Stéphane Leriche

I am a partner in our Tech & Comms Group in Paris, where I provide business-oriented advice on technology matters, notably in the field of software, cloud computing and electronic communications.

My practice focuses on high profile transactions and strategic partnerships, advising major companies in structuring strategic alliances, joint ventures, and IT and business process outsourcing deals. I have extensive experience of complex, structured contractual arrangements, particularly in regulated environments such as electronic communications or in the banking and finance sector.

In addition to my transactional work, I also represent my clients before civil and commercial courts in relation to disputes in relation to technology projects or technology assets, such as software and databases.

I contribute to publications on IT matters, and I am a frequent speaker at specialist industry conferences.

• As a glimpse into my electronic communications experience, I have assisted SFR (France's second MNO) in the negotiation of a strategic partnership with Bouygues Telecom (France's third MNO) consisting in sharing active radio communications equipment (so-called RAN sharing). This matter was the most ambitious and large scale project in the electronic communications field in France in recent times and involved the swap of mobile network assets with Bouygues Telecom including radio sites (towers, base stations, cabinets etc.) The team worked closely with the M&A team to cover all legal aspects of this matter: setting up of the JV, asset transfer agreements, RAN sharing services agreement, governance agreements, site management etc.
• In the IT field, one of my most prominent cases was the assistance of a leading tyre manufacturer in the structuring of a world scale application development and maintenance multisourcing. This project ran over one year with structuring and negotiations and involved four parallel negotiations with first tier global IT vendors. This project was recognised at the time as one of the most innovative from a sourcing and legal standpoint and represented one of the first application of structured multi-vendor sourcing.
• More recently, I have been requested by a French credit institution to provide a comprehensive survey on the risks inherent to the migration of collaborative tools in a cloud operated by an affiliate of a major US provider. This involved an analysis of US case law on extraterritorial access to data and of the Cloud Act and compatibility of French general and sectoral rules with such US rules.