Urban Planning & Construction

Former 1^stDeputy Mayor of Lyon, Former Vice-President of the Lyon Urban Community

André Soulier mainly advises large French and foreign groups on construction and real estate law, and acts both as advisor and litigator.

In particular, he has assisted one of Europe’s leading corporate real estate companies in several commercial building and skyscraper construction projects, including the Tour Oxygènein Lyon, and has monitored numerous downtown restructuring operations in conjunction with the relevant authorities. He is regularly asked to provide advice in connection with projects located throughout the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region.

In addition to being a lawyer, André Soulier has held several public offices for more than thirty years, including that of Deputy Mayor of the City of Lyon for twenty-four years, during which time he participated in major construction projects, such as the Cité Internationalein its entirety, the transfer and related construction of the Lyon Trade Fairin Chassieu and many other public projects. Thanks to the experience he has acquired throughout his career, he has a perfect knowledge of how local authorities operate and proceed in terms of construction, urban planning, development, renovation and rehabilitation projects.

André Soulier also provides legal assistance in connection with any difficulties that may arise during a project (claims, accidents, work interruptions, etc.) as well as at key stages of the acceptance process and during the year of perfect completion (delays, non-conformities, defects, etc.).

He has a thorough knowledge of the various remedies available before civil and administrative courts, such as preventive summary proceedings, emergency proceedings, proceedings for the conduct of judicial expert investigations, liability actions and actions for the enforcement of legal and contractual guarantees. He has, for example, defended a European leader in the field of energy in disputes concerning buildings with serious defects within nuclear power plants, and managed and administered commercial lease disputes for a major player in real estate investment in France.

Former international in-house counsel at CCF-HSBC

Catherine Nommick regularly assists French and foreign companies and investors in connection with real estate acquisitions and the structuring and implementation of real estate financing for all types of transactions (acquisition of real estate portfolios or business assets, real estate construction projects, promotion and valuation of existing assets, etc.).

She recently provided legal assistance in relation to the acquisition of a prestigious real estate property located in France by a foreign industrialist and, in this respect, was responsible for coordinating the French and foreign tax teams, financiers and notaries, assisting the purchaser in negotiating the legal transactional documentation, conducting due diligence investigations, setting up the acquisition structure, and managed the sale of an industrial site within which operations subject to regulations on classified facilities were carried out.

In her previous position at the Legal Affairs Department of CCF-HSBC, Catherine Nommick worked with the Real Estate Department on real estate financing and restructuring transactions. Drawing on this experience, she advises borrowers, investors, bankers and financial institutions in the drafting and negotiation of real estate financing contracts, the implementation of real estate sureties, the creation and registration of real estate companies. For example, she provided legal assistance in connection with the acquisition and financing of a Parisian hotel for renovation by a Belgian investor.

Catherine Nommick also advises on commercial leases and “tailor-made” investment and construction projects, such as so-called VEFA (sale of a building not yet erected) and BEFA (lease pertaining to a building not yet erected). She recently assisted a Swedish group in the negotiation of a BEFA contract and a real estate development contract for the new headquarters and industrial site of its French subsidiary.

Jean-Luc Soulier has over 40 years’ experience in providing guidance and counseling to French and foreign listed and unlisted corporate clients operating in a wide range of sectors with respect to their operations and business dealings in France and Europe. In this context, Jean-Luc Soulier has represented French and foreign companies in the negotiation of construction contracts and financing agreements for major infrastructure projects such as:

• completion of a nuclear power plant in Slovakia on behalf of a consortium formed by a large French electricity company and a German company operating in the same business sector;
• assistance of an American company in negotiating the contract to install the first mobile telephone network in France;
• assistance to an American engineering company in the negotiation of financing agreements, construction contracts and leases for the establishment in Saint-Denis and Marseille of major data centers to accommodate American telephone and Internet giants;
• assistance of the Australian government in all phases of the construction of a memorial center dedicated to soldiers who died in the First World War next to a military cemetery in northwestern France.

Jean-Luc Soulier also advises and defends French and foreign industrial companies subject to the classified facilities legal regime in their relationships with the administrative authorities, (extension or rehabilitation of industrial sites, operating authorizations and licenses, environmental liability of owners, operators and buyers, etc.).

Laure Marolleau advises French and foreign companies on French and European regulatory law, including in particular construction, environment and classified facilities. She acts both as advisor and litigator.

As such, she assists the various stakeholders on the national or local legal and regulatory provisions applicable to their projects, and ensures the management and centralization of all administrative procedures and relationships with the competent authorities.

Laure Marolleau also assists owners and operators of classified facilities in the context of the steps they must take and obligations they must meet at the stage of implementation, takeover, operation or cessation of operations, and provide legal advice on all issues related to site pollution, site remediation and treatment of waste from operations, as well as, more generally, on the applicable environmental and criminal liability regimes, depending on the nature of the sites concerned.

She thus provides legal support to many companies operating classified facilities in the context of the construction, modification or closure of industrial sites (request for authorization or modification of operating conditions, discontinuation of operations, rehabilitation, etc.).

Laure Marolleau also defends clients in administrative (control of the inspector of classified facilities, formal notice, administrative sanction), civil or criminal disputes.