BUSINESS LITIGATION AND RESTRUCTURING

Prevention and dealing with your challenges: effective aid

Many external factors which may or may not be predictable can lead the company to be in a difficult financial situation. Competition from low-cost countries, the loss of a significant customer, insolvent clients, a challenge from a new competing technology, failure of machinery, too rapid growth... The phenomenon of crisis is an integral part of business life and leaders must surround themselves with experts who will help them urgently to assess the seriousness of the situation and to develop solutions to ensure the survival of the company. The sooner the difficulties are identified upstream, the greater the room for manoeuvre to decide and finance any necessary restructuring.

LAMY LEXEL accompanies you in the management of these critical situations which affect the human factor just as much as the financial factor. We start by helping you to diagnose the situation by combining our different fields of expertise (accounting, tax, social, legal), in collaboration with your accountants or your financial management.

From this point, we can assess the seriousness of the situation and its potential  impact on the personal situation of the senior management (family, patrimony, etc.) and guide you through the various steps to be taken:

• Development of the strategy and definition of the plan of action

• Choice and launch of the appropriate procedure, amicable negotiation with partners, ad hoc mandate, conciliation or bankruptcy proceedings (backup, recovery or liquidation, prepack-cession)

• Setting  up contact with intermediaries adapted to the situation

• Assistance in the negotiation of solutions

• Drafting of the protocols of agreement for bringing the difficulties to a conclusion

• Presentation of the solution before the chosen court

We also defend you when the management is accused personally (due to lack of management, coverage of liabilities, prohibition to manage, etc.).  

LABOUR LAW

Management of the social consequences of restructuring

A restructuring plan inevitably has a human impact on your organisation. Its social consequences must be anticipated and a rigorous follow-up set in place for not only  the successful completion of formalities, but also clear communication with employees and their representatives, to avoid conflict as much as is possible.

In connection with the Restructuring Department, our labour law team accompanies you from the diagnosis of difficulty in order to prepare the communication to be given to your employees and help you to comply with the preventive obligations training, adaptation and reclassification. When the financial failure of your company becomes inevitable and economic redundancies are unavoidable, we assist you in the establishment of a redundancy plan (“Plan de Sauvegarde de l’Emploi – PSE”) and help you in your negotiations with social partners and the labour administration.

CORPORATE

Development of the divestment plan

If a divestment plan emerges as the best option we are able to assist you in writing acts, making necessary changes to the social capital of your company and renegotiating contracts (leasing, refinancing etc). We place at your disposal all our experience to help you optimise the solutions adopted by constructing the best legal context.

ContraCts, CoMPetition, IP

Analysis of your contracts and cession of intangible assets

Our Contracts, Competition, Intellectual Property Department is more particularly involved when the company is being taken over. We determine what  your  intangible assets are  (patents, trademarks etc.) and the contracts to be respected and how they can be promoted as an asset in the take-over project.

tax law

Tax analysis, management of its impact and protection of executive wealth

Our team of lawyers in business taxation is present from the observation period to organise the moratorium of the tax liabilities of the company. It also strives to optimise the taxation of capital gains from disposals in the case of your company being the object of a takeover. If the management of the company is put into question (potential criminal sanction), our team is also at your side in order to protect assets (real estate, bonds).