Infrastructure & Public Works

Our firm has considerable experience in dealing with local government authorities and institutions in relation to infrastructure projects in diverse forms.

Our firm's activity involving infrastructure includes the representation of clients in relation to railway and toll way infrastructure projects.

Our firm has provided assistance for tender offers by clients to government authorities in a wide variety of contexts, including telephone, railway and industrial.

Examples of Matters Relating to Municipal Infrastructure :

• Negotiation and drafting of agreements in two multi-party transactions, including Romanian government telecommunications entity, Western European telecommunications service provider, telecommunications manufacturer and satellite telecommunications company, for the supply and installation of the national "backbone" infrastructure, including both switching and microwave mobile phone networks.
• Negotiation and drafting of agreements with Ukrainian national, regional and local telecommunications authorities for the supply and installation of digital automatic telephone exchange networks in Ukraine.
• Representation of a PVC pipe manufacturer in the UAE in connection with French court-appointed expert proceedings to evaluate problems in the municipal water-distribution network of Ouagadougou, Uganda.
• Representation of a state-owned company in Southern Africa in an arbitration under ICC Rules regarding a turnkey project for import replacement, including road and rail infrastructure, implemented by an Eastern European company, initially state-owned and subsequently privatised, involving issues of proof of the malfunctioning of the plant, mechanical and performance guarantees, limitations of liability and waiver.
• Negotiating and drafting of agreements for the creation of a European satellite telecommunications system, including ground "hub" infrastructure (transmitters / receivers).
• Representation of the French subcontractor of an international general contractor concerning multiple claims for cost overruns for the heating, plumbing and electrical installations it considered to be unpaid additional work, involving numerous Requests For Change Orders, Change Orders and contract claims in the context of a major building construction project for a national university complex in the capital city of a Middle Eastern country, involving review and analysis of contracts and specifications, subsequent to a reduction in the scale of the initial blueprints and of the specific problems of each of the participants in the construction process, including the owner, the general contractor, the subcontractors, the architect and the quantity surveyor.
• Analysis of the "investment" concept as a required basis for I.C.S.I.D. jurisdiction, on behalf of a Hong Kong company, in a dispute with the Government of Sri Lanka, with regard to supply of infrastructure.
• Lead lawyer in elaboration and drafting of the damages brief in an ICC arbitration with a FRF 7,000,000,000 claim against a Middle Eastern state in the context of a long-term contract for the construction and operation of a uranium-enrichment infrastructure project in France, and in-depth review and analysis of a related agreement between a nuclear power company and an electrical power company for the supply of electrical energy to run the nuclear enrichment plant and for exchange of electricity.

Examples of Matters Relating to Transport Infrastructure :

• Representation of a leading European telecom manufacturer in discussions with the Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer in connection with its formulation of European standards, and subsequently obtaining product approval, for a radio frequency identification/security device prior to installation of related fixed infrastructure alongside European railway tracks.
• Negotiation with national railways of a technology development agreement specifying completion of R & D and product installation dates.
• Negotiation and drafting of manufacturing and licensing agreements for toll tag technology and infrastructure for installation on tollways.
• Participation in analysis of legal documentation of the subsidiaries of a national railway which own, maintain and operate all physical infrastructure alongside railway tracks and in train stations for posting of advertisement, in connection with the privatisation of such infrastructure.
• Analysis of the general conditions of purchase of the French national railway and participation in the preparation of industrial manufacturing clients' responses to various tenders for the supply and installation of regional telecom infrastructure equipment for railways.

Examples related to Government and National Service Provider Tenders :

Review of call for tenders and assistance in preparation of proposals submitted to the national telephone authorities in the United Kingdom, Armenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Uganda, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Byelorussia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kenya and Bangladesh.

Analysis of a contract between a national railroad company and a supplier (our client) in the context of a request for tenders by the national railroad company for installation of a system of electronic "badges" to permit tracking the movement of railroad cars over the company's entire railway network, involving the establishment of a joint venture company with an American company for the development of technology to be used in the framework of the tender.

Assistance to an international infrastructure provider in preparation of a response to requests for tender in connection with the creation of a factory in Pakistan to be transferred to the private sector.

Assistance to a multinational supplier in the preparation of responses to multiple requests for tender issued by railroad companies.

Participation in preparation of a response to request for tender for construction of a meshed backbone network issued by an Iranian ministry.

Audit of tenders previously made by an international telecommunications company to the national telecommunications authorities in Algeria, Morocco and Vietnam, in connection with a spinoff of a business line in view of continuing service in the form of a joint venture with an American counterpart.