Hervé Le Lay
“He is very pragmatic and understands well the needs of his clients”, “He adapts to different cultures very easily, he would be go to lawyer for multidisciplinary disputes”, “His advice is always comprehensive and easy to understand” “He is an outstanding arbitration practitioner with a focus on sports law“,
“He adapts to different cultures very easily, he would be go to lawyer for multidisciplinary disputes“,
“His advice is always comprehensive and easy to understand“
WWL- Arbitration 2022
“Strategic mind”,
“Experienced and well-versed arbitration practitioner”
“Excellent expertise in sports arbitration.”
WWL- Arbitration 2021
“Hervé Le Lay stands out among peers for his rapid grasp of both legal issues and commercial priorities of a case.”
WWL- Arbitration 2019
“Peers ‘would definitely recommend’ Hervé Le Lay for his outstanding expertise when it comes to energy and infrastructure disputes”
WWL- Arbitration 2018
“A pleasure to work with, always available, credible, knowledgeable”
Legal 500 -Arbitration 2021
“Hervé Le Lay is a very sharp lawyer and a strategic thinker who understands the differences and complexities in different jurisdictions and can easily adapt himself and the case strategy to any hurdles”
Legal 500 -Arbitration 2018
Hervé Le Lay is a partner of MCL Arbitration.
He is an attorney at the Paris bar, acting both as counsel and arbitrator in international disputes.
A seasoned commercial disputes practitioner, Hervé has been involved in numerous arbitrations under the rules of major arbitration institutions (ICC, LCIA, SCC, UNCITRAL, etc.), in disputes relating to a broad spectrum of industries and areas (construction, post-M&A, shareholders and JV disputes, media, energy, international sales, product liability, agency, insurance-reinsurance, mining, etc.) under a variety of applicable laws and seats of arbitration.
He regularly sits as arbitrator and is notably a member of the ICC’s French Committee list of arbitrators, and of the panels of arbitrators of the CAS, KCBA International, AIAC and BVI IAC.
He also litigates before French national courts in commercial and civil disputes, judicial expert proceedings and enforcement proceedings.
Hervé Le Lay is an experienced sport-related disputes specialist. He is an arbitrator of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (General list and Football list) and has been involved in some 40 CAS arbitrations as presiding arbitrator, sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator or ad hoc clerk. He has experience with a broad spectrum of sport related matters, both commercial (TV rights, licensing, M&A, agent contracts, transfer agreements, sponsoring contracts, etc.) and regulatory/disciplinary (anti-doping, transfer of players, elections in federations, football specific regulations, etc.), before sport adjudication bodies as well as non-specialized forums such as the ICC and French courts.
Hervé is fluent in English, French and Spanish and has a basic knowledge of Portuguese. A French national, he has lived in Brazil, Panama, Turkey, Canada, Switzerland and Belgium.
Hervé is a graduate of the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and Université Paris Ouest. In addition to his practice, Hervé is a lecturer on International Arbitration in the Economic Law DESU program of Aix-Marseille University.
Prior to joining MCL Arbitration, he was a partner at US firm. Brown Rudnick LLP.
He is regularly listed and recommended in international rankings (Legal 500, Who’s Who Legal, Best Lawyers).
Information to be available soon
Schooner: Una ampliación indeseable del control de la competencia arbitral, (w/ A. Mourre), Spain Arbitration Review/Revista del Club Español del Arbitraje, N.°47/2023
Interview of Maître Hervé Le Lay, Jurisportiva.fr, (March 2021).
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Rappels et précisions sur le contradictoire, le mécanisme de la déduction défavorable et sur le recours à l’équité en matière d’évaluation du préjudice (note sous Cour d’Appel de Paris, Pôle 5/Ch. 16, 1er déc. 2020), Revue de l’Arbitrage – Comité Français de l’Arbitrage,2021- N° 1
Interview on UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules and CAS, So Foot, Nov. 2018:
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Contributor, Investing Across Borders Guide, The World Bank, 2010 and 2012 editions
Arbitrages ordinaires pouvant être soumis au Tribunal Arbitral du Sport, (w/ W. Sternheimer), TAS/CAS Bulletin, No. 1, 2012:
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“From contracts to arbitration: new challenges of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) in the International Business Environment”, Paris Session of the China Arbitration Week 2023, China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), September 2023.
“Sports Arbitration”, Thought leadership session, BVI IAC / Paris Arbitration Week, Paris, March 2022
“Player’s Contracts: Topical Litigious Issues in View of CAS Case Law”, BİLGİ University Sports Law Disputes in Turkey and Europe Webinar, Istanbul, November 2021
” Fight Club: Concurrent delays in construction projects”, AIJA Construction Disputes Conference, Vienna, October 2021
“Execution of Monetary Decisions”, The Morgan Sports Law Football Conference, June 2021
Moderator, “Dealing with cultural and practice differences between counsels”, Paris Arbitration Week, April 2019
“Is Sports Arbitration in Turmoil Following the Seraing, Mutu & Peichtein Rulings?”, AIJA Sports Law Conference, Paris, December 2018
“Is There a Viable Alternative to Arbitration to Improve Justice in Sport?”, AIJA Sports Law Conference, Paris, December 2018
“Gender equality in international dispute resolution”, ICC Istanbul Arbitration Day, February 2018
“Res Judicata – Parallel Proceedings and Contradictory Awards”, AIJA Conference, Stockholm, June 2017
“Third party financing in international arbitration”, ICC YAF Conference, Istanbul, May 2017
“The future of sport arbitration and on the intervention by state courts in different countries into sport”, AIJA Conference, Lausanne, April 2017
Chair, Roundtable on International Arbitration, The Law Firm Network Global Meeting, Singapore, June 2016
“Arbitration of commercial sports-related disputes at the CAS”, The Law Firm Network Regional Meeting, Zurich, October 2014
“Legal review of federation’s decisions through the Court of Arbitration for Sports – Jurisprudence and latest development”, AIJA Sports Law Seminar, Dublin, October 2014
