Biography
Attorney at law
Former minister
Honorary Member of Parliament
Member for Isère
from 1997 to 2011
Vice-Chairman of the French Delegation to the Council of Europe
from 2020 to 2023
Attorney at law
Former minister
Honorary Member of Parliament
Member for Isère
from 1997 to 2011
Vice-Chairman of the French Delegation to the Council of Europe
from 2020 to 2023
Chairman, Isère Department
from 2001 to 2015
National Secretary of the Socialist Group in charge of Institutions and Justice
from 2003 to 2008
A lawyer by profession, André Vallini was the parliamentary assistant to Gisèle Halimi when she was elected as a Member of Parliament for Isère in 1981.
Elected Mayor of Tullins-Fures, his birthplace, from 1986 to 2001, André Vallini was also regional councillor of Rhône-Alpes from 1986 to 1992.
In 1992, André Vallini became departmental councillor of Isère, a position he still holds due to his re-election in 2021. He also chaired the Department of Isère from 2001 to 2015.
While he was deputy for Isère, André Vallini sat on the Law Commission where he was rapporteur of several laws on justice. He was also chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on the Outreau affair, and the speaker of the Socialist Group on the revisions of the Constitution at the meetings of the Congress of Parliament in Versailles in 2008.
In September 2011, André Vallini was elected for the first time senator of Isère. During his second term as senator, in September 2017, André Vallini sat on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces. Within this committee, André Vallini was rapporteur each year for the budget for cultural and influence diplomacy. He was also responsible for a report on Europe of defence and a report on the suppression of the diplomatic corps.
In 2014, André Vallini joined the Government. He has held three ministerial positions in succession: Secretary of State for Territorial Reform, then Secretary of State for Cooperation, Development and Francophonie, and finally Secretary of State, in charge of Relations with Parliament.
André Vallini was also vice-president of the French delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) from 2020 to 2023 in Strasbourg where he sat as a member of the Senate.
At the Council of Europe, André Vallini sat on the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and on the Commission for the Election of Judges of the European Court of Human Rights. During his term as senator, André Vallini was vice-president of the French section of the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie (APF).
Professor Clay has a leading practice as arbitrator in domestic and international arbitration. He has vast experience as chairman, sole arbitrator or co-arbitrator, in a wide range of sectors, including energy, telecommunications, construction and distribution. He was appointed by the French Republic as arbitrator in the first ICSID arbitration brought against France, and presently sits on several ICSID tribunals. He has also been involved in arbitrations conducted under the aegis of other major arbitration centres, including the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC), the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), the Arbitration Chamber of Milan (CAM), the OHADA Common Court of Justice and Arbitration and the Mediation and Arbitration Centre of Paris (CMAP).
Professor Clay has also developed specific expertise in sports law. He is on the list of arbitrators for the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF).
Professor Clay has deep experience advising and representing States, multinational corporations and private clients in domestic and international arbitrations, with a specific focus on disputes involving energy, telecommunications, construction and distribution.
Professor Clay also has a leading sports practice. He has advised and represented motor sport companies and professional footballers, including the French captain Kylian Mbappé against the football club Paris Saint-Germain.
A leading authority on French arbitration law, Professor Clay is frequently instructed to advise and represent clients in relation to set-aside and enforcement proceedings before the Paris Court of Appeal and the French Court of Cassation.
Professor Clay is a professor agrégé at the Sorbonne Law School (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), where he directs the International Arbitration Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution programme.
Professor Clay has played a leading role in shaping the arbitration landscape in France. He founded Sorbonne Arbitrage, an association which acts as a central hub for the Sorbonne’s arbitration law activities. Before that, he founded the University of Versailles’ Masters Programme Arbitration and Business Law, known as the “MACI”, a genuine talent incubator, which he also directed for twelve years. At the University of Versailles, he also served as Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Law.
Professor Clay has published a dozen books, approximately 180 articles and delivered over 150 lectures, many of them abroad.
For over twenty years, Professor Clay has written the Panorama of Arbitration Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution, published annually in the Recueil Dalloz.
A full list of Professor Clay's publications may be found here.
Professor Thomas Clay has been ranked in the category “Excellent Arbitrator” by Décideurs Magazine every year between 2010 and 2021, and subsequently in the category “Incontournable” (Top Tier) in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 (Rank 1).
He was also ranked “Excellent Lawyer in Arbitration Law” by Décideurs Magazine in 2022, 2023 and 2024, and “Incontournable” (Top Tier) from 2025 onwards. He received the 2011 Trophy for Best Arbitrator, awarded by Décideurs Magazine and the Paris Bar, and was distinguished among the Elite of the 30 Best Lawyers of the Paris Bar in 2020.
He was described by Who’s Who Legal in 2015 as a “high-qualified, reliable and efficient arbitrator”, in 2016 as a “skilful practitioner” with an “intimate understanding of French Arbitration Law”, and in 2021 as “a key figure in the market”, being referred to as “one of the most prominent sole practitioners in France” and “certainly among the very best”. He was ranked by Who’s Who Legal in 2022, 2023 and 2024 as an “Arbitration Thought Leader”.
Professor Clay was ranked by Chambers in 2023 in the category International Arbitration: Arbitrators – France, as well as in the category Most in Demand Arbitrators – Europe. He is described there as “excellent”, “very bright and talented”, “very fair, very proactive and knows the cases well”, and his extensive experience as an arbitrator in Africa is also highlighted.
Press articles
Le Monde
Other publications
Radio and television appearances
Interviews and portraits
Special Adviser to the President (Bâtonnier) and Vice-President (Vice-Bâtonnière) of the Paris Bar (2026–2027)
Member of the Board of Directors of the Paris Bar School (École de Formation du Barreau) (2026–2027)
Vice-President of "Paris, place d'arbitrage"
Member of "Paris, place de droit"
Head and founder of "Sorbonne Arbitrage" (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)
Associate member of the International Chamber of Commerce Institute
Member of the Board of Directors of the French Arbitration Association
Member of the Institute for International Arbitration
Member of the Orientation board of the Club de l'arbitrage
Co-chair of the Italian Arbitration Association in France
Member of the International Association of Procedural Law
Member of the American Association of Private International Law
Member of the academic board of the International Academy of Law and Economics
Expert of the French Institute of International Legal Experts
Member of the Association of Law Teachers
Member of the Institute for Expertise, Arbitration and Mediation
Member of the Advisory Board of the European Court of Arbitration of Versailles
Member of the Advisory Board of the European Court of Arbitration
Member of the Venezuelan Arbitration Committee
Member of the Board of the OHADAC Regional Arbitration Center
Member of the Editorial Board of the Paris Journal of International Arbitration
Member of the "Sorbonne Private and public economic law" research department
Co-director of the "Sorbonne Sport Law" research department
Honorary Director of the University Research Team in International Arbitration Law (University of Versailles)
Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of International Dispute Settlement
Member of the Editorial Board of the Revista brasileira de arbitragem
Member of the Advisory Board of the Journal of Arab Arbitration
Member of the Scientific Board of ohada.com
Member of the Scientific Committee of the International Review of Law and Political Science (Cameroon)
Member of the Editorial Board of Arbitration and Mediation Magazine (Brazil)
Member of the Pedagogical Committee of the International School of Alternative Dispute Resolution.