WHO WE ARE
Standing by one’s advice
What’s in a name by Hervé Duval, SC - Barrister - Managing Director
“As a Judge of the Supreme Court, Robert Ahnee, CSK, personified rigour. He left the bench in circumstances that made him an icon of judicial independence. As a legal consultant, he became the guru of the rare CEO’s who could stomach advice without sugar-coating, and who were prepared to hear whatever needed to be said. He was revered as the personal St Vincent de Paul of those who, without him, would have ended up being crushed by the legal system, or worse, ignored altogether. Robert’s wish to associate his name to the firm after he decided to wind down his consultancy practice was his way of delivering a seal of approval. I shall be eternally grateful for the esteem of the most learned of my friends.”
Robert Ahnee, CSK (25 August 1936 – 07 July 2014)
Living up to a legacy
Ahnee-Duval, Law Firm was incorporated in November 2010 to take over the practice of Hervé Duval, SC, as sole practitioner.
Executive Associates Didier Dodin and Nicolas Henry joined the Firm at its inception. Since then, the Firm’s practice has grown and evolved as the team focused on the needs of our first corporate clients and their executives willing to change their mindset about legal services: From curative to preventive.
There are currently six barristers at the Firm. Their wide-ranging legal backgrounds encompass the major systems from where our legislation is inspired (England, France and Australia). This allows the Firm to offer quality services and interventions in many other areas of our mixed legal system.
Ahnee-Duval, Law Firm helps its clients anticipate legal issues as well as assess and minimise legal risks. Above all, the team prides itself on the fact that its clients have the assurance that their lawyers are able and willing to stand in open court behind any advice they tender in boardrooms.
The team deals on a daily basis with a wide range of corporate structures ranging from listed companies to one-person private companies. Time is invested in constructing a trust-based relationship not only with the controlling executives of an organisation but also with those on the front line of an avowed endeavour. Ahnee-Duval, Law Firm aims to be a one-stop shop for the legal needs of an enterprise as a whole, irrespective of its size.
As a consequence, the Firm’s principal areas of practice reflect the main challenges of its corporate clients: Corporate Law; Commercial Law; Employment Law; Administrative Law; Data Protection & Cybersecurity and Tax Law.
The Firm has also been involved in complex cases before the Family Division of the Supreme Court of Mauritius. This is a direct consequence of the depth of personal relationships that the members of our legal team have developed with the executives and management of our corporate clients.
Ahnee-Duval, Law Firm has been closely associated with the promotion of Mauritius as a centre for international arbitration. On the occasion of the 23rd International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) Congress Mauritius in May 2016, the first to be held in Africa, Hervé Duval SC’s article, ‘Mauritius’ Domestic Arbitration Sector – A Further Source of Comfort for Stakeholders of International Arbitration’ was published in the Congress Programme. Ahnee-Duval, Law Firm became the first Mauritian firm to sign a memorandum of understanding with the China Law Society to promote international arbitration with China-Africa characteristics.