Dispatches: an Englishman in Paris
One of the BDO team, forensic
services director Andrew Maclay, has been spending a week a month
working in the firm's Paris office, developing work with
international arbitration lawyers. He shares a few observations on
the international arbitration scene in Paris…
International arbitration is practised by a fairly tight-knit group of 120 or so lawyers in Paris, who are focused on this type of work alone and all tend to know each other. There are around 35 law firms who specialise in it, and they are split approximately one-third US, one-third UK and one-third French firms. Eighty percent of the work is conducted in English, although the French lawyers really do appreciate somebody who speaks French and understands French culture.
Paris is very keen to guard its reputation as a global centre for international arbitration, alongside or ahead of London, Stockholm, Dubai, Hong Kong and Washington, and has even set up an organisation – Paris Arbitration – specifically to market it as a global arbitration centre.
Paris is, of course, the headquarters of the International Chamber of Commerce, although the little matter of rather good food and hotels seems to play a crucial role in the minds of general counsel when choosing a seat for their arbitration. In reality, several of the global law firms run a joint Paris-London office, and issues such as Freshfields’ relocation of Jan Paulsson, one of the very top international arbitrators, from Paris to London do cause concern.
Trying to actually meet some of these arbitrators can be very challenging, as they are continually on planes, visiting new clients or attending hearings or arbitration conferences all over the world. The traditional business lunch remains very popular – although one of the things that has amazed me is how the French have speeded it up, so that an excellent three-course meal with or without wine and coffee is served in an hour – London City restaurants could learn something here!
As far as forensic accountants are concerned, expert witnesses on quantum issues are totally accepted by the international arbitration community – although there is still a long way to go in convincing French in-house counsel of the value of spending money on engaging a forensic accountant, rather than the finance director, to come up with arguments on the quantification of loss of profits or valuation.
And for a jurisdiction that rarely overturns arbitral decisions, the recent case of Caribbean Niquel v Overseas Mining Investments Limited, in which the French court of appeal ruled that the arbitral tribunal had been wrong to substitute its own calculations of quantum for those of a leading forensic accounting firm, will hopefully guarantee the value of forensic accounting experts in international arbitrations for years to come.
