K&L Gates

Global Managing Partner: Stacy G. Ackermann

Co-Chair: Michael S. Caccese

Co-Chair: Rick Giovannelli

K&L Gates Offices

Austin, Berlin, Boston, Brisbane, Brussels, Charleston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Doha, Dubai, Dublin, Fort Worth, Frankfurt, Harrisburg, Hong Kong, Houston, Kansas City, London, Los Angeles, Luxembourg, Melbourne, Miami, Milan, Munich, Nashville, Newark, New York, Orange County, Palo Alto, Paris, Perth, Pittsburgh, Portland, Raleigh, Research Triangle Park, San Francisco, Seattle, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo, Washington, DC, and Wilmington.

The Firm:Through its Paris office, K&L Gates provides comprehensive international, domestic, and cross-border advice on all aspects of business law, from transactional services to litigation. In-depth knowledge of the laws, cultures, and industries in the markets where the firm operates allows lawyers to adapt and respond to the rapidly changing global legal environment.

K&L Gates is an integrated, international law firm. Through the firm’s global network and the relationships between offices and practice areas, clients receive assistance with their most complex issues.

Main Areas of Practice

Commercial Litigation and International Arbitration:

The Commercial Litigation and International Arbitration team in France has the depth of experience and capability to deal with the most complex and difficult engagements efficiently and cost effectively, working with clients in domestic and international litigation, arbitration, and alternative dispute resolution (mediation). The team works across a variety of industries, including energy, waste management, chemical products, mining, insurance, transport, construction, and finance. Members of the practice manage cases before French courts and before all major arbitral institutions, such as the ICC and ICSID, as well as under UNCITRAL, Swiss rules of international arbitration, CMAP, and AFA arbitration rules. The team in Paris has a dedicated insurance coverage practice, with extensive experience defending policyholders in their claims against the insurance market. In addition, the team has a strong focus on industrial risks and product liability disputes, including cross-border matters, and is known for their business-oriented and pragmatic approach, and the ability to understand and efficiently manage complex technical issues. This focus on representing insured companies — rather than insurers — is uncommon in the market and sets the team apart.

Labour, Employment, and Workplace Safety:

The Paris Labour, Employment, and Workplace Safety practice advises on the full range of employment issues in France, providing strategic corporate and pragmatic advice to domestic and multinational clients, frequently working with colleagues across the firm’s European and other global offices. The focus of the Paris team is on complex reorganisations, mergers and acquisitions, disposals, and restructurings. This work includes assistance on due diligence, consultation procedures with the Works Council (CSE), and negotiations with employee representative bodies and trade unions. The team is also active in conducting and managing internal investigations following presumed misconduct by staff or management.

Mergers and Acquisitions and Private Equity:

The Paris Mergers and Acquisitions and Private Equity practice groups advise domestic and international clients on a full range of transactional and corporate matters and have developed solid experience in tech-related transactions in the new economy, often involving artificial intelligence and Internet-based solutions. Through its positioning at the intersection of technology and Mergers and Acquisitions and Private Equity, the team advises clients operating across a variety of other sectors, such as media, retail, energy, health, food and beverage, security, consulting, and financial services. While providing legal services to a number of large corporate French clients, the team also advises US and international investors on their deals in France and is known for successfully structuring and completing complex transactions.

Real Estate:

The Real Estate practice has a wealth of transactional and advisory experience, delivering strategic and practical advice on large and complex real estate transactions spanning multiple jurisdictions. Acting as strategic advisers for high-end investment products, they are a hub for structured investments in France and in Europe, successfully assisting foreign investors in navigating through the French regulatory landscape to secure and maximize investments on a large portfolio of asset classes, including logistics, hospitality, office, landmark buildings, and more.

Finance:

The Paris Finance practice advises on complex, high-value cross-border transactions across the real estate and finance sectors. The team has particular experience in real estate and structured finance, including leveraged buyouts, unitranche facilities, and portfolio refinancing. It regularly assists banks, investors, and funds on the origination, restructuring, and sale and acquisition of real estate debt, including nonperforming loan portfolios. The team’s client base includes French, German, and international banks, as well as institutional and private investment funds, to whom it provides tailored, commercially focused solutions in a sophisticated and evolving market.

Technology, Data Protection, and Intellectual Property:

The Paris Intellectual Property practice focuses on the commercial and intellectual property aspects of a broad spectrum of tech-intensive and data-driven projects. The team provides clients with a pragmatic approach by making complex technical, regulatory, and transactional issues accessible to a broad range of stakeholders (boards, managing directors, legal, marketing, information technology, and security departments), notably with regard to personal data sharing and international transfers. With extensive experience in understanding technological and structural processes, the team advises clients in a variety of industry sectors, including connected transportation, video games, luxury and fashion ecosystems, as well as machine-learning and artificial intelligence projects, nonfungible tokens, and blockchain-based services.

Restructuring and Insolvency:

The Paris Restructuring and Insolvency practice group advises companies in financial distress, their shareholders, and managers, as well as creditors and investors interested in carving out or acquiring assets or business from distressed companies, guiding them through complex insolvency proceedings, debt restructurings, and turnarounds, whether in court or out of court. Well connected in the French restructuring ecosystem, the team knows how to pull together the right lawyers to achieve best value for stakeholders. While focused on building consensus, the Paris lawyers also represent clients in complex bankruptcy-related litigations and shareholder disputes.