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supplied the French Olympic delegation during the Paris 2024 Games
the brand employs around 300 people in France."Two buyers have expressed interest
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reportedly involves the sale of licensing rights abroad.In April
the court-appointed administrator is expected to consult creditors—including the Grand Est region—on a proposed partial debt forgiveness plan designed to enable the takeover
The Paris Commercial Court will then need to approve the recovery plan
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who led the legendary Coudert Brothers international arbitration group in Paris
where he helped shape modern arbitral practice and was a teacher and mentor to many leading figures in the field
The Francophile American – who died in Romilly-sur-Seine
in the words of former colleague Jean-Claude Najar
with natural authority stemming from his wise manners.”
A key figure of the Paris arbitration scene and leading practitioner in the field for over 50 years
Craig led work on seminal cases and has been credited
together with a few other exceptional international lawyers
with inventing and trialling the unique blend of procedures
taken from the civil and common law traditions
He also created a unique atmosphere and sense of camaraderie and team spirit at 44 and 52 Avenue des Champs-Elysées
where the Coudert group was at different times based
and inspired a host of young lawyers with his quiet
who learned the esoteric craft of international arbitration from Craig and went on to become distinguished practice leaders
The Coudert arbitration group in Paris has been described by Kaplan
introducing Craig at a GAR Lifetime Achievement Awards ceremony in Milan in 2017
as brilliant and cosmopolitan but “slightly freakish”
It functioned as “a laboratory of international law and practice”
with Craig encouraging its work and “extraordinarily open to testing its conclusions in practice..
which would not have survived as long as it did without the occasional voice of reason provided by Laurie
a wonderful team player who never showed the slightest interest in taking personal credit for anything.”
William Laurence Craig was the son of a US Navy captain
He got his BA from Williams College in Massachusetts
gaining admission to the New York bar the same year
He began his career travelling the world as a lawyer in the US Navy
an experience of which he was most proud (friends remember souvenirs in his office in Paris
the Dewey was sent to the Dominican Republic
which was considered to be at risk of rioting because of opposition to dictator Rafael Trujillo
Craig attended a reception hosted by the US Embassy and was spotted by the ambassador’s daughter
was as gregarious in character as Craig was reserved
they returned to the US and were married in New York in 1961
Craig worked as an associate at Covington & Burling in Washington
arguing small cases before the district court
before moving to Paris to join the French arm of New York law firm Coudert Brothers in 1964 and becoming a partner three years later
He had first visited Paris on military leave from the Navy and fallen in love with the city.
he quickly started working on international arbitration
having been introduced to the still nascent field by the firm’s charismatic senior partner Charles Torem
who was the American representative at the ICC International Court of Arbitration
This line of work seemed perfect for Craig
who hoped to replicate the excitement of travel he had experienced in the Navy (he soon got perhaps more excitement than he had bargained for
finding himself stranded with other passengers on the tarmac of Rome airport for 72 hours when it was attacked by a Palestinian terrorist group in 1973
between a bombed Pan Am flight and a hijacked Lufthansa flight
before eventually being rescued by Italian police).
it was also a fortuitous time to embark on a career in international arbitration
just as a “real flow of contentious cases” started to develop out of the oil crises of the 1970s
An early addition to Craig’s team at Coudert was Park
who joined in 1972 after graduating from Columbia Law School
Craig interviewed Paulsson at Yale and offered him a summer trainee-ship
Paulsson subsequently returned to Coudert as an associate
lured by the prospect of working with Craig and what he called the firm’s “cosmopolitan panache.”
described by one former colleague as “the Jedi and the young knight"
issued a decree nationalising the Libyan American Oil Company
a historic ad hoc arbitration before sole arbitrator Sobhi Mahmassani
which kick-started the principle of states being held liable for expropriated corporate assets
and eventually obtained an award of US$80 million for former concession holders who had been stripped of their rights years earlier than agreed
he obtained satisfaction of the award despite Libya’s pleas that its assets in multiple jurisdictions were protected by sovereign immunity
The Iranian Revolution of 1979 was a further rich source of work
Craig was a pioneer in representing US investors before the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal that was formed in The Hague
He also led work on a constellation of disputes arising from the cancellation of the Shah’s energy programme
which gave rise to three massive ICC arbitrations lasting nearly a decade
brought by the Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique and other French entities against Iran
“Iran had made major commitments in the industry under the Shah in the 1970s
the Ayatollah Khomeini announced that he had been informed by divine authority that nuclear energy was bad and could not be pursued by the righteous
that it was allowed to invoke force majeure and walk away from its large contracts
including its joint venture partnership in the Eurodif uranium enrichment plant in southern France
For those of us who were at Coudert at the time
this was likely the matter for which we logged the most hours in our careers.”
One of the cases was chaired by the grandfather of the New York Convention
while another was chaired by a former chair of the Iran-US Claims Tribunal Pierre Bellet
who had recently stepped down as prime minister of Canada
to be his client’s party-appointed arbitrator in the first of the cases
Craig instead appointed former Canadian cabinet minister Marc Lalonde
recognising him as “a man of simplicity and directness” whose legal training and government experience meant he would understand the complex legal issues in the case and contractual practices in nuclear energy projects
who sat in two of the cases against Iran and loved every minute of them
went on to become a leading international arbitrator
Another lawyer whose career was shaped by Craig was Pierre Mayer
a professor of law at the Sorbonne who became a consultant for Coudert and
a major case that came Coudert’s way was the Pyramids case (SPP v Egypt)
over the development of a tourist resort near the pyramids
which Egypt had cancelled in response to international pressure
Craig handed control to his up-and-coming partner
an ICC tribunal found Egypt liable to compensate Coudert’s client
for the wasted costs of its investment and lost profits
but the award was set aside by the Paris Court of Appeal on the basis that the state was not a party to the contract between the developer and its Egyptian partner
Paulsson responded by obsessively studying the ICSID Convention
its negotiation history and the commentaries of its drafters and coming up with the idea that consent to an ICSID arbitration might be expressed by a state
in a separate instrument such as Egypt’s investment law
he then persuaded SPP to file a claim at ICSID
leading to a 1992 award in the company’s favour
which was upheld by one of the first ICSID annulment committees
The case has gone down in arbitral history because of the recognition that there can be separate consents to ICSID arbitration: by a state in an investment law or bilateral investment treaty
and by an investor in its request to the centre
one of which memorably took him to Baghdad for a French client at the height of the Iran-Iraq War
Paulsson recalls that he was “distressed to find how much a sophisticated
and well educated society was being degraded by tyranny.”
Craig worked on a PhD thesis at Paris II University under the supervision of renowned international arbitration academic Berthold Goldman
a rare accomplishment for a non-French lawyer
he also wrote what was for a long time the only hands-on guide to ICC arbitration
With its practical advice on a multitude of possible scenarios
this became an indispensable reference book for practitioners approaching not just ICC cases
Craig continued to build his team with Paulsson’s help
who had also been working on a PhD with Goldman
hired partly because the group needed a Turkish speaker
Friedland and Kaplan arrived on the same day in 1984
recruited from Coudert New York and an investment bank
while Goodman was a recruit from the Iran-US Claims Tribunal later that year
now known mainly as an M&A and EU competition law practitioner rather than an arbitration specialist
The 1990s brought further additions to the team
with Dunham transferring from Coudert in London in 1995 to cover for Polkinghorne when he moved back to the Bangkok office
Silva Romero joined as a foreign associate a year later
hired by Craig to work on matters in Spanish and on the Brasoil v Libya case
which was brought by an affiliate of Brazilian energy company Petrobras and gave rise to court proceedings in Brazil
Silva Romero was working on a PhD thesis on philosophy of law
a topic that he told GAR had raised eyebrows at numerous other job interviews
telling Silva Romero it was “not silly at all; we need people thinking out of the box to win cases!”
Another who owes his career to Craig is Chinese lawyer and arbitrator Jingzhou Tao
former managing partner of Coudert’s Beijing office
who says that he switched from corporate law to arbitration as a result of a conversation with Craig in his office in the Champs-Elysées in the 90s
Craig himself excelled as a strategist and advocate and was described by those who worked with him as a masterful cross-examiner
who cut to the heart of issues with his unflamboyant
“Isn’t it a fact that what it comes down to is nothing more to this?” he would ask
In an essay written for a Liber Amicorum for Craig in 2016
Paulsson vividly recalls one occasion when Craig demonstrated inspired advocacy in reaction to the unforeseen
throwing his previous game plan out of the window in an instant at a critical juncture of the Pyramids case
“The scene was a rented hearing room in Paris in 1982,” Paulsson writes
Craig as senior advocate was about to question SPP’s main witness David Gilmour
who was one of the principal shareholders and executives of the hotel empire and was said to be able to sell snow to the Eskimos at a premium
This was Gilmour’s moment to persuade the tribunal – crucially for SPP’s case – that the company had dealt directly with the Egyptian government and that the minister of tourism’s signature on the contract referencing ICC arbitration amounted to consent by the government
“Gilmour had drafted a very detailed and highly polished witness statement
but we wanted the force of his personality and persuasive powers to come through
was eager to have his day in court and to make the arbitrators understand and feel what he had been through.” Paulsson explains
Gilmour was not called until the penultimate day of the hearing
with Craig informing the tribunal that he proposed to examine him for most of the day before tendering him to Egypt for cross-examination
said that it needed more time to examine him and that his evidence would have to be adjourned
Facing the disappointing prospect of many months' delay
Paulsson says Craig posed a seemingly “harmless” question to Egypt’s counsel
asking him whether he was “sure” he would require so much time with the witness
many” questions to ask on the basis of the statement alone
Without any consultation with the client or his team and to the astonishment of all present
Craig then stated that SPP would put no questions to Gilmour
allowing Egypt two full days to cross-examine him
surmising that the other side was not ready and was counting on winning the motion to adjourn
Egypt could not object without losing credibility and therefore had to embark on an on-the-hoof cross-examination
which consisted mainly of reading sentences of the statement back to Gilmour and challenging their accuracy
The witness responded to everything put to him cogently and in detail
“We still have no questions for Mr Gilmour; we waive re-examination as well”
Paulsson says he had given up the chance to stage-manage Gilmour’s performance
rightly predicting that his evidence would be enhanced if given spontaneously in response to unfriendly interrogation
It was as if he knew “with every fibre of [his] being....the right and only thing to do”
it was for his role as teacher and mentor to others that Craig was perhaps most appreciated
In the same essay written for his Liber Amicorum
Paulsson explores why he was so successful at nurturing talent
writing that he understood a good leader was “neither crutch nor slave master” and that “nothing motivates ambitious young people more than the opportunity to operate autonomously”
Unlike many successful lawyers who seem “jealous of their claim to the first chair in hearings”
Paulsson says Craig seemed indifferent to taking the lead in promising matters such as the Pyramids case
instead passing control to a hungry young practitioner
He later listened with an open mind to Paulsson’s ideas
and encouraged him in his innovative approach to the issue of consent
Nor was there any subtext of “If you screw up
you’re on your own!” Paulsson says Craig did not disown him when he “embarrassed himself” by rushing into the London High Court with a young barrister to seek an injunction to freeze assets in the Pyramids case without realising he had to have an instructing solicitor present
and appreciated and accommodated different approaches and styles from his own
emphasised the importance of substance over style and of boiling your case down to its essential message to convey to the tribunal
In an account of the cases against Iran at the GAR Awards
Kaplan remembered spending many weeks drawing up claims for projected revenues from uranium enrichment
lost as a result of Iranian withdrawal from the Eurodif project
and proudly presenting Craig with “an intricate lawyer’s explanation of how these sums had been calculated and why they were due to our clients.”
“I thought our case was luminous and my written explanations cogent,” Kaplan said
Craig’s kindly but quizzical response – “Couldn’t you just do a picture?” – taught him that “even for lawyers
there are sometimes better arguments than words.”
Craig’s prodigies in the arbitration group got to know Penny
who decorated his office at Coudert and was a frequent presence there
Members of the team were also welcomed to the family home
a large Parisian townhouse in rue Pierre Guérin in the 16th arrondisment
Craig and Penny brought up their three children (who teased Craig mercilessly over his New York-accented French)
babysat Goodman's newborn baby when her parents needed a break
The leafy cul-de-sac was also home to the supermodel Carla Bruni
who became First Lady of France as the wife of President Nicolas Sarkozy
and later acquired a weekend and holiday retreat outside Paris
Although long ranked among the highest grossing firms in the US by American Lawyer magazine
Coudert was dissolved in 2005 after a drop in profits and failure to reach a merger agreement with another firm
One reason for its decline was the rise of other competitive multinational law firms in the 1990s and 2000s
Craig is said to have been devastated by its collapse
he briefly practised independently before joining another US firm
continuing to be a popular fixture of the Paris arbitration community as he had been since 1964
From his office overlooking the Eiffel Tower
he advised on disputes such as French media conglomerate Vivendi’s multi-jurisdictional and multi-forum battle with Deutsche Telekom and Poland
in which he was responsible for the claimant’s overall strategy
He also arbitrated cases under the rules of the ICC
Among the better known cases he heard were the ICSID case Joy Mining v Egypt; the SIAC case Laos v Lao Holdings & Sanum; the LCIA case Biwater-Gauff v Tanzania; and complex ICC cases arising from Occidental Petroleum’s investments in Yemen
the last of which reached an award in 2020 (with Craig issuing a dissent in favour of the claimant state)
he also arbitrated another “Pyramids” case under CRCICA rules
over Cairo real estate contracts awarded by Golden Pyramids Plaza (Paulsson was arbitrator in a subsequent arbitration arising from the same dispute)
He was a chief drafter of the 2012 ICC rules and a respected thought leader
appearing on panels that criticised some of the early annulment decisions at ICSID and warned against the addition of an appeal mechanism at the centre (let’s not “abandon” the whole idea of one-shot dispute resolution on which ICSID was formed
he urged at one event to mark its 50th anniversary)
he observed that a major change in the arbitration industry during his career was that young lawyers qualified in “a big arbitration factory” and practised nothing else
meaning they knew all there was to know about arbitration law and procedure but little about other types of law or conflict resolution
He also voiced his desire to see growth of arbitration at “local market level”
with those who had done LLMs in major seats like London or Paris returning to develop capability in their home jurisdictions
including Freshfields and Three Crowns (Paulsson)
White & Case (Friedland and Polkinghorne)
Dechert (Dunham and Silva Romero) and Foley Hoag (Goodman)
while Najar pursued an in-house career at GE
All have acknowledged their great debt to the mentor affectionately known (in the days of written memos) as WLC
describing how they learned from his clear
fair and common-sensical approach and were inspired by his industry
drive and passion for international trade and investment law
In the words of Polkinghorne: “Jan taught me how to write and Laurie taught me how to work!”
As US arbitrator and academic Michael Reisman
a friend of Craig who invited him to teach at Yale
wrote in the preface to his Liber Amicorum
he was “above all...admired for his wisdom
a view that many former colleagues have echoed since his death.
Craig and Penny moved to an apartment in the same street where they had had their family home and
Attempts by former colleagues to contact Craig were unsuccessful as poor health made him increasingly reclusive
he fell after throwing a ball to his beloved giant poodle
He was treated briefly in hospital and then sent to a hospice in Romilly-sur-Seine
where he died with Penny and Gatsby at his side
to whom he was married for 62 years; their children Geoffrey
Benjamin and Jennifer; and three grandchildren
A memorial service for Craig will take place on 11 September at the Travellers Club
This obituary draws on Charles Kaplan’s speech at the GAR Awards in 2017, Jan Paulsson’s essay “On Mentorship” in Laurie Craig’s Liber Amicorum and Jonathan Brosseau’s oral history of Marc Lalonde, found at this link https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2833994
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Human remains salvaged from a World War II bomber crash nearly 80 years ago were confirmed to be those of a man from Greater Cincinnati
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said in a news release Wednesday that the remains of U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Daniel Winstead Corson
After being assigned to the 401st Bombardment Squadron
Corson went on to co-pilot a B-17F "Flying Fortress," and executed a bombing raid on a German aircraft factory in the Nazi-occupied French village of Romilly-sur-Seine on Dec
However, the B-17 bomber – nicknamed "Danellen" after Corson's parents, Dan and Nell, according to the Journal-News – was struck by anti-aircraft fire
which sent it spiraling toward the ground before it crashed near the village of Bernières-sur-Seine
While one airman was able to escape with a parachute
Corson and seven other crew members stayed on board the aircraft and died in the crash
Corson was 27 years old at the time of his death
The search for remains beginsExactly one year after the fatal crash
the War Department issued a finding of death for Corson
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command
was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European theater
the command dug up four sets of remains later designated as "X-83," "X-84," "X-85," and "X-86 St
They were unable to identify the remains and interred them at the Normandy American Cemetery
a family member of one of the "Danellen" crew contacted the Department of Defense after visiting the crash site and interviewing a witness who had artifacts belonging to the "Danellen." In April 2011
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency historians re-analyzed the unknowns associated with the crew and determined there was enough evidence to pursue the case
In October that year, an agency investigation team traveled to Bernières-sur-Seine to interview the witness and learned the crash site was completely destroyed. In March 2019, the Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission dug out the unknown remains designated "X-83," "X-85," and "X-86 St
Andre" – believed to be associated with the crew of the "Danellen," including Corson – from Normandy American Cemetery
To identify Corson’s remains, scientists from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis
Corson’s name is recorded on the memorialized Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery
an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Cambridge
along with others still missing from World War II
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for
the Journal-News reported that one of the propeller blades from the wrecked B-17 bomber was being transferred from a World War II museum in France to the Middletown Historical Society
Now that Corson's remains were accounted for
the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency stated
contact the Army Casualty Office at 800-892-2490
The second instalment from the Le Coq Sportif 'Revival' collection
this next chapter heads to the home of the brand in Romilly-Sur-Seine
France in unveiling the 'Molton Superieur' range
it's delivered once more with imagery from The Rig Out
Le Coq Sportif have gone and landed one of the most fancied African nations ahead of a big summer of football as the French brand announce an official partnership with Cameroon
20 years of PUMA comes to an end for the Indomitable Lions in favour of a new chapter that could get off to a flyer this summer
have just dropped two of the most attention-grabbing designs of the 24/25 season
Acid FC’s Founder and Design Director to find out all about them and the club
Having reunited last year after 42 years apart
Le Coq Sportif and OGC Nice celebrate the club’s 120th anniversary with the club’s new home shirt for the 24/25 season
Dressing out the Banyana and Bafana for 2023 and into 2024
Le Coq Sportive have revealed the new home
and they’ve been designed and voted for by the fans
Following another fan-based kit design contest
Atletico Mineiro have unveiled their 2022 Manto Da Massa shirt
and it features details of the most important moments in the club’s history
Crossing the streetwear and football fashion divide
Neal Heard has collaborated with Le Coq Sportif to design a bespoke collection for Fall/Winter '17 that brings beauty from St-Éitenne with serious form
Bringing a fully retro feel to proceedings
Le Coq Sportif and América de Cali have produced a special shirt that commemorates the first time the club became champions of Colombia
Despite rumours linking them with a reunion with PUMA following the termination of their contract with Le Coq Sportif
Cameroon have announced that they will sign a new three-year kit supply agreement with One All Sports
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