Companies are increasingly confronted with the many aspects of public law, whether through the various regulations to which they are subject or due to the increasingly restrictive legal frameworks of the contracts they enter into with public entities: the government, national public institutions, public interest groupings, local authorities and their organisations, etc. Indeed, public entities themselves must be increasingly careful in their decisions and procedures. Our expertise is rooted in our solid understanding of these two main categories of players in public law.

Our Practice Areas

Public business law 

• Public contracts: assisting awarding authorities and contractors with regard to entering into, qualification for and performance of public contracts (public procurement contracts, delegation of public services, public-private partnerships, agreements relating to occupancy of public property, complex contractual arrangements, etc.) and litigation relating to public procurement contract awards and performance 
• Financial subsidies
• Managing public services and public property
• Financial disputes before the regional public auditor's offices

Town planning and development law

• Audits and litigation relating to planning permissions
• Assistance with development operations (validation of the legal aspects of commercial development projects, negotiation of development concessions, subdivisions and joint tenancies, use of land acquisition and management mechanisms: abandonment, pre-emption, expropriation, etc.) 
• Commercial development
• Taxation relating to town planning
• Criminal law and civil law relating to town planning
• Litigation relating to expropriation before the administrative and judicial courts

 

Environmental law

• Installations registered on environmental protection grounds
• Contaminated sites
• Waste
• Environmental audits
• Water and protection of aquatic environments

 

Our Approach

We provide the following services for all of the above areas and operations:

• Legal advice, opinions and assistance on all aspects of real estate and business public law
• Audits of the companies subject to these regulations that have been awarded public contracts
• Drafting of procedures and bids, negotiation and finalisation of public contracts
• Legal representation of clients in all disputes relating to these matters

 

Our expertise in these various areas is provided by a team that has demonstrated its competence in public law and has ongoing opportunities to collaborate with the firm’s teams specialising in real estate law, property and local taxation, competition law and corporate law in order to ensure a high-level multidisciplinary perspective. We adopt a global approach when managing our clients’ operations, handling relations with other participants throughout the planning, implementation and performance stages.

 

Our Clients

We have been working for many years both for public entities (state-owned companies, national and local public institutions, local authorities and their organisations, semi-public companies) and for private companies confronted with public law issues (companies in the construction and public works sector, manufacturers, service companies, financial institutions, etc.).

 

Our team

10 lawyers, including 4 partners with over 15 years of experience. Within the framework of CMS, lawyers specialising in these areas are in constant contact and meet regularly. They are accordingly able to offer our clients services that reflect international practice of public law, and provide cross-border services under the best technical and organisational conditions by attorneys accustomed to working together.