Insolvency Law Practice: Interview with Fanny Hurreau, Partner

Fanny Hurreau, can you tell us about your career path?

My career as a lawyer is closely linked to that of the firm Arst Avocats. I initially joined the firm as an associate. I quickly developed a fairly general business law practice, working alongside Morgan Jamet, though primarily focused on litigation. My partnership developed quite naturally, and for the past five years, I have been specifically responsible for managing commercial lease and insolvency proceedings for a clientele of landlords, particularly institutional landlords, with whom we have forged close relationships.

Since you are getting straight to the point, is it commercial lease law and insolvency law, or commercial lease law in insolvency proceedings?

The question is more than justified. It is very difficult to answer. The practice that emerged within the Arst Avocats firm is fairly traditional in both areas. However, we have succeeded in developing this hybrid practice of commercial lease law in insolvency proceedings. It all started with training sessions that Morgan Jamet began giving in 2008 to landlords facing the challenge of managing their relationship with tenants undergoing insolvency proceedings, a situation often poorly understood because it lies at the intersection of two highly technical fields. Developing these training sessions allowed us to model the subject matter, to better understand it, and therefore to be able to explain it to our clients. The experience we have developed in managing these situations and the questions they raise has placed us among the few law firms that know how to do this.

And you like that? Isn't it a bit dry and very technical?

Like anyone who has had to work hard to learn something, the work done on these constantly evolving subjects has led to a point where the difficulty, even the technical aspects, are no longer perceived as such. Yes, it's a real pleasure to work on these cases, in ever-changing contexts, and for clients with whom we genuinely enjoy working. Our contacts recognize our competence, and reaching this level is truly satisfying professionally. When they approach us, we know they need our expertise, and we know we'll be dealing with interesting and sensitive issues. It's a field that is both highly technical and very practical, in which understanding the practices and the stakeholders is just as important as knowing the law.

Does the current economic situation have an impact on this activity?

Yes, certainly. While insolvency practitioners as a whole suffered from the drastic reduction in the number of insolvency proceedings initiated in 2020, 2021, and even 2022, we ourselves had to intervene in a very large number of cases where our landlord clients were facing the economic or financial difficulties of their tenants. These were largely large retail chains, and we were involved in most of the major cases in the retail. Today, the resurgence in insolvency proceedings is also leading us to take on smaller cases, adding to our existing workload. This is all in addition to our more traditional work in commercial leases and in resolving business difficulties for debtors and buyers. We are certainly not bored, and we have expanded our team to ensure we can maintain the same level of responsiveness.

So you're a happy lawyer?

I think I can say yes. While this profession isn't always easy for many reasons, like so many others that are certainly more challenging, I'm fortunate to enjoy my field and the clients I work with. Arst Avocats is also a forward-thinking, dynamic firm, and I feel at home here.

One last question: are you going to leave it at that?

Never (it's impossible with Morgan Jamet, he never leaves us alone). We're always on the move to develop our firm's business and attract new talent. Morgan Jamet and I are co-authoring a book on debt collection, published byArst Formation . It's a book that aims to provide creditors with very practical tools for managing this often highly sensitive issue. We also have other development projects underway, but we can't discuss them yet until they're finalized. Fingers crossed.