Stephenson Harwood > Paris, France > Firm Profile

‘Technical brilliance and intimate market and sector knowledge; reassuring presence on files; always listening to us as clients and our concerns and dealing with them thoroughly.’

‘Excellent lawyers.’

‘In Paris, the outstanding partner in shipping finance is Alain Gautron, an absolute market leader in his practice for his knowledge and deep network. Superb professional and relationship skills.’

‘Very responsive and client-friendly. Flexible on fees.’

‘Maria Miller – excellent lawyer, very good client care skills.’

‘Excellent knowledge, accommodating and reliable and efficient.’

‘Maria Miller – reliable, knowledgeable, hard-working.’

‘Stephenson Harwood is responsive, has a global vision in order to anticipate the impacts on the entire company and defends the interests of its clients.’

‘Pragmatism and the ability to find compromises.’

‘Jeremy Grant is a very high-quality lawyer who has, both by his great technicality and his perfect understanding of regulated activities, to establish himself as THE benchmark advisor in matters of capital and debt markets with the legal teams but also of the operational and financial teams of tour company. Fully committed to their clients, Jeremy and his team are able to deliver their expertise and exceptional work within very tight deadlines.’

‘Jeremy Grant is very available and responsive.’

‘Stephenson Harwood’s Paris office has broad expertise across many sectors and has particularly strong expertise in shipping and aviation finance. The Paris financing team offers a comprehensive service and is part of a strong worldwide network, which is particularly valuable for sizeable cross-border transactions.’

‘Alain Gautron is a very smart and prominent lawyer who focuses on complex cross-border shipping transactions, financings and restructurings. For me, one of the best finance lawyers in the French market. Yann Beckers is particularly remarkable for his oversight of matters. He impressively manages large acquisition and structured finance transactions. Finally, he is an excellent expert with a great depth of knowledge in regulatory matters.

‘Senior associate Ezio Del Maso’s expertise in maritime and aviation asset finance is an important strength. He provides a first class day-to-day management of large-scale projects and is clearly a rising star in Stephenson Harwood’s finance team.’

‘We work with Alain Gautron and Hortense Atthenont-Duret. They are distinguished by their ultra-fast and precise qualities, allowing us to find technical solutions to our problems.’

‘Very professional and sharp in their field.’

‘Alain Gautron is particularly skilled in maritime financing. Hortense Atthenont-Duret is a particularly efficient lawyer who is extremely skilled in maritime financing, and her partnership is greatly appreciated.’

‘The team is very responsive. It has in-depth knowledge of the business and is very close-knit, allowing significant continuity of follow-up.’

‘High listening capacity and high availability.’

‘International firm, direct access to partners; extremely well-trained associates; all members of the firm are immediately available to discuss problems that could arise downstream or upstream of a particular case; ability to clearly identify the problems and focus only on the essentials.’

‘We mainly worked with Nicolas Demigneux and Deborah Attias in Paris. The case involved both strategic and legal thinking and above all an immediate implementation and execution of the means chosen. From our first meeting, the case and the problems that it generated were analysed and identified in a very thorough and efficient manner and a proposal for a solution emerged very quickly. Remarkable intellectual and practical intelligence and exceptional availability.’

‘Good listening and team cohesion.’

‘Rigorous analysis.’

‘The file was handled efficiently in a transversal manner with the cooperation of different teams (tax, litigation and corporate).’

‘Nicolas Demigneux is excellent in substance and form. Great responsiveness and availability.’

‘Soazig Préteseille disposes of an excellent ability to understand complex factual and legal matters. She also carefully advises on the chances and risks of presenting certain pieces of evidence. She is always on top of the facts. In court proceedings she shows the required stamina to defend a case, but also the necessary oversight to not jeopardise the case. I would recommend her unconditionally for labour law cases.’

‘Olivier Couraud s team has remarkable expertise in wealth tax, which sets it apart from a large number of tax lawyers.’

‘I particularly appreciate Olivier Couraud, who has remarkable technical skills. He demonstrates remarkable rapidity of analysis and real technicality that he puts very effectively at the service of his clients.’

‘The team is made up of very competent and very involved lawyers and advisers, with excellent knowledge and a very wide variety of profiles which allow us to meet a very wide range of needs.’

‘Very great involvement of Olivier Couraud, excellent and very diligent professional who always provides very good advice.’

‘Real strategic and business-added value, rare ability to put themselves into the shoes of an entrepreneur and to seek solutions beyond the strict legal framework.’

‘Strong involvement, impeccable technical knowledge. Olivier Couraud stands out from the lot of tax specialists that I have met before by his very global approach.’