviation sector ties in well with practice head Vonnick Le Guillou's own expertise. The practice is set up to handles disputes, regulatory matters and transactional work, with a complementary financial regulatory practice. Senior counsel Bruce Mee is the main contact for insurance matters regarding financial lines while counsel Luc Bigel specialises in regulatory work, especially regarding distribution questions and in the context of transactions and restructurings. The constant flow of complex cross-border matters demonstrates the team's prowess in multi-jurisdictional matters, including its ability to collaborate with colleagues in offices abroad, for example in Germany, Italy, the UK and the US.

The practice at Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. is set up as an insurance, transport and industrial risks group which assists with contentious and non-contentious matters, with advisory work accounting for a particularly significant portion of the workload. With clients including insurers and reinsurers as well as insurance brokers and companies from the team's core sectors, including the transport, industry and construction sectors, the practice can draw on its extensive track record and wide-angle knowledge to assist with complex high-stakes matters. The caseload is primarly domestic in nature, but the firm's offices abroad allow for one-stop-shop coverage. The renowned Richard Ghueldre and Capucine Bernier direct the team.

Squire Patton Boggs has a core focus on insurance and reinsurance disputes, with clients including major international and mid-market European insurance companies. Carole Sportes and Valérie Ravit direct the team, with the practice leveraging their particular expertise in the aviation sector and in environmental and product liability cases respectively, with Ravit having been involved in the discussions regarding amendments to the French civil code on environmental damages. Industrial risk disputes are another area of expertise. The practice's track record of representing clients in class actions is a particularly useful tool for clients from the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors. Policy review matters and assistance with regulatory issues are other areas of strength.

Altana stands out through its combined transactional and litigation expertise in the insurance sector. The practice's experience ranges from court disputes to arbitration and mediation proceedings on the litigation side to structurings, M&A, antitrust and regulatory matters on the corporate side. With a spectrum that includes industrial risks, product liability matters, distribution matters and assistance with product development,  as well as cybersecurity matters, data protection assistance and experience in the insurtech and fintech sectors, the team is a popular choice for insurers, reinsurers and intermediaries, both French and international. Corporate specialist Gilles Gaillard, dispute resolution specialist Valérie Lafarge-Sarkozy and competition law expert Frédéric Manin are the heads of the team, reflecting the firm's strong cross-practice approach.

At August Debouzy, Alexandra Cohen-Jonathan and her team focus on high-stakes litigation, mass litigation, class action and serial dispute matters, as well as product liability disputes in addition to advisory work regarding insurance documentation and policies. The team's cross-practice strength comes particularly to the forefront when advising on matters at the intersection of insurance, IP, IT, employment and finance law as well as in the increasing number of instructions from the firm's corporate clients regarding their insurance products, especially their compliance with the insurance product distribution regulations. The independent firm's insurance practice consists primarily of multi-jurisdictional matters, with a strong domestic caseload completing the workload. Cohen-Jonathan's expertise is also sought after by French legal think tank Club des juristes, for example on the subject of self-driving cars or artificial intelligence in the healthcare sector. Flore Poloni joined Signature Litigation AARPI in September 2020.

DWF (France) AARPI combines in-depth knowledge of international matters with a broad practice scope that includes litigation and advisory work as the core specialisms, with transactional matters, for example the transfer of policies, accounting for the rest of the caseload. The energy, construction, financial services and industrial sectors are among the key sectors for practice head Romain Dupeyré and his team, who cover a good range of insurance issues, including product liability matters. To complement the practice, the firm offers DWF Claims, a business to assist with the management of all classes of commercial lines claims, a professional negligence-related service called DWF Adjusting, aimed at providing insurers and underwriters from the construction and surveying sectors with expertise, and DWF Costs, a service that assists with all cost-related matters, including assessments, negotiations and recoveries.

Hogan Lovells (Paris) LLP in Paris has an excellent team for high-stakes cross-border matters, both contentious and non-contentious. Practice head Sébastien Gros is among the most experienced names in the market for transaction-related insurance work, with an outstanding track record of assisting the country's biggest players with the regulatory aspects of their corporate endeavours, including M&A, reorganisations, fund set-ups and partnerships. Gros and counsel Ghinah Farah assist with insurance and reinsurance matters, including a substantial number of matters regarding the development and distribution of insurance products on top of the heavy transactional practice. The office's insurance securitisation practice, headed by Sharon Lewis, is also noteworthy.

The team at Kennedys is specialised in insurance and reinsurance litigation, focusing on complex high-stakes disputes and mass litigation. The group's extensive arbitration experience make it a sought-after representative in both domestic and cross-border matters, as does the practice's broad scope that includes coverage disputes and subrogation and recovery actions as well as defence cases taken on for insurers. With a portfolio of expertise ranging from industrial risks, political risks and trade credits, to financial lines and product liability matters and strong sector expertise in transport (aviation, aerospace, shipping), healthcare and life sciences, and construction and real estate, the practice is among the most versatile players in the market. With the firm's international office network and the Paris team's own intercultural skills, the practice is well equipped for multi-jurisdictional disputes. The key contacts are Paris managing partner Alexis Valençon, Aurélia Cadain and Nicolas Bouckaert. Christian Bouckaert left the firm in October 2020.

LPA-CGR avocats has a particularly good reputation for its industrial risks and financial risks practice, with the energy sector at the heart of the former, led by Alexia Eskinazi and Gilles Gassenbach, and Arnaud Molinier leading the latter. The dynamic trio act in contentious and non-contentious matters, with their expertise including policy review and drafting, claims management, risk analyses, and distribution matters. The firm's broad positioning allows for strong cross-practice leverage, with particularly close ties to the renowned real estate and environmental law practices.

Norton Rose Fulbright draws on its long track record of advising insurers, reinsurers, intermediaries and other stakeholders such as financial institutions to assist with contentious and non-contentious matters at the intersection of corporate and regulatory law. Practice head Bénédicte Denis draws on her extensive experience to act for major French and international clients to advise on a wide range of matters, spanning the creation of new entities, distribution and outsourcing work, the regulatory framework of passporting and permissions, and the development and implementation of new products. Transactional risks insurance constitutes a growing part of the practice. The group's litigation experience ties in well with the practice and includes professional negligence, warranties and indemnities, property and aviation-related disputes.

Since its creation in January 2019, Signature Litigation AARPI quickly established itself as one of France's finest dispute resolution practices and consistently attracts high-stakes, often headline-grabbing matters. The boutique specialises in complex litigation, both in France and internationally, with the majority of matters multijurisdictional in nature, with the firm's London presence a key asset for cross-border work. The practice unites an impressive bench of stellar litigators, chief among them practice heads Emmanuèle Lutfalla and Thomas Rouhette. In September 2020, the arrival of former August Debouzy counsel Flore Poloni as partner bolstered the group's international commercial arbitration capabilities.

Taylor Wessing stands out through the combination of traditional insurance matters, including industrial risks, construction, energy and transport insurance, and professional individual liability, for example for managers, with insurance matters relating to new technologies, ranging from cyber risk management to fraud issues and data processing matters.  Practice head Pierre-Olivier Leblanc has in-depth knowledge of representing insurers, reinsurers and the insured and thus a well-rounded perspective, with a particular focus on large claims. The new technologies wing, as well as the financial lines practice, is covered by Marc Schuler and Philippe Glaser.

DS Avocats