Expat Insider

  Rare legal gossip in a city with hundreds of expat lawyers: A prominent American lawyer commented to Insider about US law firms in Paris. “I’m struck with how much better the UK, especially London, firms have done in Paris than US firms–I would have no difficulty coming up with six or even ten Paris offices of UK firms which I would consider highly. It’s more difficult with Americans. I think that Cleary Gottlieb Paris over the years has been consistently in a class by itself. Shearman & Sterling has had its ups and downs, but is clearly a high quality operation recently. Since Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has attracted high quality French lawyers, I think their office has to be considered on a list of top Americans. White & Case has also had its ups and downs. I wouldn’t consider it in the same league as Cleary or Shearman, but I think it has to be mentioned, even though there are rumors concerning office stability. Jones Day has to be mentioned. Latham & Watkins will do well in Paris, but it seems too soon after their big move to include them in a list of the best. There is a set of Paris offices of high quality US firms which have existed for a number of years, but which have never really developed in anyway comparable to their US parent offices. I’d include Davis Polk, Sullivan & Cromwell, and Deveboise in this group”. First, there was the disaster of July 10, namely the cancellation of the Avignon and Aix en Provence arts festivals, the two summer cultural highlights, all because of a stupid row over pay claims for part-time actors. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Then, it was the turn of the Paris Métro authorities. Thumbs down for closing Porte de Pantin métro station till September at a time when thousands use La Villette park for fresh air and the open air movies. Likewise, thumbs down to the suspicious owners of the Café de La Mairie on Place St Sulpice who chain the terrace chairs together so tight thus making an aperitif or coffee a very uncomfortable experience, except for those as thin as models. Thumbs up for a marvelous new Tunisian craft shop at 45 Rue Fleurus, 6e, called Boubaker et Michele. (www.boubaker-et-michele.com or [email protected]) A treasure trove with quality items. Opening: Greater openness of tv advertising is being hammered out between the government and EU authorities in Brussels. At issue is whether previously “barred” sectors (newspapers, publishing, cinema movies and supermarkets) can advertise on French tv. Until recently, various lobbies, representing the “little guy”(small regional newspapers, book publishers, corner shops and art movie houses) have prevented freedom in these four areas. Pressure from Brussels has forced the French government to relent and the EU’s ruling, virtually telling Paris to quit protectionism, is expected to reach the French government about now. The sticking point remains movies and what the French call protecting “the French exception”. One possible answer is emerging–for the government to subsidize small movie producers advertising on tv. Opening of tv advertising to newspapers will start next Jan 1. Big stores will be able to advertise in a general way, but not be permitted to push special offers. New French legislation on the opening up of these sectors should be ready in the fall. Fishy: fish skin or cuir de mer (“sea leather”) is making its way into haute couture largely via Callac entrepreneur, Pascal Vuadelle. Touting its “vintage feel,” Christian Dior designer John Galliano last season created pink salmon-skin shoes that were sold in Dior boutiques around the world. The Scottish fashion company Skini recently launched a line of salmon-skin bikinis and marketed them as an environmentally friendly alternative to exotic leather. The European Union poured funds into a project to perfect the process of curing salmon skin. Every month, Vuadelle and his team of three tanners turn 5,000 smelly fish skins, costing about nine cents each, into supple and odorless strips that look like reptile skin and bring between $4 and $5 from wholesalers and leather-goods makers. Once the skin of, say, a Nile perch lands in the leather workshop of Patrice Dobe, who operates out of a converted barn a few miles up the road from Mr. Vuadelle, it soon turns into a glossy handbag that sells for about $200 in Dobe’s shop. Bad news for those living near the Charles de Gaulle airport but good news for those out Chartres way. A Parliamentary commission has just buried the long debated plan for a third international airport close to the city. The project which had gained some favour was for a mega new platform, costing at least $6 billion, 80 miles north of the capital. The French Treasury ruled the cost was too high in today’s semi recession. The government has instead decided to extend Charles de Gaulle 2, set in a plain, where terminal 2E has just opened after considerable teething troubles. The terminal will eventually handle 10 million extra passengers a year. The government also has a medium-term plan to privatise Aeroports de Paris, the French airports authority, whose management has been widely criticised. Both CDG and Orly airports, the Parliamentary study concluded, are technically underutilised. However, it recommended that in order to reduce noise that charter flights, low cost operations and business jets be increasingly switched to provincial airports, such as Beauvais, used extensively by Ryanair(even to Amsterdam) if traffic grew substantially at CDG and Orly. The actual limit at CDG is 55 million. At Orly, the potential capacity is 35 millions as against the current “limit” of 25 million. The report says a new Orly East terminal could link with TGV high speed train lines, just as the TGV connects with planes at CDG. Many airlines have deals with French Railways so that passengers can speed south and north. Beauvilliers, near Chartres, 50 miles west from Paris, near the great cathedral with its precious stain glass windows, considered Europe’s finest, had been a previous possibility for a third airport. That plan was shot down by a powerful lobby of wealthy suburbanites. A third airport far away from the capital would have meant a cab ride costing around $150! — Alan Tillier is the main contributor to DK’s Eyewitness Travel Guide To Paris.