Experience

• Representing former French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the high-profile Bygmalion case concerning his 2012 presidential re-election campaign.
• Representing Thierry Herzog Esq. in the high-profile Bismuth case against allegations of bribery and breach of professional secrecy.
• Securing the refusal by French courts to enforce foreign forfeiture orders amounting to about EUR 100m.
• Representing the French subsidiary of a multinational technology company in criminal proceedings concerning allegations of planned obsolescence and misleading commercial practices relating to consumer products. The allegations include deliberately reducing product lifespan and failing adequately to disclose technical limitations affecting consumers’ use of certain products.
• Securing the acquittal of a high-profile individual investigated by the French National Financial Prosecutor’s Office for alleged passive bribery involving a foreign public official.
• Representing several senior banking professionals in an ongoing investigation by the French National Financial Prosecutor’s Office into aggravated laundering of the proceeds of aggravated tax fraud in connection with alleged CumCum operations.
• Securing the dismissal of the charges against an elected official and local organisations in a high-profile case following an accidental death that occurred during a public event.
• Representing an individual in complex civil and criminal litigations concerning ownership and possession of hundreds of artworks, acquired through gifts, compensation and inheritance. The client was charged in France with breach of trust and money laundering, while related proceedings are also ongoing overseas concerning the enforcement of a French request for international mutual legal assistance.
• Representing an individual and a number of companies in connection with a long-running French criminal investigation into alleged money laundering, which opened in 2014 and involving various criminal asset seizures in France for about EUR 100m.
• Representing the manager of a French company in a wide-ranging investigation into alleged aggravated money laundering spanning numerous jurisdictions in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The investigation concerns several millions of alleged transfers to a number of companies and has involved significant seizures of cash, gold, other assets and funds held in corporate bank accounts.
• Representing a senior executive and a healthcare group in several parallel criminal investigations concerning alleged unlawful conflicts of interest, misappropriation of public funds and misuse of corporate assets. The investigations are being conducted by both regional judicial authorities and the French National Financial Prosecutor’s Office and concern a number of healthcare entities and public-sector stakeholders.
• Representing the employee representative body of a major French financial institution in criminal proceedings against its former legal representative concerning alleged breach of trust, forgery and use of forged documents. The alleged embezzlement amounts to more than EUR 500,000.
• Securing the dismissal of seven of the eight counts of misuse of corporate assets in an investigation against an audiovisual company and its senior executive.
• Representing a defendant in an investigation by the French National Financial Prosecutor’s Office concerning alleged misappropriation of public funds by a former senior French elected official.
• Representing a French industrial company and one of its executives in criminal proceedings concerning alleged breaches of environmental obligations following pollution of a canal. The matter involves claims and interventions by several environmental organisations, public authorities and other local stakeholders.
• Representing a former public notary in a judicial investigation before a French criminal court involving allegations of breach of trust, abuse of vulnerability, forgery of public documents, fraud and money laundering. The proceedings involve numerous individual and institutional counterparties.
• Representing a French actor in connection with a criminal investigation for alleged rape before a French judicial court.
• Securing the recusal of the investigative judge on grounds of partiality in a high-profile investigation opened on charges of rape.
• Representing an industrial company, together with its court-appointed representative, in connection with a criminal investigation initiated by a major industrial group and handled by the French National Financial Prosecutor’s Office.
• Securing the withdrawal of criminal attachments in various financial proceedings.
• Representing a defendant prosecuted for psychological abuse in a high-profile case.
• Assisting a division of a major international luxury goods group in relation to litigation matters.
• Representing a European pharmaceutical-sector company against charges of unauthorised practice of pharmacy.
• Representing a statutory auditor prosecuted for allegedly aiding and abetting money laundering in a high-profile case.
• Assisting members of a family in complex, multi-faceted succession and corporate disputes following the death of one of the founders of a family-owned business group.
• Representing an individual in a judicial investigation before a French criminal court concerning allegations of aggravated rape and sexual blackmail.
• Advising an individual on several disputes arising from medical treatment received at a private hospital.
• Representing a French lawyer who was indicted for alleged breaches of professional secrecy.
• Representing a property-holding company and an individual in appeal proceedings before a French Court of Appeal concerning alleged breaches of planning law.
• Representing individuals detained abroad.