Business law

We assisted an Anglo-Portuguese SaaS company in negotiating and drafting a series of contracts with its largest client, a French publicly listed company. The contracts included a master partnership agreement, a license agreement, an agile software development agreement, a proof of concept development agreement, a service level agreement, a data privacy policy, and an IT security contract. Although the contracts were drafted in English, they were governed by French law. Our team ensured the meticulous drafting of these agreements in close cooperation with the legal department of the French company, fostering a win-win scenario. We explained the key clauses to our client, highlighting the differences between French law and common law, particularly regarding liability. Both the client and the French company were delighted to finalize these agreements, ensuring a sustainable and robust partnership.

We successfully represented a Bulgarian company in a dispute with a French client who had failed to pay for goods delivered in France, amounting to several tens of thousands of euros. The contract between the parties did not specify the applicable law or competent jurisdiction. Leveraging our expertise in the Brussels I bis Regulation, we identified the appropriate jurisdiction and applicable law and initiated a European Payment Order procedure. The French company contested the order. We prevailed in the proceedings before the Commercial Court, securing a judgment compelling the French company to settle all outstanding invoices and awarding substantial damages to our client. Following the judgment, we promptly executed a garnishment, enabling our client to recover the owed funds. Consequently, the French company was placed into liquidation.

We assisted a French company in the negotiation and drafting of international subcontracting agreements with Spanish and Belgian companies in the agri-food sector. The contracts included complex clauses such as recipe protection as trade secrets, liability of the parties in case of non-compliance of the products, logistics, and a price revision clause to account for the high volatility in the prices of certain ingredients. Initially, the parties had very different views on the drafting of the contracts; we enabled all signatories to find a balanced compromise while protecting their partnership.

We helped a French oil and gas company negotiate a settlement with its American suppliers over a dispute about damaged equipment deliveries. The French company also had potential liability issues with a German client. The dispute involved several hundred thousand euros. Thanks to our expertise in international commercial law and contract law, and our understanding of the American and German business environments, we successfully assisted the French company in quickly negotiating and finalizing an amicable agreement with its German client and American suppliers.