Law.com International

November 30, 2022

By Anne Bagamery, Coorespondent, Paris

Jeantet has recruited a 14-person team, including three partners, from a rival French firm to create a new multidisciplinary department dedicated to energy transition and sustainable development.

The move is part of a growth strategy for Jeantet, an elite firm with headquarters in Paris and offices around the world.

It is also in line with what many firms in Europe have done to attract business as more countries, and companies, grapple with environmental concerns and energy transition.

Partners Hélène Gelas, Alexae Fournier-de Faÿ and Philippe Raybaud have joined from LPA-CGR along with their teams, bringing Jeantet’s global headcount to 135 lawyers, including 31 partners.

Gelas, an environmental, urban planning, public business law and energy law specialist, had practiced as a partner at LPA-CGR since 2016, according to Jeantet.

Her practice focuses on advising before the administrative courts on complex development projects, with a particular focus on renewable energy. She also works with French government departments to promote discussions on regulatory changes in energy law.

She joins with four associates: Tatiana Boudrot, Eléonore Kerjean-Gauducheau, Adrien Braille and Pierre-Benoît Drancourt.

Fournier-de Faÿ, a finance specialist, practiced as a partner at LPA-CGR for eight years. She previously practiced as a senior associate at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and as an associate at Shearman & Sterling, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Her practice focuses on the financing of energy and ecological transition projects, including real estate construction and renovation. 

She joins with two associates, Damien Le Mouel and Julien Angot.

Raybaud, an M&A specialist, practiced as a partner at LPA-CGR for 15 years. He previously practiced as an associate at Clifford Chance and Debevoise & Plimpton, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

His practice focuses on energy transition and sustainable development for French and international companies and investment funds.

He joins with two counsel, Thibault Willaume and Wyssam Mansour; two associates, Aude Cassaigne and Warda Zekraoui; and an assistant, Patricia Pedron.

The team complements Jeantet’s existing practices in real estate, carbon-free energy, energy transition and sustainable development, the firm said.

”We thought it was important to offer clients a dedicated, specialized service,” Catherine Saint Geniest, co-managing partner of Jeantet, said in an interview.

The three partners added that joining Jeantet would provide them a home where they could work across disciplines, in line with what large environmental projects require.

“For this type of project, you can’t isolate environmental law,” Gelas said during an interview. “You have to have all the capabilities at hand to give the best advice.”

Financing is becoming increasingly important in the sector, Raybaud and Fournier-de Faÿ said, as the players are getting bigger and projects need more capital.

“In the current interest-rate environment, money is not only more expensive but unpredictable to access,” Fourner-de Faÿ said. “You have to have a wide palette of capabilities and the ability to be agile.”

Raybaud added that when he started 20 years ago, “many of the alternative energy players were start-ups with less than 10 employees. Today, they have hundreds. The growth is huge.”

Founded in 1924, Jeantet has offices in Kyiv, Budapest, Moscow, Luxembourg, and Casablanca, in addition to its headquarters in Paris. 

The firm is a part of the 120-member World Services Group, which includes the elite firms Gianni & Origoni in Italy, Garrigues in Spain, ENSafrica in South Africa, MinterEllison in Australia, Veirano in Brazil, Deacons in Hong Kong, and Han Kun Law Offices in China.

LPA-CGR declined to comment.

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