For the business world and local authorities, Environmental law does not amount to technical standards to comply with. Environmental law is cross disciplinary and impacts transactions and industrial activities thus representing a real challenge for companies in terms of corporate social responsibility.

Fairway, is in a constant quest for efficiency and accuracy, meeting the needs of French and international based clients in the regulatory and litigation fields, as well as for their real estate transactions or their mergers & acquisitions. Our teams work on a regular basis with most major market operators (environmental consultants etc.…) as well as with public authorities (DREAL, Préfecture) enabling us to provide proven expertise to our clients.

Our practice areas are industrial environmental law (Classified Facilities for the Protection of the Environment (ICPE), pollution, waste, water, air, quarries…), real estate and logistical environmental law (green leases, asbestos, legionnaire’s disease, termites, lead, natural hazards, environmental certification …), renewable energy (wind, solar, biomass generated energies…), nuclear power and global warming (greenhouse gas quotas).

Our assignments consist of:

  • Regulatory support on all environmental issues relating to activities, products, projects or real estate assets (authorisation, operation, modification, transfer, discontinuance, legal proceeding).
  • Strategic advisory services in risk analysis, in the choice of procedures, in crisis management.
  • Securing your contractual agreements and transaction support: negotiating and wording of environmental clauses in deeds of sale, settlement agreements, share purchase agreements and financing agreements; due diligence initiatives with the public authorities, environmental risk management in the field of mergers & acquisitions, of transfers, of financing, site restructuring or regeneration projects.
  • Legal representation in environmental related litigation in court and in arbitration proceedings.

Examples of recent assignments

  • Restructuring industrial sites for a car manufacturer
  • Cessation of activity, reinstatement and transfer of a former motor manufacturing industrial site
  • Acquisition of a portfolio of 5 warehouses in France, due diligence on classified facility and pollution aspects and drafting short for representations and warranties covering liabilities in the environmental field.
  • Transfer of combined heat and power plants and advice regarding the allocation of CO2 quotas
  • Negotiating with the authorities further to a formal demand of the Préfecture imposing more restrictive terms of operation on a cereal loading facility in the port of Rouen