Dispute resolution

No one can be expected to do the impossible. By judgment dated September 7, 2015, provisionally enforceable, the Commercial Court of Lyon ordered one of our clients – an asset manager – to produce a number of accounting and financial documents to one of its former clients, subject to a daily penalty of 5,000 euros. […]

In a judgment dated November 10, 2015, the Cour de Cassation (French Supreme Court) confirmed that late penalties provided for under Article L. 441-6 of the French Commercial Code are to be considered as default interest. As such, these penalties can bear interest, as per Article 1154 of the French Civil Code. Article L. 441-6 […]

Neither the public policy nature of the provisions set forth in Article L. 442-6 of the French Commercial Code nor the exclusive jurisdiction granted to judicial courts to hear restrictive trade practices related cases – including cases concerning the sudden breach of an established business relationship – precludes the use of arbitration to settle disputes […]

Unilateral (or asymmetrical) jurisdiction clauses may vary in form and nature. However, such clauses always provide for an option to only one of the parties allowing it to choose the court that will be competent in case of a dispute. The validity of such unilateral jurisdiction clauses has been brought into question by several jurisdictions, […]

Arbitration has become the most usual alternative dispute resolution method for international disputes, in particular in the field of international trade. In the world, the most important arbitration body in this area is indisputably the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”), located in Paris. In China, the most important arbitration […]

My participation in a panel on the rules of evidence during a meeting of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) in Lisbon made me realize once again the substantial cultural gaps between Common law countries and Civil law countries.Just like planets are not to meet each other, these gaps occur along several axes: the […]