M. Firon & Co.

M. Firon & Co. is one of the largest and most respected law firms in Israel. For over 70 years, the firm has been at the top of Israel’s legal profession and was one of the first Israeli firms to operate beyond the country’s borders and become a truly international firm. The firm currently has nine branches in Israel and around the world and a legal team of more than 300 lawyers and legal interns.

The firm’s uniqueness lies in its wide professional versatility, encompassing more than 40 practices in areas of civil and commercial/business law and litigation practices — all under one roof. The firm is thus able to provide its clients comprehensive and professional services, based on the wide professional expertise and perspectives of its departments and teams, together with its emphasis on close personal attention by the Firm’s partners.

From its inception, the firm defined its basic values, to which it remains faithful today. These include professionalism and continuous learning, loyalty, ethics, and discretion, combined with innovation, creativity, and contribution to the community, strategic involvement in the client’s decision-making process, thorough familiarity with the domestic and international business scene, and an overall understanding of the client’s needs — both legal and business.

This unique combination allowed the firm to cultivate connections over decades with many of its clients while, at the same time, developing a rapid and thorough understanding of the legal needs and business activities of new clients. The firm’s clients include some of the most dynamic and best-known Israeli and international business people and companies, including government ministries and entities, industrial companies, multinational companies, and leading public and private companies in their respective fields. The firm’s clients operate in all areas of industry and commerce, including technology and high-tech, insurance, infrastructure, defense industries, real estate, tourism, banking and finance, trade, venture capital funds and investment, energy, pharmaceuticals, and medicine, communications and media, and more.

Over the past seven decades, during which M. Firon & Co. has developed and grown together with the Israeli economy, the firm has gained diverse skills and experience across the full range of commercial / business legal and litigation areas. The pride of the firm is its lawyers. The firm’s success is the direct result of the quality and uncompromising professionalism of the legal team, which includes some of the best lawyers in Israel. This eminent team, which balances its constant desire to learn, set precedents, and break new ground with the traditional conservatism of the profession and its values, has made its mark, over seven decades, in all areas of Israeli law.

M. Firon & Co. provides legal consultancy in more than 40 areas of law under one roof, including Real Estate * Infrastructure and Project Financing * Litigation and Dispute Resolution * Capital market and securities * Mergers and Acquisitions * International Corporate & Commercial * Class Actions Litigation * Energy * High-tech and Startups * Intellectual Property * Urban Renewal * antitrust and Competition * Labor law, and more.

The firm’s impressive capabilities are regularly acknowledged by the most prestigious Israeli and international legal guides, including BDI, Dun’s 100, IFLR 1000, Legal 500, Chambers Global, and GCR. In this way, the firm gains consistent recognition, year after year, for its quality endeavors and excellence in its diverse areas of practice. In addition, many of the firm’s partners are personally ranked as leaders in their fields, reflecting the firm’s permanent position in the top tier of law firms for more than 70 years.

Main Areas of Practice

Commercial Litigation

M. Firon & Co. represents corporations and individuals in Israel and overseas, before all legal in-stances and in arbitrations (including international
arbitrations) and mediation proceedings, in a variety of complex business disputes. The firm expertise covers all aspects of commercial litiga-tion, including unique experience in project and infrastructure litigation, being a pioneer in these areas.

Real Estate, Infrastructures and Project Finance

M. Firon & Co. has handled some of the largest and most complex real estate projects in the Israe-li construction industry for leading residential and commercial real estate companies and for pri-vate entities promoting real estate projects. For many years, the firm has been involved in projects dealing with the construction of hospitals, hotels, industrial plants, roads, bridges, ports, tunnels, gas pipelines (marine and terrestrial), desalination plants, residential developments and offices and commercial centers across the country and worldwide.

Capital Markets

M. Firon & Co. provides support, counsel and legal representation on all the legal aspects associ-ated with capital markets, to public companies, corporations, trust funds, pension funds, compa-nies listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and other organizations in the financial sector. The firm has handled some of the largest IPOs in Israel in recent years.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is a core practice of M. Firon & Co. The firm’s attorneys have decades of cumulative experience in advising on multibillion-shekel M&A deals, some of which have made international headlines and are considered milestones in the Israeli economy. It is this proven track-record that positions the firm at the forefront of M&A in Israel, enabling it to manage complex transactions at every scale anywhere in the world.

Commercial Law

M. Firon & Co. aspires to provide its clients with a complete solution to all their commercial legal needs. The firm matches up to a professional team with experience that is relevant to each cli-ent’s business to provide perfect support for their day-to-day operations with specialist back-up support (for example for M&A, real estate, intellectual property, antitrust, etc.).

International Activity

M. Firon & Co. handles extensive international activities for Israeli and foreign clients alike. The firm represents multinational corporations, investors, funds and hi-tech companies. The firm has vast experience in negotiating complex transactions in the US, all over Europe, in the Far East, in South America and in certain African countries and is uniquely qualified to handle transactions in Eastern Europe. M. Firon & Co. has branches in Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece.

Infrastructures and Project Finance

At any given moment, M. Firon & Co. advises on national infrastructure projects of critical im-portance to the economy, some of which amount to billions of shekels. The firm is known for rep-resenting large corporations and conglomerates, as well as major contractor groups, in BOT, PFI and PPP tenders, and in large projects in which the public and private sectors join forces and share the risks between them.

Energy

Over the years, the firm has advised on ground-breaking multi-billion-dollar projects locally and internationally. The firm has handled a wide range of projects, such as in the areas of water, oil, gas, renewable energy and wind energy (including the first power station to be constructed in Is-rael by the private sector fueled by natural gas and diesel oil, the multi-billion dollar gas supply agreements for the Egyptian natural gas pipeline to Israel and the consequent multi-billion dollar international arbitration proceedings).

Hi-Tech and Start-Ups

M.Firon & Co. has a strong and well-regarded hi-tech and start-ups practice. The firm specializes in advising technology companies in every industry and sphere, from innovative start-ups to some of the world’s most influential multinationals. The firm’s attorneys boast many years of experience in the Israeli and global technology market and are proud of their contribution to some of the most prominent transactions in the industry in recent years, which have reverberated in Israel and overseas.

Antitrust and Competition

Antitrust and Competition is one of the most prominent and developing fields in the legal world, with an ever-growing impact on commercial life. M. Firon & Co. has extensive experience and a proven track record in representing leading Israeli and foreign companies in complex transactions and commercial agreements, such as mergers and acquisitions and collaborations with competi-tors. The firm’s antitrust team is fully committed to ensuring its clients have the maximum freedom to operate within the framework of the different antitrust legal requirements.

Class Actions Litigation

M.Firon & Co. is one of Israel’s leading law firms in the area of class actions Litigation. For over 20 years, the firm’s attorneys have been handling large-scale class actions against some of Israel’s largest companies - since the field’s modern-day inception in Israel and even more so since the enactment of the Class Action Law. The firm has accumulated vast experience from countless class action suits totaling in billions of shekels.

International Arbitration

M.Firon is one of Israel’s leading international arbitration firms. It has unparalleled experience and expertise in the handling of multi-billion-dollar arbitrations in multiple seats and venues, admin-istered by various arbitration institutions. The firm’s partners who hold important positions at such institutions are often appointed as arbitrators.

Blockchain and Smart Contracts

At any given moment, M. Firon & Co. advises on national infrastructure projects of critical im-portance to the economy, some of which amount to billions of shekels. The firm is known for rep-resenting large corporations and conglomerates, as well as major contractor groups, in BOT, PFI and PPP tenders, and in large projects in which the public and private sectors join forces and share the risks between them.

Blockchain, ICOs and Smart Contracts Ever committed to innovation, the firm is positioned at the forefront of legal practice when it comes to blockchain technology, ICOs, and smart-contracts. To further establish its leadership position, the firm formed multiple collaboration initiatives with leading international law firms and service providers, thus allowing it to offer to Israeli client’s comprehensive solution in every jurisdiction.

Labor Law

M.Firon & Co. has extensive experience in labor law. As one of the largest law firms in Israel, M. Firon & Co. advises Israel’s Tier-1 businesses on complex labor and collective bargaining issues, which require rich and diverse experience in this field. On one hand, the firm takes pride in offer-ing practical advice in helping to resolve crises without resorting to litigation, whilst, on the other hand, the firm works on hundreds of labor law cases at any given moment and represents com-panies with tens of thousands of employees in Israel.

Intellectual Property

M.Firon & Co. has one of the top and most highly regarded intellectual property practices in the country. The firm’s attorneys are renowned experts on intellectual property issues and are partic-ularly esteemed for their contribution to establishing the field in Israel in recent decades. The firm specializes in all aspects of modern intellectual property, representing its clients both in Israel and overseas. The firm’s services cover the full range of intellectual property, including the pros-ecution of patents, designs and trademarks, litigation and enforcement of intellectual property rights, and commercialization of intellectual property rights.

Administrative Law, Tenders and Regulation

M.Firon & Co. is vastly experienced in representing leading companies in their interactions with administrative authorities and government entities, with expertise in the fields of planning, con-struction, and real estate. The firm is involved in the most important petitions brought before the administrative and supreme courts on a wide range of administrative and public issues.

Insolvency & Restructuring

M.Firon & Co. is one of the most active Israeli firms in the areas of Insolvency & Restructuring. The firm’s attorneys have decades of accumulated experience in the field, during which time they have served both as receivers for some of the country’s largest corporations (mostly publicly traded companies), and as the representatives of creditors (including Israeli and foreign financial institutions and bondholders). The firm’s attorneys handle some of the best-known and most complex insolvency cases in Israel at any given moment, sometimes involving hundreds of mil-lions of shekels.

Insurance

M.Firon & Co. provides a wide range of legal services in the insurance sector to insurance compa-nies and the main insurance organizations in Israel. In addition, the firm represents its clients be-fore the Insurance Commissioner and governmental institutions in cases of fundamental im-portance to the insurance industry and represents the insurance sector before the Knesset in matters relating to legislative proceedings.

Other Branches

Romania
Bucharest: Union International Business Center, 11 Ion Campineanu Street, Bucharest, 010031
Tel: +40-21-3123388 Fax: +40-21-3124686
Email: [email protected]

Bulgaria
Sofia: 6 Nikolay V. Gogol Street, 1124 Sofia, Bulgaria
Tel: +359-2-401-9160 Fax: +359-2-401-9170
Email: [email protected]

Serbia
Borozan & Winterfeldt - Law Office
Dragoslava Jovanovi’a 13/III
11000 Belgrade, Republic of Serbia
Tel: +381 11 33 42 491, 32 35 275
Mobile: +381 63 80 17 317
Email: [email protected]

Greece
Machas and Partners Law Firm
12 Neofytou Douka str., Kolonaki 106 74, Athens, Greece
Tel: +30 210 7211100 Fax: +30 210 7254750
Email: [email protected]
www.machas-partners.com