CLIENT SUCCESSES  Alcatel Space | Ampere | Black Canyon | Carnival Cruise Lines | Gemalto (Formerly Gemplus) | Megan's Law | Tulia | U.S. Olympic Committee and Belbin | Ulysses S. Hudson

Challenge
In the 1990s, Paris-based Alcatel Space, a leading satellite space systems manufacturer, and its American alliance partner entered into a series of agreements creating a venture for the manufacture and marketing of satellite systems through a subsidiary of the alliance partner. In early 2001 the alliance partner unilaterally abandoned the alliance and threatened to enter into a strategic transaction with a rival company in violation of its agreements with Alcatel. As a result, Alcatel needed to take effective measures to stop its alliance partner from entering into a transaction with its rival and to avoid being irreparably harmed by contract breaches.

In February 2001, Alcatel turned to Hogan & Hartson to commence special proceedings in both Europe and the United States on an emergency basis to enforce Alcatel’s rights under the parties’ agreements and to prevent the alliance partner from consummating a strategic transaction with Alcatel’s rival manufacturer.

Analysis
Drawing upon a team of lawyers from Hogan & Hartson’s Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Moscow, and Washington offices, we filed for and obtained immediately a temporary injunction order and, within weeks, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a preliminary injunction enjoining the alliance partner and the venture from consummating a strategic transaction with the rival company or otherwise violating Alcatel’s rights under the parties’ agreements. Simultaneously, we initiated arbitral proceedings on Alcatel’s behalf with the International Chamber of Commerce’s Court of Arbitration (ICC) in Paris. This preliminary injunction was later affirmed on appeal by the Second Circuit.

The arbitration consisted of two phases of hearings before a panel of three distinguished arbitrators in Geneva, Switzerland in December 2001 and October 2002. There, Hogan & Hartson won two significant “partial awards” for Alcatel. First, we obtained an expedited award confirming the preliminary injunction granted by the federal court in New York. Then, the ICC tribunal ruled in favor of Alcatel on virtually all of Alcatel’s claims against the alliance partner and dismissed all of the alliance partner’s $400 million in counterclaims against Alcatel.

Thereafter, Hogan continued to press the alliance partner to protect Alcatel’s rights—pursuing related proceedings in Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, filing for and obtaining another injunction in federal court in New York on still another transaction the alliance partner was seeking to consummate, confirming the arbitration awards, and securing the appointment of an independent auditor to inspect the venture’s books in preparation for the arbitral damages hearing on Alcatel’s claims.

Result
In June 2003, after a string of victories in both U.S. courts and in international arbitration in Europe and weeks before the scheduled damages hearing, Hogan & Hartson successfully negotiated a global resolution to all of Alcatel’s disputes with its alliance partner.

This case was highlighted in American Lawyer Media’s 2003 Focus Europe:  Arbitration Scorecard as one of the largest recent arbitration proceedings with a European connection.