Clifford Chance (CC) has appealed directly to the French Minister of Employment – Jean-Louis Borloo – as its long-running battle to dismiss a local associate and union representative escalates to government level.

As Legal Week went to press, the UK firm’s French managing partner, Yves Wehrli, was scheduled to meet with senior officials at the Ministry of Employment yesterday (27 July) in the latest round of the acrimonious dispute with lawyer Avi Bitton.