Overview
More than one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest edition of Chambers “Doing Business In…” Guide serves as a reference and helpful tool for lawyers and investors alike, planning their international business and looking to understand the basic principles guiding the legal system of the contemplated jurisdictions.
The guide, co-edited by McDermott partners Jacques Buhart and Nicolas Lafont, offers a comparison of 46 jurisdictions worldwide, with easy to digest sections, covering local legal systems, foreign investment, corporate vehicles, employment law, tax, competition law, intellectual property and data protection.
Our lawyers provide insight into five jurisdictions: France, Germany, Italy, the UK and the United States.
In Depth
Doing Business in France
Authors: Laurent Ayache, Jacques Buhart, Nicolas Lafont, Jilali Maazouz, Laura Morelli, Sabine Naugès, Romain Perray and Antoine Vergnat
France is a civil law jurisdiction where most laws are codified. In the administrative law sphere, case law is paramount as legal precedents are established by judges. Judges also have an important role to play in judicial matters, in the sense that they interpret and apply the law; they do not, however, create new laws. Read more…
Doing Business in Germany
Authors: Deniz Tschammler, Dr. Thomas Gennert, Dr. Tobias Koppmann, Christian Krohs, Dr. Kian Tauser, Dr. Wolfgang von Frentz, Steffen Woitz and Florian Lechner
Germany is a federal, parliamentary, representative democratic republic with a multiparty system. The legislative power is exercised in the federal parliament and the federal council. The 16 federal states have their own legislative bodies with responsibility for certain areas set out in the German constitution (Grundgesetz – GG), which is the ultimate source of German law. Read more…
Doing Business in Italy
Authors: Emidio Cacciapuoti, Ettore Scandale, Fabrizio Faina and Davide Massiglia
The Italian legal system is based on civil law. The Italian judicial order is divided into ordinary and special jurisdictions, and it is based on multiple tiers of judgments. The ordinary jurisdiction can be broken down into two sectors: (i) civil jurisdiction, referring to relations between private persons or between private persons and the public administration when the exercise of its powers adversely affects civil law rights; and (ii) criminal jurisdiction, referring to decisions taken as a result of the prosecution of an individual for criminal liabilities. Read more…
Doing Business in the UK
Authors: Eleanor West, David Henry, Gary Howes, Paul McGrath, and James Ross
England and Wales operate a common law legal system. This means that the law develops by way of both statutory legislation and case law, which are regarded as equally weighted. For example, in England and Wales the laws of tort and contract are not grounded, for the most part, in statutory legislation and instead are established and developed in case law. Read more…
Doing Business in the USA
Authors: David Grimes and G. N. Smith Alpert
The US legal system is composed of several coexisting layers of laws that work in concert. As a federation of states, the District of Columbia and several self-governing territories, the USA has two primary levels of legal systems that exist in parallel: (i) the federal government that establishes laws for all of the USA and its people; and (ii) the state governments that govern their respective geographical area and residents. Read more…
