People

Dieynaba Kane Associate

Paris

Dieynaba assists French and international companies before French and European courts and competition authorities, in case covering all aspects of competition laws (cartels, abuse of dominant position, merger control, State aid).

Prior to joining Orrick, she was a lawyer in a French renowned law firm.

Rami Kawkabani Senior Associate

Paris

Rami advises clients in drafting and negotiating their contractual terms and in the context of strategic transactions covering significant and complex technological issues including in terms of liability and intellectual property.

He also regularly advises clients on compliance with tech and data European and French regulations (Digital Services Act, AI Act, GDPR, Data Act, LCEN) and in the context of their commercial practices towards consumers.

Rami has spent time in-house with major tech companies, and is able to quickly understand his client’s requirements and priorities.

Adil Kourtih Managing Associate

Paris

Adil focuses on the development, construction and acquisition of projects in the energy and infrastructure sector as well as complex litigation. He has extensive experience of advising on complex infrastructure projects and corporate power purchase agreements, including notably the structuring / bankability analysis of project agreements and regulatory / public law aspects. 

Adil advises clients on public law and highly specific regulatory issues, as well as on transactional matters (analysis and drafting of concession agreements, EPC, O&M, PPAs, etc).

Prior to joining Orrick, Adil worked for two leading law firms in Paris.

Adil is also Teacher/Lecturer in Law at the Ecole Normale Supérieure preparatory class of Lycée Turgot and at the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas.

Igor Kukhta Partner

Paris

He advises on a range of lender-side and borrower-side transactions, including leveraged acquisition financings with a specific focus on private credit, and special situations and distressed financings. He also has experience with corporate finance matters, debt restructurings and venture debt financings for high-growth companies.

Igor is fluent in French, English, Ukrainian and Russian.

Frederic Lalance Partner

Paris

Frédéric assists his clients in litigation arising from commercial, industrial and financial disputes, corporate law and insolvency proceedings, both before the French courts and in multi-jurisdictional cases – notably in Africa before the courts of OHADA jurisdictions.

He also assists his clients in international arbitration and alternative dispute resolution proceedings.

Frédéric advises French and foreign groups in investigations by administrative or judicial authorities involving bribery and corruption issues. He has deep experience in internal investigations (national and cross-border), and in the implementation of compliance programs.

Frédéric is serving a three-year term (2025-2027) as a member of the Paris Bar Council. He is consistently ranked as a leading litigator in France by the major legal benchmarking directories. He is the author of several publications on developments in litigation and anti-corruption regulation.

Maiten Le Brishoual Senior Associate

Paris

Maïten advises clients on French and international development, mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and real estate investments. She also advises companies and high net worth individuals on the management and transfer of their assets, management incentives, tax audits and litigations.

She also has a strong experience on M&A Insurance/Contingent Tax Risk.

Prior to joining Orrick, Maïten worked in a leading French law firm.

Aurélie Le Griel Managing Associate

Paris

Aurélie advises French and international financial institutions, corporates, sponsors, investors and asset managers on French and cross border transactions. She advises on banking, structured finance and securitization transactions.

Prior to joining Orrick, Aurélie was an associate for five years in the Securitization and Structured Finance teams of two leading international law firms in Paris.

Christophe Lefort Partner

Paris

For over 30 years, Christophe has advised public and private operators, government bodies, contractors and financial institutions on the construction and financing of major telecoms, energy (solar, renewable energy, biomass, etc.) and infrastructure (road, rail, port and airport, nuclear, etc.) projects in Europe, Africa and elsewhere.

In the Telecom sector, Christophe has advised Marguerite Adviser on multiple French delegations de service public (concession arrangements), in Alsace, Grand Est and the Haute Loire regions and Cellnex Telecom on most of their fiber and tower investments in France, Italy, Switzerland and Poland for a total amount of circa 10bn€

He is ranked as one of the top lawyers in international projects and energy by Chambers Global 2024, as well as in the Africa Business Top 100 Legal Powerlist of the most influential lawyers in French-speaking Africa (2023).

Prior to joining Orrick, Christophe worked for a leading law firm in Paris, and was previously General Counsel of Bouygues Travaux Publics and International Legal Manager for Veolia Environnement (CGEA) for many years.

Léo LEMAIRE Associate

Paris

Léo is experienced in the resolution of business law disputes. He assists French and international companies in the amicable or contentious handling of their disputes.

Prior to joining the firm, Léo was an intern in the litigation department of Orrick and also achieved several internships in different international law firms.

Yves Lepage Partner

Paris

Recognized by Chambers as a notable practitioner in International projects, Energy and Africa, Yves is praised for his “very good sector experience and knowledge”, as well as his “enormous negotiating skills”. With 30 years' experience in PPP, international infrastructure projects and power industry projects, Yves regularly advises operators in both the public and private sectors, government entities and financial institutions for operations in Europe, Africa and Latin America. Recently, he has led a cross-border multidisciplinary team advising Actis, one of the largest and most active private equity firms operating in Africa, in its purchase of a majority interest in three power assets in Cameroon from Fortune 200 global power company AES Corporation.

Yves also has substantial experience in privatizations and acquisitions in France and internationally with companies whose main assets are infrastructure facilities. He notably advised VINCI Airports in connection with the acquisition of nine airports and three partial management contracts following acquisition of the airport portfolio held by Airports Worldwide.

Yves is a lawyer with the Paris Appeals Court and a member of the New York Bar. He was appointed as French Foreign Trade Advisor in 1996.

Florent Lewkowicz Of Counsel

Paris

Florent Lewkowicz's practice focuses on corporate law as well as mergers & acquisitions in France and worldwide.

He developed particular experience in the sale and acquisition of startups, as well as in transactional and corporate law matters relating to complex financial restructurings.

Florent has been involved in major financial restructurings (Solocal, Orpea, Casino group) and major exits, particularly in France and the USA (Getaround/Drivy, Glose/Medium, Lalilo/Renaissance Learning, Tempow/Google, Context/Integral Ad Science, Cajoo/Flink, Heap/ContentSquare).

Prior to joining Orrick in November 2018, Florent was an associate at a leading US law firm.

Sara Little Managing Associate

Paris; London

Sara represents clients across the United States, Europe and Asia in the energy and infrastructure, real estate, licensing and distribution, defense, and aerospace industries. She has experience handling disputes governed by French, Swiss, Iranian, and US (Maryland, New York, Washington, Illinois) law in most of the major arbitral forums, including the ICC, HKIAC, ICSID, and the Swiss Arbitration Centre.

With a strong background in Public International Law, Sara brings a nuanced understanding of the international legal frameworks that impact cross-border disputes to her cases. She also has a keen interest in defense technology and aviation, combining industry-specific knowledge with a solutions-oriented mindset to tackle the unique legal challenges these fields present.

Before joining Orrick, Sara gained valuable experience working in the Emerging Companies department of another major international law firm in New York City. She also represented the City of New York in family court, prosecuting child abuse and neglect cases for two years. In addition to her legal practice, Sara serves as a coach for the International Criminal Court moot court and is a Steering Committee member of the young practitioners’ group of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR).

Sara is recognised for International Arbitration by Legal 500 France.