Freshfields LLP

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Nicolas Barberis

Avocat à la Cour, Nicolas is a partner in our Paris Global M&A and Capital practice and heads our French Private Capital practice. He advises investment funds, financial institutions and corporate clients on Private Equity transactions.

Guy Benda

Avocat à la cour, Guy is a partner in our Global M&A and Capital practice in Paris. He advises private equity funds, major financial institutions and corporate clients on complex private equity transactions as well as mergers and acquisitions.

Guilhem Bremond

Guilhem is a partner in the Restructuring & Insolvency team based in Paris. Guilhem has nearly 30 years’ experience advising on both in-court and out-of-court restructurings, as well as Restructuring & Insolvency litigation and advising on distressed investments. He has been acting on some of the most challenging and high profile transactions and restructurings in the French market. He represents French and international companies and investment funds on crisis management and restructuring. He also represents major companies, their shareholders and creditors. Guilhem is recognised and highly ranked by the leading French and international legal directories, such as Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500, as one of the best French lawyers in Restructuring & Insolvency.

Guillemette Burgala

Guillemette is a corporate Partner and co-head of our Paris Global M&A and Capital practice. She focuses on corporate transactions in relation to both private and public M&A deals in a domestic or cross-border context. She also advises clients in relation to corporate governance issues and the setting up of strategic partnerships and joint-venture agreements. Guillemette has developed a strong expertise in multi-jurisdictional carve-out, on a standalone basis or as part of a M&A transaction.

Stéphane Bénouville

Avocat à la cour, Stéphane heads our litigation practice group and is a member of our global investigations practice. He mainly represents our clients in relation to financial services and banking disputes as well as in the context of regulatory investigations and enforcement proceedings (especially before the sanctions commission of the Autorité des marchés financiers, France's stock market regulator) and white-collar crime (including bribery and corruption). In addition, he has developed particularly strong experience of global investigations in a range of sectors including financial services, banking, technology, defence and automotive industries. Stéphane also has extensive experience in a wide range of commercial and business law-related matters, shareholder disputes and post-acquisition litigation. He regularly represents companies in a wide range of industrial sectors in relation to internal investigations related to alleged fraud and corruption practices.

Christel Cacioppo

Christel is a Partner in our People & Reward group in Paris and specialises in all employment aspects of corporate transactions as well as day-to-day issues. She regularly deals with employment-related issues arising in the context of restructurings (in particular social plans), mergers and acquisitions, and more generally on all employment and pension issues for domestic and international clients. She also advises on employment data protection issues in France and deals with employment-related litigation (individual and collective) as well as on social security issues.

Charlotte Colin-Dubuisson

Charlotte specialises in EU and French competition law, advising on the full range of competition-related issues with a specific focus on vertical restraints and cartels. She also has significant experience in advising clients on pivotal merger control aspects of M&A transactions, both at French and global levels. Charlotte has been involved in major antitrust cases before the French Competition Authority and Paris Court of Appeal (including in the petfood, optical retail, yoghurt, poultry and IT distribution) and before the European Commission (in the auto parts sector). She has in-depth knowledge of vertical restraints, with specific experience in advising clients from the setting-up of a distribution network to assisting them in the framework of antitrust investigations by antitrust authorities. She co-leads the firm’s Vertical Steering Committee, which is dedicated to vertical restraints questions within Linklaters’ Antitrust & Foreign Investment Group. On a standalone basis or in the context of antitrust investigations, Charlotte also regularly assists clients with their compliance programmes, including conducting compliance audits and making full use of eDiscovery and other legal tech tools to expedite processes. She has advised clients in the FMCG, optical retail, automotive, luxury and transport sectors. Before joining Linklaters in 2011, Charlotte intervened in emblematic resale price maintenance cases before the French Competition Authority and the Paris Court of Appeal in the perfumes and toy sectors as well as French cartel cases in the construction and road signalling sectors.

Stéphanie Corbière

Avocat à la cour, Stéphanie is the Managing Partner of our Paris office, a trusted adviser in finance law and co-head of our Paris Global M&A and Capital practice, helping clients achieve their strategic objectives through carefully structured financing solutions. As a partner in our Global M&A and Capital practice, Stephanie provides comprehensive counsel to private equity funds, financial institutions and corporate clients on leveraged and acquisition finance and debt restructurings. Her deep understanding of market dynamics empowers clients to execute transactions efficiently while maintaining flexibility for future growth.

Pascal Cuche

Avocat à la Cour, Pascal heads our French public law and regulatory practice. He specializes in the acquisition of regulated assets in particular in the energy and infrastructure sectors, advising big utilities and financial sponsors. He is also very active in the healthcare sector. He advises clients on litigation procedures in public law dispute and regulated sectors. His expertise also covers the development of greenfield energy and infrastructure projects.

Vincent Daniel-Mayeur

Avocat à la cour, Vincent is a strategic leader in international tax law, helping clients navigate complex corporate and finance tax matters with razor-sharp precision. As Tax Partner in, and head of the Tax practice of our Paris office, he brings a powerful combination of technical expertise and sound commercial judgment, empowering clients to make informed decisions under pressure. Specialising in the structuring and tax aspects of acquisitions, disposals joint-ventures and reorganisations, Vincent provides comprehensive counsel that enables clients to execute transactions efficiently in both domestic and international contexts. His strong background in tax litigation, developed through years of experience with France’s leading tax litigation team before joining our firm in 2005, gives businesses a strategic advantage in tackling complex contentious matters. With particular focus on the infrastructure, energy, retail and real estate sectors, Vincent delivers tailored advice to French and foreign international groups and financial investors. His deep understanding of sector-specific tax considerations helps clients structure deals effectively, maximising value and minimising risk.

Simon Dievart

Avocat à la Cour, Simon is a Partner in our Global M&A and Capital practice. His main areas of expertise are corporate law, private equity and public and private mergers and acquisitions. His experience includes both domestic and cross-border transactions.

Elodie Favre-Thellmann

Elodie is a Partner in our People & Reward practice in Paris, advising French and international clients on all aspects of employment and labour law. She helps clients navigate complex employment and industrial relations issues in the context of mergers and acquisitions and guides them through each stage of their integration and restructuring projects. Elodie is also regularly called on for executive severance negotiations and to manage relationships with employee representative bodies and trade unions. She has significant experience in conducting and supporting sensitive internal investigations. Elodie plays a key role in the firm’s workstream on the new EU equal pay Directive, helping clients understand and respond to its impact on remuneration structures and incentive schemes across the European Union. Alongside her advisory practice, Elodie represents clients in a wide range of employment-related disputes, both individual and collective.

Yann Gozal

Avocat à la cour, Yann is a partner in our Global M&A and Capital practice. He advises private equity funds, financial institutions and corporate clients on private equity, mergers and acquisitions as well as stock exchange transactions. He also advises on public to private transactions, IPO exits and minority shareholdings in listed companies.

Sami Jebbour

Avocat à la Cour, Sami is a partner in our Global M&A and Capital practice in Paris. He advises corporate clients, investment funds and financial institutions on complex M&A and joint ventures, both domestic and cross-border. Sami has a particularly strong expertise in infrastructure transactions, notably in relation to telecom infrastructure and energy infrastructure assets. He joined the firm after having been awarded the Freshfields "Best Business Law Student Prize" in 2011.

Dimitri Lecat

Avocat à la cour, Dimitri is a partner in our dispute resolution practice group, and a member of our global investigations and global antitrust litigation practice groups. He has strong expertise in regulatory investigations and enforcement proceedings (especially before the sanctions commission of the Autorité des marchés financiers France's financial markets regulator), white-collar crime (including bribery and corruption), and banking and financial services litigation. Dimitri also has particularly strong experience of global investigations in a range of sectors (including financial services, banking, technology, defence and automotive), commercial and business law-related matters, shareholder disputes and post-acquisition litigation.

Laurent Mabilat

Avocat à la cour, Laurent is a partner in the Restructuring & Insolvency team. Laurent is one of the leading restructuring and finance practitioners in France and has considerable experience of advising financial institutions, corporate clients, financial sponsors and distressed investors on complex restructuring matters involving highly leveraged companies. He has been acting on some of the most challenging and high profile restructurings and finance transactions in the French market.

Benoit Marpeau

Avocat à la Cour, Benoit is a partner in our Global M&A and Capital practice in Paris. A highly regarded lawyer, recognized for his negotiating skills and his talent for crafting innovative solutions to complex challenges, he advises corporate clients on domestic and multi-jurisdictional transactions and on their strategic operations in France.

Alexandra van der Meulen

Alexandra is a partner in our International Arbitration group. She specializes in public international law, investment arbitration, and international commercial arbitration. Alexandra has acted as counsel for States before the International Court of Justice, including for Chile in its maritime boundary dispute against Peru and in a dispute with Bolivia concerning Bolivia’s claim to sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean. In 2020, she appeared as advocate for Bahrain in two parallel appeals from decisions of the ICAO Council in cases brought by Qatar against Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain. She has also appeared as counsel in institutional and ad hoc arbitral proceedings, including under the ICC, LCIA, SCC, ICSID, ICSID additional facility, and UNCITRAL Rules.

Thomas Métayer

Avocat à la cour, Thomas is a Partner in our international tax practice group. He advises top-tier companies and investment funds on the structuring and tax aspects of their M&A and Private Capital transactions. He also works on strategic reorganizations and real estate transactions both domestically and internationally.

Jérôme Philippe

Avocat à la Cour, economist and engineer, Jérôme advises clients in: - antitrust, competition and trade, - data regulation and cyber, - regulatory. Jérôme advises clients in all areas of EU and French competition law: concentrations, antitrust, State aid and damage claims. He represents his clients before governments, competition authorities and courts. He is a Non Governmental Advisor appointed by the French competition authority before the International Competition Network (ICN). He is also very active in Foreign Investment Review and regulatory matters (digital, media, telecommunications, energy, health, transportation...). Jérôme also advises a broad range of clients on all data and cybersecurity issues (compliance, investigations, litigation, crisis response). Jérôme combines scientific, economic and legal backgrounds, enabling him to provide a unique integrated approach of complex matters.

Julien Rebibo

Avocat à la Cour, Julien is a partner in our Corporate practice group in Paris. He specialises in M&A and private equity.

Marie Roche

Avocat à la cour, Marie is a Partner in our Global M&A and Capital practice and is based in Paris. She focuses on corporate finance, leveraged and acquisition finance and debt restructuring. Over more than ten years of experience, Marie has also acquired a broad expertise on general lending, syndicated loans and structured finance transactions, advising financial institutions, sponsors and multinational corporates. Marie is a member of the core team for key financial institution clients.

Noah Rubins

Noah is a partner in our International Arbitration Group in Paris and heads our global CIS/Russia dispute resolution practice group. A barrister of England & Wales and qualified in the US and France, he has represented clients in over 100 arbitrations under ICSID, ICSID additional facility, ICC, AAA, SCC, VIAC, LCIA, ICAC, and UNCITRAL rules, including some 35 investment treaty disputes. He specialises in mining, construction and energy disputes, pursuant to contracts and under the auspices of bilateral investment treaties. Noah has practiced law in New York, Washington, Houston and Istanbul, and has also served as arbitrator in over 50 cases under ICC, LCIA, SCC, ICSID, VIAC, ICAC and UNCITRAL rules.

Gwen Senlanne

Gwen is a trusted advisor in employment and labour law, helping clients to achieve seamless organisational transformation within an increasingly stringent regulatory environment. As the global head of our People and Reward practice group, Gwen guides clients through pivotal moments of change, from cross-border mergers and acquisitions to company restructurings and workforce reduction programs. By anticipating and solving the full spectrum of employment and labour law-related issues, he minimises legal risk and positions his clients for success. Gwen also has significant expertise in dealing with sensitive employment issues including exits of senior executives, design and implementation of compensation packages and internal investigation. In addition to providing strategic advice, Gwen has a strong litigation practice and specialises in helping businesses minimise the risks associated with union, works council, and senior employee disputes. His profound understanding of global internal investigations equips clients with the tools required for effective compliance and governance. Through his significant experience and understanding of employment and labour law complexities throughout Europe, Gwen has been able to guide its clients though the preparation and implementation of major transformations impacting their organisation, both in the context of follow-up merger integration processes or internal restructuring efforts.

Christophe Seraglini

Avocat à la Cour and Professor of Law, Christophe heads the International Arbitration Group in our Paris office. He has experience as counsel and as an arbitrator in complex and sensitive cases particularly in the energy, industrials, telecommunications, and technology sectors. Christophe also has considerable experience in handling international investment disputes both in the role of counsel and arbitrator.

Anne-Laure Vincent

Avocat à la Cour, Anne-Laure is a member of our Dispute Resolution practice group. She specializes in the area of complex disputes, on a wide variety of legal issues (including financial services and banking disputes, commercial and business law-related matters, shareholder disputes and post-acquisition litigation). She also represents clients in the context of regulatory investigations and enforcement proceedings (especially before the sanctions commission of the Autorité des marchés financiers). In addition, Anne-Laure developed strong expertise in sports law, particularly in the sale of broadcasting and marketing rights.