Anouk Clamens

📰🇫🇷Non-qualified lawyers will now be covered by legal privilege in France as per a bill voted last night ! Summary of the law as it stands 👇👇 ☑️What changes☑️ Lawyers with a certain level of “education” but no bar exam / no standing bar registration will now be enabled to make their internal legal advice to the CEO “privileged” by simply earmarking said advice as “confidential” — although that “privilege” does not apply in criminal and tax law matters. 🟰What doesn’t change🟰 - Lawyers with a foreign standing bar registration can work as employees in French companies and their status (and privilege) is recognized. - Lawyers with a Parisian standing bar registration can work as employees in foreign companies and their status (and professional secrecy) is recognized. - Lawyers with a standing bar registration in France who work as employees in French companies get suspended by their bar (which is why the Legislator had to grant non qualified lawyers legal privilege protection 😂).

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#UPC News: Comment on UPC Court Decision of May 6, 2024 by Markus Adamczyk, Partner at PRÜFER & PARTNER mbB Before the Paris Local Division, in a case where the defendant had forced an intervener into the proceedings pursuant to Rule 316A RoP (forced intervention), the intervener has obtained a period of one month for filing its Application to Intervene as well as for filing its Statement in Intervention. Contrary to Rule 316.2 RoP, which mentions a "further period" for filing the Statement in Intervention, the Court did not set any such further period. Incidentally, the intervener’s one-month period for filing its Application to Intervene and its Statement in Intervention expired on March 19, 2024, which is almost identical to the end of the defendant’s three-month period for filing its Statement of Defence (March 18, 2024). The defendant's Statement of Defence did not include a counterclaim for revocation of the patent. The Court held that the intervener may not develop claims contrary to those of the party he supports and may not autonomously develop claims and procedural modalities different from those offered to the party it supports. Therefore, since the defendant’s term for filing a counterclaim also applies to the intervener, the intervener is not entitled to pose an own counterclaim after that term has expired. It would appear that, although not expressly stated, the Court considered that, in principle, an own counterclaim of the intervenient is admissible, albeit subject to the defendant’s terms. In addition, the #Court again rejected a request to change the language of the proceedings from French to English even though the language of the patent in question is English and the defendant itself, a French company and the only French party involved, previously and unsuccessfully had requested a change of the language of the proceedings from French to English. This shows that the bar for changing the language is very high. Case number UPC_CFI_440/2023, order date May 6, 2024 In our view, the #Court did not take sufficient account of the situation of the forced intervention. It is already challenging to set up a properly researched counterclaim of revocation within the three months granted to the defendant. To do so within one month could be considered outright impossible, especially as cooperation in a forced intervention cannot be expected. A corresponding obligation for the short term raises constitutional concerns. Still, the possibility of a separate revocation action remains. #UPC #intellectualproperty #decision

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31st May 2024: not only the end of the month, but also the eve of the UPC's first anniversary, with fresh numbers on its case load.👇 Here are some key figures: ⚖️ We are now at 373 cases since 1 June 2023, there is an uptick of 32 cases since the 341 cases reported at the end of April. This corresponds to an increase of 9.4%, which is almost the same increase as last month (9.6%) ⚖️ Compared to the 123 infringement actions reported at the end of April, we now have 11 more with the total being at 134 infringement actions, which corresponds to an increase of 8.9%. The increase is slower than last month (11.8%) ⚖️ The Munich Local Division is still leading the pack with now 54 infringement actions, followed by the Düsseldorf (27, two more than last month) and Mannheim (16, no change) Local Divisions. This explains why of the three recently newly appointed legally qualified judges two were assigned to the Munich Local Division (Ulrike Voß and Daniel Voß) with the new second panel created, the double Voß panel, if you like. ⚖️ It might look like as if English becomes the lingua franca of the UPC. English has become the predominant language of proceedings at the Court of First Instance the second month in a row. Shakespeare's language and the de facto official language of former UPC Member State UK has extended its lead from last month's 48% to now 50% while the percentage of proceedings with German as language of proceedings has further declined from 45% to 44%. The UPC case load update can be found here: https://lnkd.in/gEF2u5pq -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Those who are less interested in the numbers, but would like to discuss he most important cases should consider attending the next UPC Fireside Chat on 4 July 2024 (further information: https://lnkd.in/gsjynrn2). Speakers are presiding judge Matthias Zigann from the first panel of the Local Division Munich, Tobias Wuttke (BARDEHLE PAGENBERG) and Thorsten Bausch (HOFFMANN EITLE). Those interested in an in-depth analysis of the UPC case-law and who are neither afraid of the Black Forest nor of the German language should come to famous hotel Traube Tonbach on 29 and 30 August 2024 for a special intensive course with Local Division Mannheim's presiding judge, Peter Tochtermann, who is joined by Klaus Haft from HOYNG ROKH MONEGIER (further information: https://lnkd.in/ePbzMQJU) #patent #patents #patentattorney #patentlitigation #unifiedpatentcourt #ipknowledgeenhancer The image was created with DALL-E via ChatGPT4o.

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EIGHT ADVISORY is pleased to participate in the upcoming German-language webinar on French insolvency law, in which our expert Clementine Bona (Lührs), Senior Manager within the Financial Expertise & Dispute Resolution Team and lawyer Christine Beneke from Qivive Avocats & Rechtsanwälte will combine their financial expertise and legal skills to provide the most comprehensive overview possible. The webinar also benefits from the insights of Cédric Joubert, Director of Distressed Litigation in our FE&DR team. 📅 When? Thursday, 4 July 2024 🖥 Where? Online webinar The topic: 💰 Liability of a German parent company as de facto managing director of its French subsidiary under French insolvency law. The programme includes: 📌 Liability for delay in filing for insolvency due to excessive financial support (soutien financier abusif) 📌 Liability of a parent company as de facto manager of its French subsidiary 📌 Liability of the (de facto) manager for shortfall in liquidation assets (responsabilité pour insuffisance d’actif) 📌 Frequent points of argumentation for management errors in the crisis Please register via this link: https://lnkd.in/g5gDsFEy We look forward to your participation! #EightAdvisoryExperience #Antitrust #ForeignInvestments #CorporateFinance #ActingLocally #ReachingGlobally #FrenchInsolvencyLaw #CorporateLiability #FinancialSupport #LegalExpertise #BusinessLaw

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Duty of care ruling in France: on June 18 the Paris Court of Appeal's recently created chamber 5-12 rendered a long awaited decision on three pending cases against Total Energies, EDF and Suez, after the lower court (tribunal judiciare) had declared them inadmissible. (see my post of March for details). The appeal court sends back to the lower court the Total and EDF casses for an examination on the merits and dismisses the case against Suez as the vigilance plan had been established by the mother company Suez while the action was introduced against a subsidiary. In the EDF and the Total cases the court examined the formal notice required by the law of 2017, followed by a three months period before any court action, meant to be giving the company the time to adapt and correct the plan. While there needs to be a certain coherence between the content of the formal notice that needs to be specific and the summons to court there is no need for a complete matching between the two and the summons may target a different vigilance plan and include further plaintiffs . Furthermore, in the Total case the court states on the legal interest of the plaintiffs who have to provide evidence of being directly affected. A global interest to act is not sufficient (the City of New York was denied this quality, the City of Paris was confirmed with a local interest). As to NGOs the interests defended need to be part of their mission, which has been denied to Eco Maires and confirmed for notre Affaire à Tous and Sherpa. Through these rulings the Court of Appeal confirms its European pioneer role in duty of care jurisdiction, 13 more cases are to be examined amongst them the appeal case against La Poste. It will be interesting to observe whether the Paris Court of Appeal maintains this position with the transposition of the CSDDD and the creation of the authority installing a pre court dialogue with companies based on the German model, where we have no jurisdiction yet on the LKSG. Stéphane Brabant, Emmanuel DAOUD, Sabine Lochmann Beaujour, Maxime Mathon, Daniel Schönfelder, Georg Gößwein, Marie Champey, GARANCE DUPUIS, Sabine Le Gac, Anne-Sophie Le Lay, Anton Mifsud-Bonnici, Ludivine Wouters, Theobald von Malsen, Heidi Hautala, Lara Wolters, Carine Coudeville

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NEWS I ATOS: 1 down - 3 to go 🇫🇷 After having negotiated a €450M interim financing agreed in-principle, Atos' board of directors announced that it has received 4 new financing offers, one of which would have already been rejected: 1️⃣ A group of bondholders and current banks of the Atos group ✅ 2️⃣ Bain Capital ❌ 3️⃣ EP Equity Investment, controlled by Mr. Daniel Kretinsky in partnership with Attestor Limited ✅ 4️⃣Onepoint, controlled by Mr. David Layani, in consortium with Butler Industries ✅ ➡️ https://lnkd.in/enS5mn3a In parallel, Atos is in discussion with the French State 🇫🇷 (via the Agence des participations de l'Etat) regarding the potential purchase of Atos's most sensitive activities. 📆 Goal: Agreement in principle by the end of July in conciliation. If all goes well, the restructuring plan will then be put to the vote of creditors set up in classes of affected parties in accelerated safeguard proceedings. For more information, you can contact me Alexandra Szekely: alexandra.szekely@le16law.com. #WiR #restructuring

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So concerning that these errors are happening. Concerning to those who were directly affected, those entering the profession, those are already in it and are preparing to sit their exams, and those who are eagerly awaiting their results. What is the bigger impact on those 175 students who received incorrect marks? Training contract offers will likely have been revoked and future careers put on hold. Will those offers have to be reinstated?

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In anticipation of the upcoming conference, Digital Antitrust: How to Regulate? organized by Concurrences, Cleary partner Frédéric de Bure interviewed Deputy Head of the Digital Economy Unit at the French Competition Authority Elodie Vandenhende on several topics related to competition in the cloud sector. Learn more about the conference and read the full interview here: https://bit.ly/44ayXrA #Antitrust #CompetitionLaw #DigitalRegulation

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An overview about green claims in France? Thank you to ThoughtLeaders4 Disputes | TL4D for the spotlight! You can access my full article here: https://lnkd.in/evuJQjJi Green claims are an easy way for companies to become the target of investigations by market surveillance authorities and NGOs. So let’s be extremely prudent. We will address the new litigation environment created by the regulators and NGOs during a special event in September to celebrate the 5 year anniversary of Signature Litigation Paris. Stay tuned! #environment #greenwashing #climate #claim #ESG #litigation #contentieux #green

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Are you up-to-date on the latest employment case law developments in France? In this newsletter, authors Philippe Thomas and Thibault Meiers review recent key rulings, including the necessity of specifying dates in dismissal letters, admissibility of video surveillance evidence and requirements for modifying pay slips.

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Lexidy France JUNIOR IMMIGRATION LAWYER FRANCE/ AVOCAT COLLABORATEUR EN DROIT DES ÉTRANGERS ET DE LA MOBILITÉ INTERNATIONALE - H/F 📆ASAP COMPANY PRESENTATION We are a LegalTech Boutique that’s wired differently to simplify our customers’ lives. We are sharp, digitally focused and dynamic. We work with passion and purpose- We help expats and entrepreneurs do business and make investments in Europe. We serve them by providing 360-degree assistance for the most important milestones in their lives. We focus on support, not upselling. We offer solutions for real people by real people. Our global multi-disciplinary legal advice is designed for individuals, companies, investors and Digital Nomads who are immersed in local or international transactions... JOB OFFER INFORMATION : We are looking for outliers, wired differently from the traditional lawyer mindset! Are you the type of lawyer who thinks outside the box but feels confined in conventional law firms? You have: ✔️Registered in a French Bar Association ✔️Experience in French immigration law ✔️A collaborative, flexible, and positive can-do attitude - always willing to learn and help steer the team to work well together. ✔️Let’s get the job done! Passion, energy, and commitment ✔️Fluent in English and French (C1/C2). Other languages are definitely a plus Do you want to work in a fast-growing, disruptive, startup mindset environment? Then, continue reading. This is your opportunity. At Lexidy, we work with passion and purpose! We help expats and entrepreneurs do business and make investments in Europe. We serve them by providing 360-degree assistance for the most important milestones in their lives. We are a Legal Tech Boutique that’s wired differently to simplify our customers’ lives. We are sharp, digitally focused and dynamic. The Team The Immigration Department of Lexidy France deals with all international mobility related issues. As a multifaceted team, our experts can respond to multiple different types of questions. From French nationality issues, passing through the right of foreigner's to stay in France or even dealing with the European Internal Market. Accountabilities - Work closely with the Head of Immigration France and other departments to support daily business operations - Assist our clients ( companies and individuals) through their immigration journey - Conducting first meetings with leads - Organizing and tracking of client cases and files and maintaining information on relevant expiry dates (visa deadlines, sponsor license renewals, etc.)... MORE DETAILS AND APPLY : https://lnkd.in/dphURuSB #lexidy #international #lawfirm #france #lawyer #hiring #avocat #recrutement #international #etrangers #collaboration #recrute #law #lawprofiler #legaltech Kaylynn Fermin Sophia Lassegue Eva Novoa Andino

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Product liability in France – health products In a judgment handed down on June 6, 2024 (no. 23/01990), the DOUAI Court of appeal illustrates: - The legal grounds that can be used by a manufacturer of health products to avoid product liability (articles 1245-1 et seq. of the French Civil Code); - The breaches by the prescribing physician of his obligation to provide information to the patient. The case involves a birth control device that had migrated into the patient's pulmonary artery and fragmented, following an unsuccessful attempt to remove it. The victim blamed the manufacturer of the implant for not taking any actions to avoid the damage while, according to the Court-appointed expert, the cases of migration of this implant were significantly more frequent than the worldwide average, and that in France, the vast majority of implant migrations concerned implants from this manufacturer. The DOUAI Court of appeal does not hold the manufacturer liable, for the following reasons: 1°) The claimant must prove that the product contributed to the damage. In this case, the mere fact that a greater number of cases of implant migration were detected in France is insufficient to characterize a defect [within the meaning of art. 1245-3 of the French Civil Code], given that these frequent cases of migration were the result of more extensive exploration in France than in the rest of the world. 2°) The migration of the device did not necessarily result from its own defect, since it could also be caused by an insertion too deep by the doctor or by a shock. The Judges conclude that the causes of such a migration have not been identified with certainty, even though this risk had been confirmed in the scientific literature. 3°) The risk of migration of the implant was mentioned in the Summary of Product Characteristics and in the patient leaflet, several years before the device was implanted on the patient. The judgment is in line with the position of the French Cour de cassation according to which, whether a product is defective depends on its presentation and whether or not there are other possible causes of the damage. The Cour de cassation also considers that a product may be defective despite the warnings in the leaflet, when the severity of the risk and its frequency of occurrence exceeds the benefits (Cass. civ. 1, 26.09.2018, n°17-21271). In this case, however, only the criterion of seriousness was met, as the risk was only exceptional. On the other hand, the Douai Court of appeal holds the prescribing physician liable. According to the Court, the physician is not relieved of his duty to inform the patient by: the fact that the risk was exceptional (“regardless of the frequency with which it occurs, and provided the risk was known and of a serious nature", the doctor is required to inform the patient); the patient's state of anxiety; giving the patient the leaflet "without verbally explaining its contents to him/her".

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⚖ Important preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union in relation to private enforcement in Mol v Mercedes-Benz (currently only available in French). The Court has confirmed that a claimant cannot rely on the concept of "undertaking" to assert the jurisdiction of the court of the Member State where its parent company is based, when the damages are only suffered by its subsidiaries who are located in different Member States. MOL had sued Mercedes in the courts of Hungary, where the MOL Group is headquartered, for damages suffered in relation to indirect purchases of trucks covered by the Trucks cartel. However, the damages were suffered only by MOL's subsidiaries, which were domiciled in different Member States than Hungary. MOL had argued that it should nonetheless be able to sue Mercedes in Hungary, because it formed a single undertaking with those subsidiaries. It argued that its registered office, as the centre of the economic and property interests of the group, was the place where the "harmful event" occurred, within the meaning of Regulation 1215/12. The Court disagreed and confirmed that the "place where the harmful event occurred" does not include the Member State where the parent company of a group is located, where that parent company has not itself suffered harm. Therefore, the key places for a competition damages action to be brought remain (i) the Member State where the defendant is domiciled (Article 4(1) of Reg 1215/12); and (ii) the Member State where the harmful event occurred (Article 7(2) of Reg 1215/12). The latter includes the Member State where the purchaser of products affected by collusive conduct is domiciled (see C-30/20 Volvo). See: https://lnkd.in/enuQwfRY #Mercedes #damages #antitrust #competitionlaw #internationallaw

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UPC's LD in Paris allows carve out As expected by most IP professionals, the Local Division in Paris explicitly allows the plaintiff to limit the scope of an infringement action to only some of the UPC member states covered by a classical EP in the second ever decision on the merits (see full decision here https://lnkd.in/dMuVUcku). This is still a valuable clarification in view of the ambiguity created by Art. 34 UPCA on the one hand , and Art. 76 (1) UPCA on the other hand.

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NEWS | France increases the risk of #criminal prosecution for absorbing companies❗️ ⚖️ Since the decision of the French Supreme Court of 25 November 2020, the criminal liability of acquired companies is transferred to absorbing companies following #mergers targeting public limited liability companies (such as French S.A.) as defined in the E.U. Directive 2017/1132 dated 14 June 2017. 🇪🇺   🚨 French Supreme Court now rules that this transfer of criminal liability should also apply in case of #mergers involving ‘private’ limited liability companies (French S.A.R.L.).⬇️   ⚠️ As a result, buyers must now conduct comprehensive due diligence on criminal matters not only when #merger #deals involve ‘public’ limited companies, but also when the targets are ‘private’ limited companies (such as French S.A.R.L. and S.A.S.).🔍   ✉️ For more information, please contact Samuel Sauphanor, head of our White Collar Defense & Investigations team. Cour de cassation #dispute #litigation

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Is it already the end of the month? The latest UPC case load is "hot off the press".👇 Some key figures: ⚖️ We are now at 341 cases since 1 June 2023, there is an uptick of 30 cases since the 311 cases reported at the end of March. This corresponds to an increase of 9.6%. ⚖️ Compared to the 110 infringement actions reported at the end of March, we now have 13 more with the total being at 123 infringement actions, which corresponds to an increase of 11.8%. ⚖️ The Munich Local Division is still leading the pack with now 46 infringement actions, followed by the Düsseldorf (25) and Mannheim (16) Local Divisions. This explains why of the three recently newly appointed legally qualified judges two were assigned to the Munich Local Division with a new panel to be created. ⚖️ Does English become the lingua franca of the UPC? While English has become the predominant language of proceedings at the Court of First Instance for the first time since the UPC reported its case load, the percentage is, with 48%, only slightly higher than the 45% of proceedings with German as language of proceedings. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Those who are less interested in the numbers, but would like to discuss he most important cases should consider attending the next UPC Fireside Chat on 4 July 2024 (https://lnkd.in/gsjynrn2). Speakers are presiding judge Matthias Zigann from the UPC CFI LD Munich, Tobias Wuttke (BARDEHLE PAGENBERG) and Thorsten Bausch (HOFFMANN EITLE). Those who are more interested in how to survive with the UPC Case Management System should consider attending the UPC CMS online course for paralegals on 13 and 14 May 2024 (https://lnkd.in/gd_BdTi3) or the online course for European Patent Litigators on 10 and 11 June 2024 (https://lnkd.in/gJAaVk-X). Speakers are from the companiy behind the UPC CMS. #patent #patents #patentattorney #patentlitigation #unifiedpatentcourt #ipknowledgeenhancer

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As you have seen, our PL Litigation team has drafted a number of French #Product #Liability chapters for some global publications (more to come next week!). Below is a summarized view of what we think of the New PLD 😟. Let us know what you think. Always happy to debate! Signature Litigation #litigation #contentieux #products #produits #europe #directive

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Partner Sylvie Gallage-Alwis and Associate Nicolas Ndiour have authored the Mondaq Product Liability Comparative guide for the jurisdiction of France, where they consider the legal regimes for product liability in France. Sylvie and Nicolas outline the practical considerations, both for corporates and for claimants, when handling a product liability claim, together with considerations for product safety and product recalls. They further provide practical tips for corporates at risk of product liability claims in France. Read more here: bit.ly/3KBnU1x #ProductLiability #ProductsLitigation #GroupAction

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