Sylvie Gallage-Alwis

After 10 years practicing in a major international law firm, Sylvie Gallage-Alwis became one of the founding partners of the Paris office of Signature Litigation in January 2019. Since then, Signature Litigation has been the first cross-channel dispute resolution only firm, providing assistance in handling major and complex litigation, arbitration and regulatory investigations.

Sylvie heads the firm’s product liability practice. She specialises in all cutting-edge complex disputes linked to products, namely product liability, product safety, toxic tort, mass litigation/class actions, regulatory compliance, and the environment. She is involved in the most innovative pending legal topics for her clients, such as defending them against claims filed on the ground of planned obsolescence or deceit towards consumers. She is involved in the dieselgate litigation as well as in brand new climate change litigation, and the first claim filed against a manufacturer on the ground of the anxiety of developing a disease linked to the substances included in the product. In this scope, she is used to handle claims filed by NGOs, consumers’ associations and to negotiate with the market surveillance authorities.

Sylvie is both an Avocat à la Cour in France and a Solicitor in England & Wales. She has been described by Who’s Who Legal over the years as a “dynamic and determined litigator”, who is “a firm favourite among clients” as “she always goes the extra mile to support her clients, and is proactive in seeking commercial solutions to disputes”. She is listed as a Thought Leader in Product Liability by Who’s Who Legal 2021, being described as a “star in the international world” and a “well-connected expert”. He is the only Next Generation Partner for Product Liability listed by The Legal 500 for France and she has been recognized for more than 5 years for her expertise by LMG Euromoney Europe, winning the 2019 Women in Business Law Award.

Sylvie also focuses her practice on general commercial litigation for her clients which are mainly international or non-French manufacturers facing litigation in France. She is also well-known for her expertise in Toxic Tort/Mass Litigation. As such, she has been involved in most pro-company case law rendered in recent years, notably in asbestos-related cases, with some cases mentioned in the French Civil and Social Security Codes because of the significant reversal in case law they represent.

Sylvie is an active member of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC), the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys (ADTA) and the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO).