Case studies
Some examples of our members' recent work include:
Domain name disputes
Employment law and transfers of undertakings
Software company acquisition
Multi-jurisdiction due diligence legal
audits
Trade mark protection
Commercial property acquisition
Collateralised sale/leaseback transaction
Cross border dispute resolution
Chasing debtors
Product liability
Application of French Civil Code in litigation
situation
Domain name disputes: Internet
domain names exist in a twilight world of semi regulation.
Effectively these are trade marks which are issued and used
without regard to trade mark rights. The international nature
of their use and issue makes enforcement in different jurisdictions
difficult and expensive. Domain name authorities do however,
provide a dispute resolution facility.
Recently a client rang one of our member firms on a Monday
morning. Copycat domain names of his own were being used
to link browsers to a pornography site in America. By 4.30
pm the internet service provider was persuaded to bring
the names off-line. Nominet UK (the domain name authority)
obtained agreement from the pirate to hand the domain names
to our client.
Employment law and transfers of
undertakings: Acting for an international logistics
company, advising on transfer of undertaking/ employment
law considerations in 29 countries as part of a client bid
to take over a European distributor network. These services
were co-ordinated through one member firm and the client
was provided with a detailed report within 10 working days
of the instruction.
Software company acquisition:
Acting for a stock exchange regulated Hungarian company
who design and produce a market leading range of Cad/Cam
software, on the acquisition of a UK software house.
Multi-jurisdiction due diligence
legal audits: Acting for a French company and Benelux
based subsidiaries who produce medical products and providing
legal audits for each of the companies in anticipation of
an acquisition by a US company.
Trade mark protection: Advising
software development companies in maintaining a portfolio
of registered trade marks in countries such as India and
the US which clients have found extremely useful, particularly
when expanding their businesses on the internet.
Commercial property acquisition:
Our member firm in Scotland acted for an Edinburgh based
company in the acquisition of a development site in the
south west of England. Owing to the difference in the English
and Scottish property laws the member firm in the south
west of England was instructed to deal with the land acquisition.
The local member firm reported to the Scottish member, who
continued to be the sole point of contact for the client.
The client was delighted that we were able to recommend
a firm we knew to obtain a very quick estimate of costs
and was also particularly pleased to know that we have contacts
throughout the EU since the company may be expanding into
other countries and wishes us to co-ordinate the legal services
overseas.
Collateralised sale/leaseback transaction:
A USA based international equipment leasing company client
of a USA west coast member firm entered into an equipment
sale/leaseback transaction with a Hong Kong company, which
was affiliated with a German parent. The lease to the Hong
Kong company was collateralised by a collateral assignment
of the obligation of a French company to the Hong Kong company
unrelated to the equipment financed. The transaction had
a value of approximately USD 20 million.
- The USA firm participated with the client in the negotiation
of the transaction and drafted most of the operative English
language documents, including the collateral assignment
of the obligations of the French company.
- A Hong Kong firm (known well to a World Link for Law
US member firm) drafted and registered the necessary collateral
security agreements in Hong Kong.
- A German member firm reviewed the guarantee of the German
parent in favour of the USA company, and reviewed the
good standing of the German parent under German law, and
advised the USA firm of the enforceability of the guarantee
in Germany.
- A French member firm advised on the method of perfecting
the assignment of the obligations of the French company
to the USA company, translated the applicable English
language documents into French, and saw to the perfection
of the security interest of the USA company in the obligations
of the French company.
Cross border dispute resolution:
A US company bought a shipload of rice from a Cyprus company,
whilst the rice was still in transit to Germany. The Cyprus
company had bought the rice in India. The shipping company
was based in France and the insurance company in England.
The Buyer (US company) and the Seller (Cyprus company) had
contractually agreed to apply Swiss law on the purchase
agreement and to bring disputes before arbitration in the
Zurich Chamber of Commerce. When the rice arrived in Germany
(Hamburg), the rice was completely rotten. The Cyprus company
required Swiss counsel for the arbitration, an Indian lawyer
for recourse issues against Indian seller; French and English
lawyers for recourse against shipping company and English
lawyers to deal with the insurance issues.
Chasing debtors: A Swiss citizen
pursued a debtor who was living in the UK. The debtor filed
for bankruptcy and moved to Spain. He had assets in the
UK (real estate, which he had transferred to his wife);
bank accounts in Switzerland; a business in France; and
real estate in Spain. Member firm lawyers from all these
countries were involved since the bankruptcy had to be recognized
in each country and assets had to be found and seized.
Product liability: A UK
member firm had a UK based client who manufactured public
works machines and contacted one of our Paris member firms
to defend their client who was being sued in the French
Courts on a case concerning product liability and hidden
defects. The claim had been introduced by the final customer
(the user), against both the English company and the French
importer. The defence of this important and complex matter
was achieved through the excellent co-operation between
the two member firms involved, for the benefit of the client.
Application of French Civil Code
in litigation situation: An English company had a subsidiary
in France. A fire started in the premises of this company
and spread to adjoining buildings. The amount of damage
was €3 million. The fire was caused by an employee
of the company. Neighbouring companies affected by the fire
claimed damages. Litigation ensued and at one time there
were 5 claimants against the company, including the client's
insurance company. One of our member firms in Paris handled
the case from the beginning and successfully defended the
case up to the Court of Appeal. The case was successful
and based on the interpretation of one provision of the
French Civil Code applied to the facts in this case. The
client successfully recovered 100% of their losses.
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