Herbert Smith Freehills LLP's public law team has a strong know-how advising leading French and international energy producers, operators, sponsors and distributors on French regulatory issues as well as on domestic and overseas projects. The team is adept at challenging new regulations before French administrative courts and has expertise advising on large renewables and power projects. Its regulatory expertise also extends to other fields including tobacco and telecoms. Practice head Mathias Dantin and of counsel Thomas Herman are the key names. Christophe Lefort left the firm in 2023.
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘The team is always proactive and demonstrates very good knowledge. ’
‘The team is very pragmatic and with a very good vision of market trends and regulatory developments. ’
‘Mathias Dantin is brilliant, very fast and efficient. We can count on him to have a strategic vision of subjects. ’
‘Reactivity. Detailed knowledge of the subtleties of the renewables market (both from a regulatory and documentary point of view). Deal maker; finds solutions. ’
‘Mathias Dantin: great expertise and regulatory knowledge surrounding renewables. ’
Key clients
- BP France
- Eramet
- GIC Private Limited
- Cellnex
- Réseau Transport d'Electricité (RTE)
- Akuo
- West African Power Pool (WAPP)
- Amarenco
- Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations
- AQUIND interconnector
Work highlights
- Advising BP before the Conseil d'Etat and then the European Court of Justice in relation to the French regulation on biofuels.
- Advising GIC group on multiple notifications before the Commission de Régulation de l'Energie (CRE) in relation to its investment in Terega, and the remit of CRE's oversight activities of a transport system operator (TSO) under a Full Ownership unbundling model.
- Advising the West African Power Pool (and the States of Mali and Burkina Faso) on the analysis of the local regulations and the implementation of a tailored bid process (including the relevant contractual documentation) for the development of “plug and play” solar parks (total capacity 150 MW) with storage capacity, in each of Mali and Burkina Faso.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Mathias Dantin