Law firm Brown Rudnick has appointed Didier Bruère-Dawson and David Malamed as partners in the Bankruptcy and Corporate Restructuring Practice in the firm’s Paris office.
With the addition of Bruère-Dawson and Malamed, Brown Rudnick continues to build and strengthen the firm's Paris presence and its international platform in one of the firm's core practice areas. Didier and David bring complementary skills and experience to the existing restructuring teams in the US and the U.K and have strong connections to key stakeholders in the French restructuring arena.
Didier and David also have considerable experience handling both international matters in the English language, and matters in other Francophone jurisdictions such as the Middle East and Africa where Brown Rudnick has developed a strong track record in dealing with international disputes and risk management.
Joe Ryan, Chairman & CEO, Brown Rudnick says: "We are delighted to welcome Didier and David to the firm. They are very highly regarded lawyers who will play a key role in enhancing Brown Rudnick’s litigation and restructuring presence in Paris. Didier and David add a valuable dimension to our global Restructuring team as we look to serve clients and prospective clients in both common law and civil law jurisdictions, and emerging markets such as MENA & Africa.”
Louise Verrill, Head of Brown Rudnick's European Restructuring Practice based in London, says: “This exciting hire materially expands our European cross border offering particularly to our hedge fund clients. Didier and David will strengthen the team exponentially. The timing is perfect given the recent French legislative changes and the proposed changes of the EC Bankruptcy Regulation.”
Didier & David’s arrival strengthens further the seamless Transmanche team which Nicholas Tse & Sébastien Bonnard have developed for the firm between London & Paris, which boasts bilingual and dual qualified civil lawyers & common lawyers.
Nicholas Tse, Global Co-Chair of International Disputes at Brown Rudnick, says: “As a firm, we are determined to have a cutting-edge, seamless civil law & common law team which can deal with the most complex international disputes and restructurings, and suffers none of the internal territorial rivalries which can sometimes hamstring other international firms. The arrival of Didier and David is a significant further step along this path.”
Sébastien Bonnard, Managing Partner at Brown Rudnick Paris, says: “We are very excited by the synergies which two truly internationalist Frenchmen like Didier & David will have with our existing team, and the fact that adding Restructuring completes our Paris-based International Arbitration & Litigation offering.”
Didier's main practice focus is debt structuring and restructuring with a focus on distressed mergers and acquisitions, complex and cross border structuring and debt restructuring. He represents various groups, investment funds, investors and high net worth families in their investments, divestments and real estate projects in France and abroad by managing the risks and issues linked to insolvency proceedings, conciliation procedures, ad hoc mandates and recovery takeovers. His transactional and litigation experience in M&A, financing projects and the acquisition of ailing businesses is well recognised.
Prior to joining Brown Rudnick, Bruère-Dawson was head of the insolvency practice at de Gaulle Fleurance, a prominent firm with was recently recognised by The Lawyer, a leading legal publication in the US, as 2015 "Law Firm of the year: France", which also named Didier French Restructuring Lawyer of the Year in 2013. Didier was also recently honoured by Corporate LiveWire as the top Restructuring Lawyer for France in its Global Awards 2015.
Bruère-Dawson says: “The reason why I chose Brown Rudnick above the other law firms who were courting me was because they match my ambitions: they have a quality transmanche team with vision and dynamism who have also had great success in the MENA region, and they are a firm with entrepreneurial flair which has seen them master complex restructurings from the US & the UK in innovative ways. I am very excited about the seamless and combined civil law/ common law capability which we are now adding in the Restructuring space.”
Didier holds a postgraduate degree in business law from Panthéon-Assas University and has been a member of the Paris bar since 1990.
Malamed focuses his practice in corporate and leverage finance and will be joining Brown Rudnick on 16 June, 2015. He has significant experience advising French and foreign funds, large and mid-cap companies in LBOs, restructuring and real estate finance. David has handled significant distressed real estate portfolio acquisitions and financings, including the first private equity deals in France which ultimately shaped the real estate financings and commercial mortgage-backed securities in France for years to come.
Malamed has hitherto been a partner in the banking practice of August & Debouzy's Paris office, and will leave August & Debouzy on 15 June. In addition to his successful career in Paris, he spent nine years as head of the New York office of Gide Loyrette Nouel, a well-known French firm. Returning to Paris, he joined Weil Weil Gotshal & Manges' Paris office before moving to August & Debouzy.
Malamed said of his move: "Brown Rudnick offers a unique platform of internationally minded lawyers who understand perfectly the profound evolutions of the debt and restructuring market in France and Europe. By focusing on creditors, Ad hoc groups and bondholders, they are in sync with what Didier and I perceive as restructuring 2.0 for France in the next 10 or 20 years. And there will be no barriers between the London and Paris office, which is absolutely cutting edge."
Malamed acquired his postgraduate degree in business law from Paris II – University in 1992, his L.L.M. from Columbia Law School in 1994 and graduated from Sciences Po Paris. He is a member of both the Paris and New York bars.
