• Counsel for the sellers of shares in a French start-up company, in a dispute against the buyers and the management of the company. • Counsel for the buyers facing a challenge by the sellers of the validity and the conditions of a transfer of shares in an African group of companies. • Counsel for a US group (industrial engineering) in an ICC arbitration relating to the implementation of an agreement pursuant to which our client sold its rights in a joint venture with a major African public company in the hydrocarbon industry. This arbitration ended with our client being awarded its USD 20 million claim. • Defense of a Scandinavian company (forestry equipment) before the French courts in a dispute relating to failed negotiations concerning the takeover by our client of its French distributor, which subsequently went bankrupt. This case was successfully argued at first instance, on appeal and before the Court of cassation. • Counsel to a Tunisian bank in a multi-jurisdictional dispute relating to the circumstances in which a Cayman Island company acquired and then lost its controlling share in the bank’s capital. Five sets of proceedings before the French civil, commercial and criminal courts had to be coordinated with related proceedings brought before the English courts (Cass. 1Civ. 22 Feb. 2005, Rev. Crit. DIP 2005.671; London Court of Appeal, 27 Feb. 2003 [2003] EWCA civ. 205).
• Defense of a Scandinavian company (shipping industry) in judicial expert investigations and claims for damages brought before the French courts by the owners and insurers of ships equipped with propulsive systems delivered by our client. • Counsel for a German company (industrial engineering) in judicial expert investigations concerning a 1.2 km long coal conveyor installed by our client at a power plant in France; Counsel for an affiliated Austrian company in judicial expert investigations opposing it to its sub-contractors concerning a pipe conveyor set up at a power plant in Ohio (USA). • Counsel for a Scandinavian group of companies (building material) in mass product liability claims which gave rise to several hundred court proceedings in France and ICC arbitration in Zurich. Besides complex technical and strategic issues, this case involved all the different branches of liability law as well as a stream of procedural, jurisdictional and conflict of laws issues. In this case, we continue to assist our clients in the implementation of a global settlement agreement signed in 2009 with 25 French insurance companies.
Nathalie Meyer Fabre is frequently appointed as arbitrator. For example she issued an award as sole arbitrator in an ICC case opposing a Hong-Kong claimant to a Swiss respondent concerning the termination of a commercial agency agreement. She is chairing the arbitral tribunal in a couple of other ICC cases concerning consultancy agreements. She also chaired an ad hoc tribunal in a dispute between chartered accountants.
• We often provide assistance in connection with the service of process or the taking of evidence in France in support of legal proceedings pending abroad. In some cases we act for the requesting party, in others for its opponents or for the witnesses to be deposed in France. We can also act as commissioner under the provisions of the 1970 Hague Evidence Convention. • Nathalie Meyer Fabre often acts as a legal expert on points of French law arising in legal proceedings brought before foreign courts. For example, she testified on French conflict of laws principles and substantive inheritance law provisions in a tax dispute pending in Washington, and in probate litigation before the New York courts, as well as on French tort law before the High Court in London.
• Defense of a Turkish company (food industry) in an ICC arbitration against a French company concerning the circumstances of the termination of a know-how transfer and technical assistance agreement. • Co-counsel for a Spanish company (energy, civil engineering) in a dispute against its French sub-contractor for the construction of a power plant in France. We successfully challenged the jurisdiction of the French courts based on the existence of an arbitration agreement. The case settled. • Counsel for a French company (automotive industry) in a dispute brought before the French courts by a German sub-contractor regarding the termination of their commercial relationship. This case was successfully argued at first instance and on appeal. • Counsel to an Italian tour operator in an ICC arbitration relating to the termination of a long term lease agreement for a holiday resort in Madagascar. • Counsel to a French IT service provider in a dispute that arose in connection with a cooperation agreement relating to an IT outsourcing project for one of the French mobile phone operators. We successfully defended our client in summary proceedings intended to force them to stop the performance of their part of the project. • Counsel to a German company (automotive industry) before the French courts in a dispute relating to a failed joint venture project with a French company. We prevailed on the lack of jurisdiction of the French courts due to the existence of an arbitration clause in a pre-contractual confidentiality agreement.
• Co-counsel to a UK bank in view of the enforcement in France of a EUR 15 million money judgment of the High Court through the seizure of art works and the registration of a mortgage. Case settled. • Defense of an arbitrator in a professional negligence claim brought by a party against the members of the arbitral tribunal. The case was successfully argued for our client at first instance, on appeal (Rev. Arb. 2009.376) and before the Court of cassation (Rev. Arb. 2010.979). • Assistance as co-counsel to a UK company in defining its strategy and dealing with jurisdictional issues arising in an ICC arbitration brought against public entities of an African State.• Counsel to a French cotton trading company subjected to a third party debt order for the enforcement of an arbitral award rendered against an African State. • Counsel to a French company (electricity) in several court proceedings relating to the enforcement in France of a US default judgment which heavily sanctioned the French company for not having complied with its pre-trial discovery obligations under US law. After having obtained the release of temporary attachments on appeal, we negotiated a settlement freeing our client from any payment obligation.
• We regularly represent foreign public entities involved in disputes before the French courts which raise issues of sovereign immunity from jurisdiction and/or execution (Cass. Soc. 31 March 2009, Bull. V n°92; Cass. 1st Civ. 27 April 2004, Bull. I n°114; Cass. Soc. 10 Nov. 1998, Bull. V n°479). • We acted as counsel to foreign governmental authorities in the process of repossession and liquidation of French properties which had been confiscated in a drug trafficking case. We successfully represented the same foreign government in a related dispute against real estate agencies and a French notary.
We often provide advice and assistance, as counsel or legal expert, in the framework of international inheritance matters with a connection to France.
We advise our French and foreign clients wishing to set up or develop their business in France, to acquire, administer or sell real estate property, corporate shares or other assets in France. We assist them in the drafting of commercial contracts, general terms and conditions, employment contracts and in the formalities to be accomplished with the French administrative authorities.
We often provide assistance to companies, individuals or foreign States involved in labour law disputes.
