Philippe Despres and Deborah Attali Join Winston & Strawn's Paris Office, Expanding Firm's Global Labor & Employment Practice

PARIS, Sept. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Winston & Strawn's Paris office announced today that prominent labor and employment attorneys, Philippe Despres and Deborah Attali, have joined the firm as partners.

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Despres and Attali are the latest expansion of Winston's highly regarded global labor and employment practice. Despres' practice concentrates on advising international groups on restructuring operations in France, notably within the scope of site closures, and more generally, of collective redundancy plans, as well as in matters of collective negotiations. He also assists them with their employment-related litigation and day-to-day individual and collective social relations issues.

Attali is especially experienced in advising French and international groups on their day-to-day social relations issues. She counsels them on issues related to compensation and benefits, collective negotiation, and reorganizations. She also assists clients with their individual and collective litigation issues.

Both Despres and Attali advise clients in the packaging, chemical, pharmaceutical, luxury goods, cosmetics, entertainment, metallurgy, and finance industries, among others.

Prior to joining Winston & Strawn, Despres was a partner at Gide Loyrette Nouel. He previously worked at Arthur Andersen International and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. Attali joins Winston as a partner after working 10 years as an associate at Gide Loyrette Nouel.

"Philippe and Deborah bring significant talent, energy, and experience to our Paris practice. Their arrival also allows us to build on and further enhance our global reach and client services," said Rex Sessions, chairman of Winston & Strawn's labor and employment relations department. He added, "Their European experience is a tremendous asset that lends remarkable focus and strength to this practice area."

"We are pleased that Philippe and Deborah have joined our firm," said Vincent Sol, managing partner of Winston & Strawn's Paris office. "They are highly regarded in the market place and their wide range of experience will be a great asset to our clients."

Despres holds a LLM from the University of Pennsylvania. He received a post graduate degree in English and North American business law and a post graduate degree in EU law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne.

Attali holds a B.A. in Legal Studies from the University of Westminster (London). She received a post graduate degree in business law from the University of Paris X Nanterre and a post graduate degree in civil and commercial obligation law from the University of Paris V Descartes.

Winston & Strawn LLP is an international commercial law firm with 15 offices in North America, Asia and Europe. More information about the firm is available at www.winston.com.

SOURCE Winston & Strawn LLP