Biography
Pauline Traullé is an Associate in Signature Litigation’s Paris office, where she specialises in commercial litigation, with experience across a wide range of commercial and civil law matters, both at the pre-litigation and litigation stages. She focuses primarily on complex commercial disputes and regularly represents international corporations.
She advises both companies and individuals on a broad range of contractual and commercial matters, bringing a sophisticated understanding of complex business disputes to her expertise.
Her practice covers all areas of civil and commercial litigation, with particular focus on contract law, termination of established commercial relationships, unfair competition, financial markets litigation, shareholder and post-acquisition disputes, corporate governance, and M&A-related matters.
Before joining Signature Litigation, Pauline gained valuable experience at several leading French and international law firms in Paris, such as Bredin Prat, Orrick and Herbert Smith Freehills, where she developed her expertise in civil and commercial litigation. She also worked in the investment fund sector at Capza.
Her training across different professional environments has equipped her with a well-rounded perspective on dispute resolution. She began her career at Henriot & Associés, where she worked in commercial and civil litigation as part of the former team of the American law firm Cohen & Gresser LLP.
Pauline has a strong academic background in both law and finance. She graduated from the Programme Grande École at HEC Paris (main cursus, Master in Management) and holds a Master’s degree in Business Law and Taxation (Droit des affaires et fiscalité) from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University.
Her graduate thesis examined ‘The Theory of Revision for Unforeseeability Applied to Share Purchase Agreements‘ (La théorie de la révision pour imprévision appliquée au contrat de cession de droits sociaux).
She was called to the Paris Bar in January 2025. Pauline is a native French speaker and a fluent English speaker. She is currently learning Spanish and Mandarin.
Experience
- Representing a leading US chemical manufacturer in a personal injury claim commenced in the French courts by an individual against a number of chemical manufacturers in relation to the supply of Agent Orange, a herbicide and a defoliant, used by the US Army in the Vietnam War to destroy vegetation for the protection of US troops. The case concerns notably the application of a sovereign immunity principle to commercial entities when acting on State’s instructions. The case reached the Court of Cassation, the highest Court in France for civil matters.
- Representing a European utility company in claims initiated by an electromagnetic health and environment-focused organisation and, separately, by individuals in relation to alleged health and environmental risks posed by smart utility meters, as well as in relation to consumer protection issues under the company’s General Terms & Conditions.
- Representing Dalloz, LexisNexis, Lextenso, Lexbase and LamyLiaisons, the five main legal editors in the French legal publishing market, in unfair competition proceedings before the Paris Court of Appeal against Forseti, the company behind the Doctrine.fr website.
- Representing one of the leading legal publishers in the French legal publishing market in infringement proceedings against the development of an AI solution designed to extract content from these databases.
- Representing top five Lebanese banks in multiple significant cases arising in the context of the Lebanese financial crisis and concerning regulatory restrictions on clients’ withdrawal of foreign currency deposits. The cases included defending the banks against interim attachment applications made by the banks’ clients in France.
- Representing a major French electricity distribution company in appeal proceedings concerning the alleged abrupt termination of a long-standing commercial relationship relating to the supply of protection and digital control systems, in the context of successive competitive procurement procedures. The claimant is seeking nearly EUR 29m in damages, including compensation for alleged lost profits and unamortised R&D costs.
- Representing corporate entities in complex cross-border proceedings concerning French real estate assets that were criminally seized and subject to a failed share sale, raising civil and criminal law issues as to the enforceability and continuing effect of those measures. The claims against the clients have a total value exceeding EUR 12m.