David Méheut

Full Profile

David is a Managing Partner in the Paris office of Clyde & Co. His experience in insurance law covers in particular coverage, monitoring and defence in matters of directors and officers liability (D&O), political risks, reinsurance, professional liability (lawyers, accountants, brokers, experts, etc.), fine art and species, engineering disputes, new technologies/cyber, data security, fraud, and Warranty & Indemnity insurance. As such, he has acted for or advised on some of the major losses affecting the French market, including the Erika oil spillage, the Libyan revolution, reinsurance of 9/11, the Kerviel fraud, the LIBOR/EURIBOR/FOREX manipulations, the Madoff fraud, the conflict in Ukraine.

He has particular experience in handling cases in African countries operating under OHADA and CIMA rules, principally in relation to onshore and offshore oil and gas projects.

David has also developed an in-depth experience in international arbitration, more particularly ICC arbitration, in which he handles procedures both in French and in English. His commercial arbitration practice goes beyond his main sphere of activity and encompasses commercial litigation such as joint venture and distribution disputes. He generally advises insurers/reinsurers, professionals, financial institutions, industrial groups and energy companies.

David is part of the Clyde & Co’s working group on artificial intelligence and is interested in its impact on civil liability. He also studies climate change related risks, particularly in the context of class actions and ESG reporting.

David is a lecturer of the “Law and management of emerging risks” Master 2 course at Lyon 3 Jean Moulin University. 

He is recognised by Legal 500 as a “leading individual” and is ranked in Chambers Europe and was named "Lawyer of the Year" in Insurance law by Best Lawyers in France™.

David was admitted to the Paris Bar (CAPA) in 2004 after obtaining an LLB in French and English law from King’s College London and La Sorbonne, and a Master of Laws in EU law from the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas. His command of English and his expertise in the legal concepts of civil and common law allow him to be particularly efficient in handling cases where both systems are involved.

Experience

• Advising an insurer on coverage under a Warranty & Indemnity insurance policy 
• Advising legal professionals in relation to a professional liability lawsuit in the context of a large restructuring operation
• Ad hoc arbitration on an aggregation issue in an excess of loss reinsurance
• Adapting of a data security/new technology insurance policy to French law
• Advising on the application of political risk insurance policies following the Arab Spring events
• Several ICC Arbitrations involving ship construction or repair disputes
• ICC Arbitration involving a joint-venture dispute in the United Arab Emirates
• ICC Arbitration involving a dispute regarding the chartering of a mobile oil rig in the Gulf
• ICC Arbitration involving an agreement for the financing of a building project in Dubai
• Dispute relating to the interpretation of a D&O policy covering a listed company
• Defending an insurer following a cyber-attack affecting a French company
• Advising on the drafting of insurance policies (political risks, D&O, Data Security, Contingency etc.)
• Advising on the drafting of commercial agreements under French and English law
• Advising on the defence of law firms the liability of which is triggered in the context of financial transactions
• Analysing of credit risk agreements relating to syndicated loans
• Advising on the carrying out of insurance and brokerage activities in France

Publications

• Les PFAS : un nouvel amiante ? ("PFAS: a new asbestos?"), La Tribune de l'assurance, July 2024
• Changement Climatique : un tournant sur le risque responsabilité ? ("Climate change: a turning point for liability risk?"), Argus de l'Assurance, February 2024
• Notre arsenal juridique est-il suffisant pour faire face aux enjeux de l'IA ? ("Is our legal arsenal sufficient to meet the challenges of AI?", Actu-Juridique, February 2024
• L‘IA peut être source de responsabilité civile professionnelle ("AI can be a source of professional liability"), Décideurs juridiques, September 2023
• Garantie du vol de cryptomonnaie (“Cryptocurrency theft guarantee”, L’ESSENTIEL Droit des assurances, n°09 – 1 October 2022
• La notion d’évènement en réassurance excess of loss (“The Notion of Event in Excess-of-Loss Reinsurance”), Magazine Décideurs, 2012
• Co-author of a chapter on French law in Boilerplate Clauses, International Commercial Contracts and the Applicable law, Cambridge University Press 2011
• Contribution to Time Bar in Insurance and Insurance edited by Clyde & Co, 2011
• Contribution to Underwriter Handbook edited by Clyde & Co, 2011
• Réassurance “Back to back”, retour à l’orthodoxie? (“Back to back” Reinsurance, Back to Orthodoxy?”), Décideurs Juridiques, 2008