Assistance with disputes for manufacturing and service companies

Client needs

Understand the various issues involved in the dispute (financial, legal, accounting and economic)
Develop a robust argument to support the client's strategy (as claimant or defendant)
Quantify harm in a rigorous and documented way
Carry out a critical assessment of the harm claimed by the other party

Our strengths

Acknowledged expertise (long track record, regular assignments with numerous French law firms)
Assignments as expert witnesses (one partner acts as an expert witness in the Paris Appeal Court and is approved by the Cour de Cassation), including in relation to domestic and international arbitration
Ability to work with the client and its advisors in multi-discipline teams
Highly experienced and multidisciplinary teams (finance, legal, accounting, audit techniques), assisted by technical intelligence units (assessment of harm, financial valuation, financial communication)
Ability to make complex issues understandable

Solutions / services

We do work relating to out-of-court settlements, disputes, conciliation and mediation, at the request of parties to a dispute.

Depending on the services required:
Assessment of harm in civil or contractual cases: analysis of the loss and its causes, methodological approach to quantifying harm and its attribution
Analysis of management responsibility, as part of efforts to determine responsibility for the failure of businesses and analysis of the causes of difficulties
Analysis and quantification of earn-out and representations and warranties clauses
Valuation of securities (appraisals under articles 1592 and 1843-4 of the French Civil Code)
Preparation of claims

Approach / methodology

In-depth review of the context for the litigation
Use of methods geared to the issue at hand (loss, liability, cause, liability, lost income, opportunity loss)
Definition of the most effective approach covering all aspects (accounting, financial, legal, etc.) of the dispute
Definition and application of hypothetical scenarios to assess harm
Determination of the most effective reporting format (memo to advisors, Finexsi report, etc.)

Sample assignments

Preparation of a harm quantification report for a food producer as part of a dispute with another producer relating to suspected food contamination; presentation of a quantitative analysis to the expert witness appointed by the commercial court, involvement in appraisal meetings and preparation of memos and reports
Critical review and quantification of alleged harm for a producer in the mining sector, as part of proceedings before the Paris Appeal Court relating to the termination of an established commercial relationship
Expert witness assignment in an international arbitration relating to the termination of a missile development contract in the arms industry; putting the dispute into context, developing the argument, quantifying harm and acting as a witness in the arbitration tribunal, including cross-examination
Assignment as an expert witness in a post-acquisition dispute before an arbitration tribunal: analysis of an SPA to determine the price adjustments demanded by the buyer and to estimate the amount of the representations and warranties guarantee
Assignment as an appraiser under article 1592 of the French Civil Code to determine the selling price of shares in a company in the asset management industry
Assignment as advisor to a company in the aerospace industry as part of a dispute implicating corporate officers as part of an AMF procedure: analysis of the facts, putting the disputed decisions into perspective on the basis of the specific nature of the industrial process concerned, preparation of a detailed report