PARIS, 10 January 2005 – LAWFUEL – Law news network – Securities attorney Anne Maréchal will join the Paris affiliated office of DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, the firm has
announced.
Maitre Maréchal and her two associates will be the first securities
attorneys practicing in the firm’s affiliated Paris office. The firm notes
that, in addition to maintaining her practice, Ms. Maréchal will also
develop a significant, high-profile French and European Union securities law
practice group based in Paris.
“We are delighted to welcome Anne, whose work we admire greatly, to our
firm,” said Alan Carridi, managing partner of the Paris office. “Her
first-rate credentials, her broadly acknowledged talents as an attorney, and
her unusual, highly visible experience within the government will enable us
to expand the capabilities of our Paris office, not only in securities and
M&A work but in many other areas as well.”
The arrival of Anne Maréchal within the DLA Piper group is the latest in a
series of bold strategic moves by the firm. In January 2004, one of its
predecessor firms, U.S.-based Piper Rudnick, opened its first Northern
California office, in San Francisco. In July, it instituted its first
European relationship, in Paris, when the partners of Cariddi, Mee, Rué
became partners of Piper Rudnick. DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, one of the
largest law firms in the world, was formed on January 1, 2005 by the merger
of Piper Rudnick, Gray Cary and DLA.
Anne Maréchal concentrates her practice in securities regulatory and
transactional law. She is a graduate of the Ecole Nationale
d’Administration (ENA) and obtained her degrees in business and private law,
with honors, at l’Université de Lyon III. She began her career in public
service and has held a series of increasingly high governmental posts. Ms.
Maréchal has served as a commissioner at the Ecole Nationale de la
Concurrence et de la Consommation; as a commissioner to the Competition
Department of the Ministry of Finance, and as a civil administrator in the
Tax Legislation Department of the Ministry of Finance, responsible for
legislation. From 1997 to 1999, she was at the Commission des Operations de
Bourse (COB), where she was responsible for supervision of financial
markets, including a large number of diverse public offerings, such as
tender offers, exchange offers, going private transactions, and IPOs.
She obtained her DEA in Community and European Law at l’Université Paris 1
Panthéon Sorbonne in 1998 and has been admitted to the Paris Bar since 1999.
Ms. Maréchal left the COB to enter private practice, becoming head of the
Securities Law department of August & Debouzy. She subsequently joined
Herbert Smith, building its securities regulation department into an
autonomous group.
During the last five years, Ms. Maréchal has gained a reputation as a top
attorney in securities law capable of successfully managing complex client
representations. Among her clients are Bear Stearns; UBS Paris; Fructa
Partner; Deutsche Bank, which she has counseled in respect to a tender offer
by Siemens for a French-listed company; Eurotunnel, for which she has been a
privileged advisor with respect to all securities law questions, including
securities and debt restructuring matters; and Merrill Lynch Paris in
relation to the Sanofi/Aventis bid. She has acted in connection with tender
offers and hostile tender offers on behalf of major corporations. She is
counsel to the Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique in such matters as its
project to privatize Areva.
Ms. Maréchal is also widely known in France as a writer on issues of
securities law. She is frequently interviewed in the media. Earlier this
year, she was extensively quoted in Le Monde regarding securities law issues
in connection with the controversial Sanofi/Aventis tender offer.
She is a member of the jury for the entrance examination of ENA and is
fluent in English.