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LinkedIn Launches in French

Hughes Hubbard represented LinkedIn Corp., the world’s largest professional networking site, in launching LinkedIn in French.

The firm worked closely with LinkedIn’s office of the General Counsel in order to prepare the necessary filings, which had to be submitted to the French Data Protection authorities. In addition, Hughes Hubbard set up a meeting with the French officials in order to present LinkedIn in person to the Data Protection authorities in Paris, and the General Counsel flew in from San Francisco to attend the meeting as well.

The French government approved the launch of the French site in record time — seven days, rather than the two-month period typical for sites that raise privacy issues such as those raised by LinkedIn.

LinkedIn Corp., which has over 30 million members worldwide, launched LinkedIn in French on November 25, 2008, during an opening ceremony in Paris with the Company’s CEO and other officers. The launch was deemed critical to helping the company succeed in France, which is the world’s sixth-largest economy, and where other sites, such as Viadeo, currently have over 2 million members. LinkedIn expects to accelerate its growth in France and other French speaking countries, in line with what the launch of the Spanish language site did for the Company in Spain and in many Latin American countries.

Christopher Mesnooh represented LinkedIn.