Public Law and Public Procurement Law

Our team combines and draws on its high expertise in public law, public procurement law, urban planning and environmental law and administrative litigation to design, develop and secure all of its clients’ development projects.

The complementary nature of our lawyers’ legal expertise and their solid sector-based experience enable us to provide a high level of support adapted to the needs of public or private companies, administrative or government bodies or local authorities.

Our dedicated public law team, in collaboration with other teams within the firm, provides advisory and litigation services to several major companies and large industrial groups or economic operators, including those operating in the railway, aerospace and waste treatment industries.

Our team provides its expertise to public and private players at all stages of public procurement, whether involving concessions, partnerships or complex arrangements:

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• Feasibility studies
• Preparation of tender documents (“dossier de consultation”)
• Assistance during the procurement process (competitive bidding, publication)
• Structuring of candidates
• Creation of analytical grids
• Advice on bid selection
• Negotiation and drafting of contracts and other instruments (financing, guarantees, etc.)
• Analysis of tax impacts and relations with the tax authorities
• Problems encountered with performance
• Amendments

Delegations of public services (DSPs) and public-private partnerships (PPPs) are complex legal arrangements that require assistance throughout the contractual lifetime of a project. Our team of experts works alongside public bodies and private corporations during all phases of the project, from the analysis and preparation of a risk matrix to the drafting of tender documents, and from procurement procedures to the negotiation of contractual clauses and the finalization of the contract.

We also provide assistance with financing agreements,  as well as the performance and termination phases of the contract.

We take all necessary steps to facilitate our clients’ urban planning transactions and can provide assistance with any requirements they might have:

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• Feasibility studies
• Land purchases or sales
• Contractual negotiation
• Assistance with applications for administrative authorizations
• Auditing of urban planning and development documents
• Drafting of urban planning and development documents
• Assistance in setting up and financing development transactions
• Advice on pre-emption and expropriation procedures
• Auditing of real estate assets prior to acquisition

We assist public, para-public and private entities with all their issues relating to property in the public domain (“domanialité publique”):

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• Development of real estate projects on public land
• Occupation of the public domain
• Enhancement of public assets (renovation, development, etc.)
• Outsourcing of the property management of public assets

Our team advises public entities on the choice and organization of public structures such as semi-public companies (SEMs), economic interest groupings (GIEs), public interest groupings (GIPs), local public companies (SPLs), public industrial and commercial undertakings (EPICs), corporations and public institutions. We assist our clients in preparing contractual documents, selecting modes of governance, drafting articles of incorporation, completing administrative formalities, and effectively setting up the relevant structure.

Our lawyers advise our clients on all aspects of the law relating to public institutions:
 

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• Transfer of skills between public structures
• Changes to articles of incorporation
• Governance
• Auditing of legal and financial risks
• Human resources
• Public funding and State aid
• Reports issued by the Cour des comptes (French Supreme Audit Institution) and the Chambre régionale des comptes (French Regional Audit Chamber)
• Electoral law

Our team deals with all kinds of public law disputes before national and European courts. Our assistance extends to all possible stages of disputes, from the audit of legal risks to mediation, handling pre-litigation matters, assisting with expert appraisals and, of course, representing clients in court.

We have developed extensive expertise in various types of litigation, with regard to:

• public officials
• elections
• State aid
• the conclusion and performance of contracts
• the liability of public officials or public entities
• urban planning and administrative authorizations
• summary judgments against tender procedures (“référés pré-contractuels”)
• actions for annulment and compensation claims
• criminal law as it applies to public procurement, such as the unlawful acquisition of an interest.