Mills & Reeve and FIDAL, the largest business law firm in France, have signed a memorandum of understanding, which highlights the growing international ambition of the leading UK law firm and further enhances FIDAL’s select network of preferred firms in key jurisdictions.
The agreement builds on the existing relationship between the two firms, who have been working together since 2012 and regularly refer work to each other when clients require advice on cross-jurisdictional matters. Since the relationship began in Paris in June 2012 there have been more than 50 referrals between the two firms regarding work in a variety of practice areas, including corporate and commercial, IT, intellectual property, employment, corporate tax and private client.
Mills & Reeve, which has an office in Birmingham, has been involved in a number of high profile French matters in the last 12 months, including advice to a French digital printing technology company, Global Graphics SA, to transfer it from a French company to a UK company, all the time maintaining its listing on the Euronext stock exchange in Brussels.
Mark Jeffries, Mills & Reeve senior partner, said: “We are delighted that this new agreement will help us to build further on the already excellent relationship we have with FIDAL. It is a strong proposition to be able to say to our clients that FIDAL is our preferred supplier rather than just another firm to which we refer work to.
“The similarities between our firms mean that we are able to work seamlessly and provide clients with advice that serves their interests both in the UK and France. In terms of our sector specialisms, the two firms mirror each other well. We are both strong in technology, food and beverage, health, insurance, charity, real estate investment and private wealth, as well as being leaders in family law. Over the last couple of years there have been many referrals back and forth between the firms, and we’ve advised large state-controlled organisations, multi-national corporations, SMEs and private individuals.”
Régis Lassage, chairman of the board at Fidal and Yves de Sevin, managing director, said: “This alliance illustrates our firm’s ambition to support our clients’ international growth by drawing upon the legal expertise of local independent and multidisciplinary law firms.
“After our agreements with Siqueira Castro in Brazil, Miller Thomson in Canada, Deheng in China and KPMG Law in Germany, we look forward to this partnership with Mills & Reeve, with whom we share the same high standards of technical expertise and quality of service. This very significant alliance also gives us the opportunity to access the entire English-speaking zone of Africa, complementing our access to Portuguese-speaking Africa with Siqueira Castro and to the French-speaking regions through our Africa desk.”