De Gaulle Fleurance & Associés

Operations Division: The transactional and litigation activities of the Operations Division cover industrial and commercial activities and more generally clients’ operations (sourcing, sales, promotions, concessions and public procurement contracts) and the defence and optimisation of their immaterial assets.

Firm partner,

Firm Partner, Samantha Nataf focuses her practice on international arbitration and related court proceedings. She advises multinational companies, states and state entities in the resolution of international disputes with high strategic stakes, submitted to commercial or investment arbitration, in France and abroad. She has acted as counsel in numerous arbitral proceedings both ad hoc and institutional (DIAC, ICC, ICSID, LCIA, etc.) in a wide range of sectors including agribusiness, aviation, construction, defense, energy, infrastructure, new technologies, satellites, telecommunications, transportation and logistics. Samantha Nataf is well acquainted with sensitive issues often arising from large scale industrial projects involving multiple parties such as corruption, expropriation, the implementation of buyback clauses, the termination of long-term partnerships, issues related to legal privilege (secret-defense), intellectual property rights and other issues related to unfair competition. She provides strategic advice to her clients at every step of the arbitral process, from the drafting of arbitration agreements to the enforcement of arbitral awards, including emergency relief and annulment proceedings before the French courts. Her practice also covers international litigation and, in particular, the management and coordination of multi-forum proceedings – often connected to arbitral proceedings – in both in civil law and common law jurisdictions (ex. Algeria, Belgium, China, Egypt, Germany, Israel, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, etc.).

French, English, Spanish, Hebrew, Portuguese

She is a member of the Paris Bar (2007), New York Bar (2008). She is a member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration which is entrusted with the key task of reviewing and approving ICC arbitral awards rendered by ICC tribunals worldwide. The ICC Court also addresses preliminary issues of jurisdiction and the appointment and challenges of ICC arbitrators. Samantha Nataf is also a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR, the French Arbitration Association, the Swiss Arbitration Association and ArbitralWomen.

She holds a LLM from the University of California, Boalt Hall, Berkeley, a Professional Master 2, Litigation, Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution from the University Paris II Panthéon-Assas (2006), a Professional Master, International Business Lawyer, from the University Paris V René Descartes (2004), a Research Master, International Private Law and International Trade, University from Paris II Panthéon-Assas (2003) and a Master in Private Law, from the University Paris II Panthéon-Assas (2002).