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King & Spalding Opens Paris Office
| Source: King & Spalding
PARIS--(Marketwire - September 23, 2009) - King & Spalding, a leading international law firm,
announced today that it has opened a seven-lawyer office in Paris after
having received approval from the Paris Bar Council. King & Spalding's
Paris office will focus on international arbitration matters in Europe, the
Middle East and beyond. This is the firm's ninth new office since January
2007 and its 14th office worldwide.
"The establishment of a Paris office is an important step in the continued
growth of our international arbitration practice -- one of the firm's
particular strengths," said Robert D. Hays, Jr., chairman of King &
Spalding. "Our international arbitration practice has grown in size,
stature and diversity of cases. We continue to focus on building a select
group of high-value practices, and the opening of a Paris office with two
leading international arbitration practitioners provides us with a focused
entry into one of the world's leading arbitration markets."
King & Spalding initiated its plans for establishing an office in Paris
this past March, when it announced the hiring of partners Eric A.
Schwartz, one of the top international arbitration lawyers in the world,
and James Castello, also a prominent international arbitration
practitioner. Schwartz, who served as Secretary General of the
International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce
(ICC), and Castello joined King & Spalding last April and May,
respectively, from the Paris office of Dewey & LeBoeuf, where Schwartz was
managing partner and co-head of its global arbitration practice.
As previously announced, King & Spalding partner Kenneth R. Fleuriet has
relocated to Paris from the firm's London office. Fleuriet, who has
substantial commercial arbitration experience in Paris, specializes in
treaty-based arbitration. Joining him in Paris from King & Spalding's
London office is associate Heloise Herve. In addition, associates Lorraine
de Germiny, Alain Farhad and Christophe Guibert de Bruet have joined King &
Spalding in Paris from Dewey & LeBoeuf.
The Paris team has been advising an international joint venture on a
substantial dispute concerning the construction of a high-speed rail link
in South Africa between Pretoria, Johannesburg and the international
airport and acting on behalf of the government of the Ukraine in a
multi-billion dollar investment treaty dispute that is being arbitrated in
Paris under the UNCITRAL arbitration rules.
The new King & Spalding office is located at 65-67 avenue des Champs
Elysées.
King & Spalding is ranked among the leading international arbitration
practices in the world. The firm earned the number two spot in Focus
Europe's 2009 Arbitration Scorecard. Chambers USA 2009 says, "This
powerhouse continues to impress with its international arbitration
practice, attracting praise for its depth of knowledge and client service,"
an accolade that echoes from the publication's 2008 edition, which
described the firm as "currently one of the arbitration arena's biggest
success stories." King & Spalding was nominated for a Chambers USA Award
for Excellence 2009 in international arbitration and was a finalist in
2008. It is also featured among the world's leading international
arbitration practices in Chambers Global 2009.
About King & Spalding
King & Spalding is an international law firm with more than 800 lawyers in
Abu Dhabi, Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Dubai, Frankfurt, Houston, London,
New York, Riyadh (affiliated office), San Francisco, Silicon Valley and
Washington, D.C. The firm represents half of the Fortune 100 and, according
to a Corporate Counsel survey in August 2009, ranks fifth in its total
number of representations of those companies. For additional information,
visit www.kslaw.com.