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Michaël
Schlesinger
Paris
Lawyer
+33 (0) 1 40 54 51 00
CV (English)
Expertise
International litigation
Enforcement
Fraud & asset recovery
Sovereign debt
OHADA law
Education
University Paris of Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne – Master 2 in Private international law and international business Law
University of Paris Panthéon-Assas – Master 1 in Private law – Major in international law
University of Birmingham (Uk) – Certificate of education in English law

Languages
French
English
Spanish
Professional affiliations
International Bar Association
Comité français de l'arbitrage
French Association of Enforcement Practitioners (AAPPE)
Michaël's practice focuses on complex cross-border disputes

He has significant experience in international litigation and enforcement of foreign judgments/arbitral awards, in particular against sovereigns and in the context of fraud

He was involved in most of the French landmark rulings in immunity issues over the last 10 years, managed to attach and sale a presidential jet through public auction, secure the first European ruling in favor of clients of Lebanese banks, resisted recognition of fraudulent bankruptcy proceedings initiated to cripple ongoing enforcement process, and obtain a search order “à la française” to identify assets of notorious crooks in the context of large-scale fraud

Full bio
Details of recent activities
Counsel to French, US and Greek consumers to obtain and enforce money judgement against Middle Eastern banks in the context of major financial crisis

Counsel to an African company in worldwide enforcement of two ICC awards against an African state

Counsel to a South-American construction company to coordinate worldwide enforcement of an ICC arbitral award against the alter ego of a South American Sovereign

Counsel to the liquidator of a bankrupted Middle Eastern bank in the recognition and enforcement of judgments against former executives

Counsel to an Asian Sovereign State to resist enforcement of PCA arbitral award issued in favor of high-net-worth individuals based in sanctioned country

Counsel to the heirs of a high net worth individual to retrieve assets placed in off-shore trust

Counsel to an African waste management company in the set-aside proceedings brought by an African State against an ICC arbitral award

Counsel to a Middle Eastern broker to obtain and enforce money judgment against French mining company

Counsel to an investment fund manager to resist recognition in France of North American sanctions issued by administrative financial authority

Counsel to the liquidator of a European bank to enforce of multiple LCIA arbitral awards against a group of former shareholders

Counsel to a European insurance company in the context of irreconcilable judgments from two foreign jurisdictions over the breach of worldwide freezing order

Counsel to a former employee of the US embassy in Paris to enforce a judgment over wrongful termination of contract

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Conferences
IBA Asset Recovery Committee: Panel session on experiences of direct asset recovery via Article 53 of the UN Convention Against Corruption – Madrid, 2024

Paris Bar Association: Lecture on conducting proceedings before the french enforcement judge – Paris, 2024

ICC Spain & ICC FraudNet: Panel session on strategies and stumbling blocks in sovereign asset recovery – Madrid, 2024

Basel Institute on Governance: Panel session on the interplay between arbitration and State Justice - Enforcement and set aside proceedings – Paris, 2024

University of Luxembourg: Panel session on asset tracing against for the enforcement against sovereigns – Luxembourg, 2024

IBA Arb-40, Oxford debate: Enforcing against sovereigns has not become a highway to hell – Lisbon, 2023

ThoughtLeaders for Disputes: Panel session on tactics and strategies used by sovereigns to delay or evade enforcement – London, 2023
Full bio
Publications
AJ Familles, Les multiples voies de la recherche d’informations patrimoniales à l’étranger, 2025 (with C. Roth)

International Comparative Legal Guide, French Chapter of Enforcement of foreign judgments, – 2017-2025