Transportation and logistics law

Me Grégory KOWALIK, based in Strasbourg and Me Xavier DE RYCK, based in Paris, offer legal advice and representation to business clients located in both France and further afield, especially in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, namely shippers, common carriers, freight forwarders and insurers specializing in transport and logistics cover.

As active participants in and contributors to various professional bodies at regional, national and international level, they are able to draw on expertise gained from their interactions with professionals in the fields of transportation, logistics, insurance and international commerce. They have built up a wide network of contacts and relationships at national and international level to which they continue to add. This network is especially strong in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Benelux.

A non-exhaustive list of their areas of expertise covers:

Contracts of carriage in French and international law

Standard contracts, LOTI (legislation governing domestic transportation), the French commercial code (Code de commerce) and the Code des Transports (legislation governing the transportation of goods and passengers)
Planning and drawing up of contracts of carriage
Transport documentation and waybills
Delivery of goods and formalities on arrival at destination
Cost of carriage and of additional services
Passenger transportation
Contracts of carriage in other EU countries (especially Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria)
Carriage of goods by road and the CMR convention
Carriage of goods by inland waterways and the CMNI (the Budapest convention)
Specific regulations governing navigation on the Rhine and the Convention of Mannheim
Carriage by air and the Montreal Convention
Carriage by sea
Carriage by rail
Transportation of abnormal loads
Temperature-controlled transport

Related contracts

Freight forwarder contracts and standard contracts
Vehicle rental agreements (self-drive or with driver)
Moving services contracts
Warehouse agreements
Customs brokerage
Escorting of abnormal loads

Logistical services

Material handling, lifting, storage and shipping
Freight forwarding
Warehousing

Transportation insurance

Liability insurance and ad valorem insurance
Declaration of value and special declaration of interest in delivery
Shipper’s demand for common carrier to take out insurance
Subrogated claim against third party responsible for loss in question
Right of action against successive carriers

Debt collection and the ‘loi Gayssot’

Carriers’ right of direct action in the event of non-payment of freight against the consignee and shipper
Carrier’s and freight forwarder’s lien
Payment periods

Regulations governing road transportation

Access to the occupation of road transport operator and to the haulage market
Rules governing the carriage of goods by non-resident hauliers (cabotage)
Own-account carriers
Social legislation, drivers’ hours/working time rules
Offences and criminal liability of carriers and shippers

Transportation-related litigation and proceedings

Periods of prescription (time periods, suspension, interruption)
The liability of carrier and freight forwarder and grounds for exclusion
Limits of indemnity, gross negligence and wilful misconduct
Third party proceedings
Jurisdiction of the courts and applicable law

Lawyers working in this domain