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You would expect that after the largest financial crisis in recent memory that more companies across Europe would have been forced into insolvency proceedings. On the contrary the crisis has if anything hardened corporates to this possibility and has led to the evolution of various procedures across the continent to try to prevent such an occurrence.

Most of these have born out of the concept of reaching an 'agreement among creditors' over a company's indebtedness to stave off the risk of more drastic measures. Loosely based on US Chapter 11 proceedings, the French sauvegarde is proving to be a useful tool for restructuring and insolvency practitioners. "The law is trying to improve prevention procedure instead of insolvency and liquidation procedure," says one lawyer. "The law is [there] to convince people that when they have some difficulties, to try to solve the problems before the insolvency procedure."

The most recent developments have been an attempt to increase the speed of proceedings, partly due to the volume that needs to be dealt with, but more importantly to get companies back to operational levels as quickly as possible by removing the threat of further proceedings.

"The idea behind the new proceeding is that you just open a very quick procedure for one month and it's designed to push through the restructuring agreement agreed upon by a large majority of creditors," explains another partner.

While most are in favour of keeping proceedings out of the courts, one partner points out that the commencement of such proceedings is not in everyone's interest. "It's a good procedure in order to obtain a restructuring plan, but it's not good news for creditors, because they can be obliged to agree some delay for their payment," he explains. "So it's good news for the company, but it's not good news for banks. Now it's more and more difficult to get loans, for example, because the banks are afraid of such proceedings."

However, as another lawyer points out, in the wider scheme of things, having a healthy and operational client base is still preferable, even with some potential losses, to having a row of dead ducks. "It's not so bad for the banks, because sometimes it's better to agree with this account instead of losing all your claims under liquidation proceedings," another agrees: "I think we can say that with less insolvency or liquidation procedures, the companies are in more of a good situation so the economy is better."

Another development has been the continuing success of the fiducie (law trust). Introduced in 2008, the procedure is beginning to gain traction in the market and providing a steady pipeline of mandates for firms. Essentially the procedure allows creditors and debtors to set up a new holding body, separate from the main indebted company, which can hold assets which will be used to pay off the company's debt, with any subsequent profit returning to the debtor. "The second thing that is very interesting is that we've been using very much the new trust law in France," says one partner. "Banks wanted to make sure that the money is not diverted and is used for the purpose which has been agreed upon and therefore trustees have been appointed in order to make sure that the cash flow is managed correctly by the borrowers."

Partner Olivier Puech is the key figure involved in most of the restructuring and insolvency transactions at Gide Loyrette Nouel. One mandate closed in September 2010 saw him advise Giraud International, a transport and logistics company, in relation to the takeover bid by Group Geodis; and also Giraud's conciliation proceeding in negotiating with its creditors due to the financial difficulties the company face.

Another highlight worth €300 million saw Puech involved again advising Raiffeisen, the security agent of the drinks group Belvédère's bondholders and bank, in assisting a creditor in relation to its challenge to the claims proceeding concerning the insolvency of the debtor. The decision of the Court of Appeal of Dijon in September 21 2010 approved Raiffeisen's claim regarding Belvédère's liabilities.

An ongoing mandate saw the firm act for Johnson Controls Holding on its takeover of the automotive supplier Johnson Controls Conflan, the holding company's former subsidiary specialising in plastic injection. The Commercial Court adopted the plan de cession (disposal plan) on January 12 2010; the Gide team assisted the bidder in relation to the plan of a company subject to an insolvency proceeding.

One notable departure at the firm in September 2010 saw partner Sylvain Beaumont, join Fasken Martineau DuMoulin's Paris office. He has a strong practice in insolvency and restructuring law.

One standout transaction saw partners Jacques Henrot and Philippe Dubois lead the team representing a consortium of banks, including BNPP, SG, Calyon, Natixis, CIC, and Fortis, on the €3 billion debt restructuring of the steering committee of CMA CGM.

Partner Henrot came in for personal praise, "Jacques Henrot is an excellent lawyer, and I've been working with him in several cases, so they're very present in major files, they're very very competent people."

Linklaters' Paris team, headed by partner Aymar de Mauléon, advised the body of bondholders in relation to the €500 million restructuring of the Technicolor group. The transaction, rendered by the court decision in March 2011, challenged the limitation of bondholders' voting rights for the approval of the sauvegarde (safeguard) plan.

Another multi-jurisdictional mandate closed in May 2011 saw restructuring partner Cécile Dupoux work alongside banking partner Nathalie Hobbs advising the senior lenders on an LBO restructuring concerning various groups of creditors. The deal was valued at €400 million.

An ongoing transaction dating back to 2009 saw Mauléon and Dupoux work together advising the French printing group Circle Printers on its global restructuring. The industrial reorganisation involves several companies and the deal involves labour law issues.

Partner Maurice Lantourne has been involved in most of the key deals since last May, and he is a recognised expert in restructurings of financially troubled companies. One rival says: "He's the leading partner at the firm."

One of the notable transactions saw him lead the team advising CMA CGM in the restructuring of its financial indebtedness and the entry of a new investor Turkish Yildirim Group. The $5 billion debt transaction was closed in a politically sensitive environment in April this year.

Another highlight again involved Lantourne, who teamed up with Paul Lombard, a newly recruited special European counsel from Allen & Overy, in advising Groupe Partouche on its debt restructuring negotiations, and the entry of Butler Capital into its share capital. The mandate was worth €430 million.

Last year's debt restructuring work saw partner Alexandra Bigot work together with Lantourne, representing Oaktree in its €590 million takeover of SGD. It is considered to be the first loan-to-own deal in France. "She's a leading partner and very competent," says one rival.

Again Bigot teamed up with Lantourne to advise Wendel and Deutsch Connectors in a financial restructuring, which used the combined approach of potential US Chapter 11 and sauvegarde (safeguard) proceedings. The deal was valued at €510 million.

The Paris team from Clifford Chance in the restructuring & insolvency practice area has grabbed clients' attention. One says: "Their technical ability is outstanding, he's very knowledgeable in this law field, and has outstanding performance."

One notable insolvency mandate last year saw partner Reinhard Dammann advising Maître Helene Bourbouloux in her capacity as insolvency administrator of Thomson, now called Technicolor, in the framework of its "pre-packed" safeguard proceedings. The transaction involved a €2.8 billion debt restructuring and it is believed to be the first court decision regarding the treatment of deeply subordinated creditors in the framework of safeguard proceedings.

Another ongoing mandate, worth €2 billion, saw Dammann involved acting for Maître Stephane Gorrias in his capacity as insolvency officer of "Heart La Défense" in a cross-border safeguard proceedings. Elsewhere Dammann closed a deal for Klenk Holz France when he advised the company and its German shareholders Klenk Holz in connection with the insolvency of Klenk Holz group.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer was involved in the restructuring of Thomson/ Technicolor when a Paris team advising the bank steering committee and senior creditors on the group's restructuring process. It is believed to be the first restructuring in continental Europe in which credit default swaps have played a major role.

Another highlight saw partner Alan Mason advised Descamps and its parent company Vincenzo Zucchi in the reorganisation proceedings of Descamps. The proceedings consisted of setting up of a continuation plan of Descamps through a change of control while several competitors of Descamps had made alternative plans de cession (sale plan offers) before the court.

Partner Jean-Luc Michaud was also called in when the firm advised a stakeholder in relation to the restructuring of Heart of la Défense. It is thought to be the first major CMBS in France which has been restructured using sauvegarde.

Leading the restructuring and insolvency team at Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson is David Chijner. One highlight saw him act for Richmond Park Capital on its restructuring done through French insolvency proceedings as well as its acquisition of Olympia Capital.

Chijner was again involved in another notable mandate when he advised the Bank of New York Mellon in relation to the safeguard procedure of French based liquor company Belvedere.