Specialist disputes firm Signature Litigation has announced the launch of its new Paris office.
The office will be led by a three-partner team: Thomas Rouhette, the former head of the Paris disputes practice at Hogan Lovells; Sylvie Gallage-Alwis, counsel in Hogan Lovells’ litigation team for more than a decade; and Emmanuèle Lutfalla, an insurance and reinsurance litigation specialist who joins the firm from French insurance disputes boutique Soulié & Coste-Floret.
Thomas Rouhette (pictured) commented: ‘As a conflict-free litigation specialist, Signature Litigation operates in a special space in the industry. Such dedicated firms have proven their success in the US and the UK. We are sure that they are the future of the Paris market as well. I am relishing the opportunity to add to Signature’s leading litigation offering.’
Sylvie added: ‘I am delighted to be joining Signature as a partner. The firm has a formidable reputation and I look forward to working with the partners to build the firm’s practice in Paris with the same professional approach taken by our colleagues in London.’
Emmanuèle also said: ‘My expertise in insurance and reinsurance litigation will complement Signature’s already well established offering, and I look forward to working with their team of high calibre litigators on high-value, complex disputes.’
Signature Litigation’s founding partner, Graham Huntley, said: ‘The launch of a Paris office is not part of a determined international strategy but rather a reflection of a desire to complement our existing practices in London and Gibraltar with people who we know will fit in and prosper as part of our unique all-member profit sharing and open management style. Paris of course is special in many ways, and it will help us to develop a broader litigation and arbitration practice unaffected by Brexit which itself we believe will not affect the dispute resolution activity in London.’
