Sylvie Gallage-Alwis appointed as an Elite Lawyer of the French market by Décideurs Leaders League

This year, Décideurs Juridiques selected Sylvie, along with twenty-seven other top French business lawyers, who have distinguished themselves for at least two decades in their respective fields.

Sylvie’s profile can be read in French here and the Elite Lawyer 2025 directory can be found here.

Co-founding partner of the Paris office of Signature Litigation, Sylvie Gallage-Alwis is a key figure of the legal market, offering high technical skills, leadership and sensitivity. Her history, tinged with intellectual precision and passion for law, will undoubtedly inspire anyone seeking to combine ambition and ethics.

Only child of a Sri-Lankan father and Romanian mother, Sylvie Gallage-Alwis has a family history marked by fulfilment through effort and aspiration to always surpass oneself. Since she can remember, she always dreamed of becoming a lawyer.

I learn, therefore I am

Sylvie Gallage-Alwis grew up in Montmartre, where the silent promise of upward mobility and the incessant whisper of upcoming challenges outlined her youth. Her parents, who had an unshakeable faith in education, dedicated their entire life to building a future for their daughter that could not be limited by their limited means or the contingency of their exile. Their determination led her to attend the prestigious Lycée Carnot, period that only brings happy memories to mind, especially at her favourite café, where she chose to tell us her story. Once she obtained her high school degree, she attended Assas University, leading to years marked by this insatiable curiosity that follows her throughout her life. There, in the somewhat intimidating lecture hall of a strict institution, she discovered the legal world, combining both order and complexity, the spoken word and the law.

But the fate of this ambitious woman could not be limited to the walls of a classroom. Hungry for discoveries, Sylvie Gallage-Alwis left Paris for Trinity College in Dublin, eager to live this long-awaited Erasmus year. This trip, far from being a mere digression, marked a step: her English, which she had been using with her father since childhood, improved and became a true asset. Encountering new cultures, her change of scene extended her vision of the legal world. Back in Paris, she continued her ascent with equanimity, obtaining a master's degree in European law and a postgraduate degree in private international law. As many steps climbed with unparalleled rigour and hard work, which do not stop her from carefully maintaining her relationships with friends.

Willing to continue learning by overcoming new challenges, she enrolled at the London School of Economics. This London experience, which combines the academic requirements of a renowned university and the excitement of a cosmopolitan city, propelled her to the rank of the most promising legal practitioners of her generation. On her mother’s advice, guiding light in her life, the young woman completed this training by enrolling at Essec Business School, obtaining a master’s degree in law and management. Another string to her intellectual arsenal, management science proving to be essential to embrace the subtlety of practicing law.

The art of litigation

It is a random encounter with Thomas Rouhette, who was a partner at Lovells (now Hogan Lovells) at the time, that sealed her career path. Fascinated by the meticulousness and technical nature of litigation, Sylvie Gallage-Alwis let herself be charmed by this discipline where the law turns into investigations, where each case places her in a specific world. Intern at Lovells, she discovered a stimulating playground corresponding to her ambition. There, in the hushed and prestigious atmosphere of the law firm, she worked on complex cases that led her to explore the twists and turns of the law on industrial products, notably in the scope of asbestos-related cases. A substance with a highly controversial legal history that became the scene of her first major legal fight. Science, industry and human tragedies… She discovered the extent of a lawyer’s responsibilities. Seventeen years later, her know-how in this field is unrivalled and she can pride herself on having created innovative case law and on including several decisions in the French Civil Code. Yet, the lawyer does not intend to stop there. Vessel engines, telephone batteries, or cosmetics: each case represents an opportunity to push the boundaries of her knowledge and commitment in the discipline.

Working for the community

In 2019, Sylvie Gallage-Alwis co-founded Signature Litigation in Paris, allowing her to combine her passion for the law, management and transmission of knowledge. With this law firm, which she sees as a symphony, each one of her associates has a role to play. Loyal since the beginning, they form a group kept together through kindness, excellence and enthusiasm, values that are important to her.

Behind the expert, there is a profoundly human woman. Some hearings, in particular those related to asbestos cases, placed her in extremely difficult situations, like that day in Bobigny when she had to plead her case under the threat of explicit attacks. However, far from yielding, she found strength, a poignant reminder that the law was, above all, a discipline at the service of justice and society.

While she throws herself body and soul into her cases, cinema is central to Sylvie Gallage-Alwis’ existence. She who considers filmmaking as a constant source of inspiration and loves more than anything the science-fiction universe of Games of Thrones or Marvel, reminds us that the imaginary world is often source of innovation. And when she isn’t at the cinema, this lover of gastronomy enjoys the subtle creations of Pages, restaurant in the 16 th district of Paris, which matches French and Japanese culinary traditions with audacity.

Always looking to the future, Sylvie Gallage-Alwis aspires to fully grasp the legal stakes resulting from artificial intelligence. This technology, which she sees as a revolution “comparable to electricity or the Internet”, feeds her thoughts on the future responsibilities of legal practitioners in the light of ever more innovative products. The cheerful smile she displays when talking about these topics that need exploring is proof, should one still be necessary, of her irrepressible thirst for learning.