Management of Unpaid Debts

Celine Gasser, Senior European Counsel, Bird & Bird AARPI, France

The internationalisation of contractual and business relations implies that contractors and subsidiaries are no longer negotiating and doing business solely in their country of origin but that they have bases abroad, sometimes in very different jurisdiction. Consequently, the financial flows come from very different countries. The difficulty arises when payment incidents occur due to a defaulting foreign partner. No company is spared from contractor’s default. The legal department must be able to set up alerts, monitor and identify mechanisms with the financial department to control and obtain payment. Meanwhile, the decision has to be made on how to deal with new orders or services requested by the contractor, that will increase his debt.

Celine Gasser, Senior European Counsel at Bird&Bird in Business Litigation and Criminal Business Law Acting before the Courts of First Degree and the Appeal Courts, Celine also advise on civil, commercial and criminal cases, as well as on issues of unfair competition and termination of business relations. Celine developed significant experience in litigation in civil and commercial matters, distribution law, commercial or contractual liability, or in disputes between partners. Celine also acts as a drafter of sui generis contracts, amicable termination of commercial leases or specific clauses of residential leases.

Bird & Bird is an international law firm, with more than 1,400 lawyers in 30 integrated offices across Europe, the Middle East, Pacific Asia and North America. Our deep industry knowledge of our clients’ activities sets us apart. In France, Bird & Bird is located in Paris and Lyon and has more than 135 lawyers. Through our extensive and expertise in all forms of dispute resolution, Bird&Bird is able to define and implement a tailored disputes strategy for each individual case best suited to you and for the best quality/price ratio. Bird&Bird expertise covers disputes in various key areas: • Commercial: breakdown in negotiations or established contractual relationships, contractual, performance, contractual or tortuous liability; • «Techs and Comms »: disputes related to IT projects, internet projects, software, software distribution and license agreements; • Corporate: disputes related to mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, regulation of powers of corporate bodies, shareholder relations; • General liability: particularly in the field of liability for defective products, in various industrial sectors (automotive, chemical, pharmaceutical, aeronautical and transport); • Construction: disputes related to project management and subcontracts, as well as disputes in the energy sector (infrastructure, investments, supply agreements…) ; • Corporate Crime: directors’ criminal and civil liability; risk analysis and prevention...