THE FIRM
Prior to being admitted as an advocate, and after he had received his Masters II degree in shipping law from the Faculty of Law and Political Science at Aix-Marseilles University, Thomas MOLINS commenced his professional career as an in-house shipping lawyer at TOTAL within the "Transport West Africa - Latin America" department and acquired both practical and legal experience in all aspects of shipping (shipowners, charterers, charter parties, demurrage, negotiations, etc). After working at a Paris law firm for 10 years, as an advocate admitted to the bar of Paris, he founded his own law firm in Lille in 2014, which in January 2019 was renamed MOLINS AVOCATS. insurers, French and foreign companies and banking institutions especially in the following areas: shipping law, international commercial law, industrial risks and property and banking disputes. It advises and represents its French and foreign clients before the civil, commercial,criminal and administrative courts as well as within the framework of negotiations and in informal as well as court appointed expert's investigations. The firm can rely on the support on a skilled network of competent firms located not only in France but also abroad and is capable of working both in French and English.
EXPERTISE
Shipping and Customs law
The firm MOLINS AVOCATS has experience in land, maritime, air, river and rail transportation as well as logistics and customs law representing clients who include carriers, shippers and consignees, importers and exporters and their respective insurers. It also has experience advising and defending the businesses that act as middlemen in the logistics chain, i.e. shipping and customs agents, forwarding agents, handlers, bonded warehouses and all types of other participants. It is in a position to implement any of the specific procedures needed to defend their interests (such as expert's investigations, direct claims against a carrier, enforcement of liens and retention rights and enforcement of court orders, including seizures). Furthermore it has experience in events such as spills, collisions and accidents related to the shipping business, as well as contraventions of the highway code, traffic violations and breaches of haulage and business regulations. Finally, the firm has experience in defending businesses, including both importers and exporters, in their relations with the customs services and other administrative departments.
International business and commercial law
The firm MOLINS AVOCATS has experience advising, supporting and defending companies in their day-to-day business operations such as drafting of contracts (commercial contracts,leases, assignments) and commercial disputes both in general and as a consequence of the termination of a commercial relationship. With respect to insurance law it has experience of all aspects of liability related to a company's business and its provision of services, as well as under negotiable instruments (documentary credits). It has also assisted its clients within the framework of insolvency procedures that have affected their business partners (support, advocacy, declaration of claims, secured claims,right of retention and “actions en comblement de passif” (to make good liabilities)).
Collection and enforcement
The firm MOLINS AVOCATS also has experience representing its clients with respect to collecting debts from, and enforcing both French and foreign judgements against recalcitrant debtors, whether businesses or individuals, and instigating the appropriate procedures (demands for payment, petitioning the courts for a provision, filing petitions, serving statutory demands for insolvency administration and/or liquidation). Depending upon the situation, it may be in a position to negotiate with the debtors and establish a settlement agreement with a timetable for repayment. It secures claims upstream through preventive seizures of bank accounts, goods and assets, and by instigating measures to obtain a security interest or a charge (judicial liens, pledges, rights of retention). Finally, it can proceed with all types of enforcement measures with respect to an enforceable judgement including seizures of personal and real property, seizures of bank accounts and garnishment of wages, seizures of successive instalment receipts.
NEWS
FEES
- The firm MOLINS AVOCATS believes in practising transparency in billing and always ensures that the method of calculation has been agreed with the client from the initial contact.
Three possible billing mechanisms are available:
- Application of an hourly fee: An estimate of the time expected to be incurred is furnished at the beginning of the matter and then updated as the matter progresses in the event the original estimate is exceeded.
- Application of a lump sum fee: A lump sum fee can be applied to certain specific types of representation or certain types of ad hoc interventions (consultation, formal notice).
- Application of a lump sum fee with a success fee: The amount of the lump sum fee and the percentage for the success fee (on the sumscollected or saved) are agreed with the client.
The client remains liable for application fees (expenses for process servers, for translations,for court-appointed experts, for filing fees, for stamp duties, etc.).