Soulier Avocats welcomes a new Partner

We are pleased to announce that Sandrine Petoin has joined the Firm as partner in charge of the Intellectual Property / Information Technology practice.

With almost 20 years of experience in intellectual property, press / communication / media law and business law, Sandrine Petoin assists French and foreign clients in both advisory and litigation matters.

She provides legal guidance and representation to international groups and small and medium-sized businesses operating in a wide variety of industries (fashion, jewelry/clocks, luxury goods, para-pharmaceutical, manufacturing, restaurants, cinema, IT, new technologies, etc.) as well as individuals (celebrities, journalists, artists, models, etc.) in all aspects related to the protection, optimization and defense of their intellectual property rights, and in the supervision, the launch, development and diversification of their activities in France and abroad.

The measures adopted to adapt the control of foreign investments in France during the health crisis are further extended until December 31, 2022

Sophia El Makhoukhi, Esq.

The control of foreign investments in the so-called “sensitive” business sectors has been significantly reinforced in recent years, especially since the outbreak of the health crisis resulting from the emergence and spread of COVID-19.

In particular, the threshold for acquiring voting rights in French listed companies– above which foreign investment is subject to authorization – has been lowered from 25% to 10%.

This temporary measure was recently extended until December 31, 2022 pursuant to Decree No. 2021-1758 of December 22, 2021.

French Climate and Resilience Law: What impact on environmental criminal law?

Laure Marolleau, Esq.

Law No. 2021-1104 of August 22, 2021 on combating climate change and strengthening resilience to its effects (the “Climate and Resilience Law”), adopted on July 20, 2021, was promulgated on August 24, 2021. Its provisions are inspired by the proposals of the Citizens’ Climate Convention.

The final text includes 305 Articles in 8 Titles. Some provisions came into force as soon as the Climate and Resilience Law was promulgated, while other measures will apply in 2022, 2023, 2025, up to 2034.

This article provides a focus on the new developments in environmental criminal law.

Variable remuneration: Don't forget at the beginning of each year to set objectives that are … realistic!

Fabien Pomart, Esq. and Matthieu Blaschczyk, Esq.

In a ruling dated December 15, 2021, the Cour de Cassation (French Supreme Court) upheld the decision of a Court of Appeals that had ordered an employer to pay back pay for variable remuneration, the objectives of which were neither realistic nor revised every year.

Variable remuneration, whenever provided for in the employment contract, is a component of the salary that makes it possible to determine compliance with the minimum salary provided for by law or the applicable collective bargaining agreement .

The payment of this variable remuneration is in principle conditional upon the achievement of annual objectives by the employee.

André Soulier named Patron of the Class of 2022 of the Rhône-Alpes Region Lawyers' School

The Rhône-Alpes Region Lawyers' School has asked André Soulier to be the Patron of the Class of 2022, which he has accepted with great joy and pride.

He succeeds Nasrin Sotoudeh, an Iranian lawyer specializing in human rights who is currently a political prisoner in Iran and Patron of the Class of 2020, and Judge Renaud Van Ruymbeke, Patron of the Class of 2021, who has been in charge of a number of sensitive political-financial cases over the past decades.