Dechert LLP

Dechert is in part "Coudert Brothers' international arbitration practice reunited". Four alumni from that respected - but now defunct - Paris practice joined Dechert between 2005 and 2006.

Pierre Mayer chairs from Paris, which is the practice's heart in terms of numbers. Now in his 60s, Mayer also teaches at the Sorbonne University. His book Private International Law is a popular academic text now in its ninth edition. Others to know in Paris are Xavier Nyssen, Philip Dunham and Eduardo Silva Romero. GAR featured Silva Romero in a "45 Under 45". The practice has a strong ICC connection. Silva Romero was the ICC Court's deputy secretary general from 2001 to 2005. His boss there, Anne-Marie Whitesell, has also joined. Silva Romero is one of the lawyers now maintaining Craig, Park & Paulsson's Annotated Guide to the 1998 ICC Arbitration Rules (he is currently working on the next edition).

The legal directories have started listing Dechert in the third band for Paris. It performs well in the GAR 30 and GAR Thirty (better, possibly, than the directories would predict). The Paris practice is now branching to London and the US. Daniel Gal joined the London office as partner, from Dewey & Leboeuf, where he had just been promoted. Gal receives strong reviews from arbitrators who have seen him in action.

Meanwhile, Anne-Marie Whitesell has begun working for the firm from the US. Whitesell was with the ICC for 11 years, six as secretary general. Pierre Karrer, the leading arbitrator, says few have her depth of case experience: Dechert is "lucky to reap its benefits". She will work closely with, among others, George Cohen, Dan Malone, George Foster, Dennis Hranitsky and David Bigge at the New York office. In the associate tier, José Manuel Garcia Represa is someone to watch. He joined in 2008 from Latham & Watkins in Paris. A highlight of recent work was taking on Shearman & Sterling in a multibillion-dollar dispute over armaments contracts in Asia.