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Eric is a member of the Paris bar. He focuses his practice on project development and risk management and acts as an advisor to project companies as well as developers, governments, lenders, and other participants in oil and gas, mining energy and other infrastructure projects, in France and abroad, and has more than 25 years’ experience working on the Africa continent. He also regularly intervenes in international/cross-border mergers and acquisitions and has extensive and varied litigation experience, before domestic and foreign courts, with extensive experience in international arbitration (ICJ, ICSID, ICC, DIS, SIAC, AAA, UNCITRAL).
He was rapporteur for the legal working group set up by the European Commission, the World Bank, and the OECD on the protection of investments in the Mediterranean region, at the origin of the ISMED program. He was also a member of the EU-Jordan working group and the MENA working group on energy / infrastructure and infrastructure finance in Iraq set up by the OECD.
Co-founder and current President of the Euro-Mediterranean think tank Ipemed (Ipemed. coop) and member of the board of La Verticale AME, a foundation under Belgian law aimed at strengthening strategic cooperation between Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.
Eric is a graduate of the Paris Political Science Institute and of HEC.
He speaks French, English, Macedonian, Italian and Spanish and has a good understanding of German, Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, and Portuguese.
Jemal Taleb is a member of the Paris bar, soon to also become a member of the Nouakchott bar. His practice focuses on international litigation and business law.
Jemal began his career as a lawyer after a fifteen-year career in politics and public administration in several African countries and has practiced for almost another fifteen years in international law firms. He has extensive experience advising governments and investors, particularly in the energy and natural resources, infrastructure, and development projects sectors.
Jemal is actively involved in many organizations and regularly participates in working sessions devoted to investment and development in the Maghreb, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa. He is a member of the board of directors of IPEMED, the French Society for International Law, and the Le Gotta Noir club in France.
Jemal is a graduate of the Grenoble Political Studies Institute where he acquired a doctorate degree in European law and another in political sciences. He also studied finance at the Institute of Financial Technique (ITB).
He speaks French and Arabic and understands English.
Pierre is a member of the Paris bar. His practice focuses on business law, both in relation to transactional matters (M&A and projects) and litigation aspects (arbitration).
Pierre devotes a large part of his activity to the hydrocarbons sector, assisting oil and gas companies in the negotiation of exploration and production sharing contracts with States or during the process of acquiring oil interests. He has in-depth knowledge of the legal, contractual and regulatory framework for oil and gas in most French-speaking African countries. Pierre also assists traders in downstream issues of importing petroleum products into non-petroleum producing countries.
Pierre originally specialized in business law and spent several years working extensively in the field of mergers and acquisitions and private equity, representing targets/management and investors.
He has in-depth knowledge and corporate expertise in terms of investment and/or share purchase protocols and devotes a large part of his activity to international arbitration cases. He notably represented Mauritania for four years in an ICSID arbitration.
Pierre is a law graduate from the Panthéon-Assas University and holds an LLM from the Humboldt Universität in Berlin and a doctorate degree from the Sorbonne university.
He speaks French, English, and German.
Julien is a member of the Paris bar. He focuses his practice on energy projects and regulatory matters with a solid public international law and arbitration background.
He has significant experience on transactions for the development and financing in the energy industry (mostly electricity, natural gas, and LNG projects) and private small-scale power projects (commercial and industrial energy, off-grid and next-generation utilities), in France and in Africa both under civil and common law. He has substantial expertise in particular in negotiating power purchase agreements, gas/LNG supply agreements and concession agreements.
He advises global players in the energy and public institutions on energy policies implementation at their national and international levels and has solid expertise in energy regulatory frameworks in Africa, both in civil law countries and common law jurisdictions.
To a larger extent, his work relates to clean energies, agriculture, natural resources, mining, telecommunications, and port and airport facilities.
Julien is a law graduate from the Panthéon-Assas University and of the Public Business Law Institute (Institut de Droit Public des Affaires). He speaks French and English and has a basic knowledge of Swahili.
COUNSELS
Pierre is a Professor of Law at the University Paris Nanterre where he teaches public international law, the law of international responsibility, and the law of international organizations. He also acts as co-director of the Diploma in Energy Law and Major Projects. Since June 2019, he is the Director of Studies of the International Law Association.
Before entering an academic career, Pierre Bodeau-Livinec held numerous positions in the practice of international law. Between 2003 and 2006, he worked as a Legal Officer in the Legal Affairs Directorate of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2006, he joined the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, where he served until 2010 as a Legal Officer in the Codification Division.
Pierre also has strong experience in the practice of international law. He has been involved in numerous international proceedings before international courts and tribunals, in particular the ICJ, the PCA, and the ICC. He regularly acts as counsel for governments and international organizations.
Jean-Louis is a former French judge specialising in counter-terrorism.
Since 1981 he has been in charge of terrorism cases. In 1995, he was appointed First Vice-President of the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris.
In this capacity, until May 2007, he was in charge of the management and coordination of the National Judicial Anti-Terrorist Unit, composed of specialised investigating judges with national jurisdiction.
He investigated numerous cases concerning Euro-terrorism, Palestinian terrorism and, above all, from 1992 onwards, most of the cases concerning Islamist terrorist organisations, the GIA, the GSPC and Al Qaeda, in particular an attempted attack in the United States in 1999 and the attacks of 11 September 2001 in conjunction with the American authorities.
He will also be in charge of important terrorist files, such as those relating to the attack on the UTA DC10 or the assassination of Chapour Bakhtiar, former Prime Minister of the Shah by the Iranian secret services and the files on the 1982 attacks attributable to Illich Ramirez Sanchez alias Carlos.
Jean-Louis Bruguière is an Officer of the Legion of Honour and Commander of the National Order of Merit. He is also holder of the Silver Medal of the Spanish Guardia Civil and received in 2007 the Dialogo Prize from the Spanish Government.
ASSOCIATES
Raphaël Chikli
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Raphaël is an associate at Diamantis & Partners, where he represents States, corporations, and individuals in investor-state and international commercial arbitration disputes as well as cross-border litigation, with a focus on energy, infrastructure, and construction industries. Raphaël also advises clients on energy and infrastructure projects worldwide.
Prior to joining Diamantis & Partners, Raphaël worked for two years as in-house counsel for a leading company in the mass transit sector. He also interned with international arbitration and project teams at several international law firms.
Anna Curma
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Anna Curmà is a Member of Paris and Caracas Bars. She focuses on commercial and investment arbitration and is often involved in international proceedings primarily under the ICC, ICSID, as well as in ad hoc arbitrations pursuant to the UNCITRAL Rules, with a strong focus on energy, investment, and general commercial arbitrations. She also intervenes regularly on litigation proceedings before French courts, with a focus on proceedings to seek the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards and foreign judgments.
Prior to joining the firm, Anna practiced in litigation departments of other prestigious law firms in Paris and Caracas.
Anna is a law graduate from the Central University of Venezuela, she holds an LLM from the Paris-Saclay University and a University Degree in Energy Law from the University of Nanterre.
Anna has recently validated the competence of arbitrators requested by the arbitration centers.
She speaks Spanish, French, English, Italian, and has a basic knowledge of Portuguese.
Augustin De Villepin
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Admitted to the Paris Bar, Augustin advises investors in all aspects of their projects, especially in Africa and the Middle East, with particular emphasis on infrastructures and energy-related transactions (mining, oil & gas, electricity).
Before joining Diamantis & Partners, Augustin started his career in Algiers.
Augustin is a graduate of Panthéon-Assas University (Master’s degree in International Business Law) and Paris Dauphine University (Master’s degree in Business Law).
Augustin speaks French and English.