De Gaulle Fleurance is a firm of lawyers and notaries that has carved out a place as a major player in business law:
we help our clients to anticipate and adapt to changes in our society and economy
Marilyn Bénichou: in 2023, our growth continued on its long-term upward path. We have progressed in all segments of business law and have accompanied the emergence of new practices, such as Finance 3.0, the development of the space sector and notarial activities. We have reinforced our capacity to operate internationally by opening another office abroad, in Geneva, following on from Abu Dhabi.
To keep moving forward and meet the various short, medium and long-term challenges, including that of artificial intelligence, in 2023 we recruited a general manager whose background is in the legal IT world.
Louis de Gaulle: in 2023, we put the effectiveness of our integrated business lawyer and notary service to the test. The feedback from our customers has been excellent. Whether they used our services for financing, corporate or real estate operations, they really appreciated this one-stop shop, finding that this made the service more responsive and more efficient and helped to keep costs down.
For example, on a merger/acquisition or financing operation or a transfer of real estate assets, the notarial instruments that have to be signed to make the agreement or claims enforceable are dealt with within the same team of lawyers and notaries, from the audit phase onwards, taking into account in the legal and tax planning aspects of the operation.
International investors particularly appreciate the simplicity of this organisation and also our ability to support them in English, including on the notarial side.
Louis de Gaulle: we will be concentrating on our two main specialist areas, advice and litigation: advice to companies on structural operations (mergers & acquisitions, corporate and project financing, disposal & acquisition of assets, business transfers and takeovers, etc.) and operational transactions (business contracts, public procurement contracts, joint ventures, intangible assets, digitalisation, etc.); litigation before the ordinary and administrative courts or in international arbitration proceedings.
In keeping with our motto, Legal Step To Change, we help our clients to anticipate and adapt to changes in our society and economy: CSR, carbon-free energy, mobility, media, space, artificial intelligence, Finance 3.0, healthcare, land use planning, etc. On all of these subjects, 2024 is going to be an important year, especially with the entry into force of the CSRD and the ISSB non-financial disclosure standards.
In 2024, we will have an even bigger international presence, enabling us both to support our clients in their investments from our offices in Paris, Brussels, Geneva and Abu Dhabi, and to export our know-how, especially in connection with major infrastructure and energy projects.
Finally, Paris has the honour of hosting the Olympic Games this year, and we will be on call to support clients whose teams are coming over to Paris.
Marilyn Bénichou: Definitely. Our lawyers and our notaries advise companies on CSR and that means they have to set an example on such issues. That’s why in 2023 we set up a CSR committee which structures our actions.
The values we have built our group on are now enshrined in our CSR Charter and our sustainability report: promotion of equality and diversity; avoidance of any kind of ‘closed shop’ and the fight against all types of discrimination, whether it is based on gender, social origin, religion, skin colour, sexual orientation, age, disability or anything else.
Market trends in 2024: Anticipating new developments to seize new opportunities in France and abroad!
“French and international players are trusting us to obtain the authorisations they need for their crypto-asset or stablecoin trading platforms or their projects in the tokenisation of financial instruments, including in asset management. This is a sign of the excellence and breadth of the French ecosystem, on both the regulatory and the technological fronts. The blockchain is a tremendous tool for financial services: it is fast and reliable, it provides liquidity and allows substantial savings on the services offered. That is why we are helping our clients to make the shift to Finance 3.0 without hesitation.”
Anne Maréchal, who was named Personality of the Year by Cryptoast, the leading media outlet specialising in the blockchain and cryptocurrencies, and Cyril Tour.
“By 2030, the space market is expected to double in size, to reach a value of almost $1 trillion. Innovations and new uses are being developed all the time, creating new opportunities for the actors we support: emergence of reusable launchers which can reduce the cost of access to space, satellite constellations offering faster and territorially more extensive connectivity than fibre, exploitation of space resources, observation of earth from space, which is behind the creation of a wealth of new services, and so on.”
Laetitia Cesari, Frédéric Destal.
“According to the International Energy Agency, the renewable energy sector is expected to grow by 85% over the period 2022 to 2027, compared to the previous five years. This growth will be driven particularly by China, the United States and India. In Europe, the RepowerEU plan aims to increase the share of renewables in final energy consumption to 45% by 2030. In France, the market is mature and the issue now facing the actors in this field is to be able to export their know-how worldwide by surfing on this growth trend. With our international platform, Lex Energia, we can support clients in these ambitious export projects.”
Sylvie Perrin and Alexandra Nowak.
Our presence around the world
“The growing trend in economic flows between the Middle East and the new high-growth markets, in particular Africa and Latin America, was a decisive factor in our establishing a presence in the United Arab Emirates, which has become a real hub for international business in the EMEA region, including for investments in crypto-assets and stablecoins. For us, this is a way to be closer to our clients who rely on our recognised full-service expertise in business law to support their operations in these geographical areas.”
“With the boom in electric mobility, we are seeing exponential growth in demand for strategic minerals. At the same time, with the boom in the carbon credit market, the continent’s forests are attracting investors from all over the world. We advise the actors in these areas on all aspects of their projects from financing to contractualisation, and with litigation and international arbitration proceedings.”
Capucine du Pac de Marsoulies and Laurence Vanderstraete.
“Switzerland attracts investors from all over the world. The Geneva office is an additional service that we offer companies wishing to get a foothold in Europe, as Switzerland is an entry point for many actors, including those that we work with in the EMEA region.”
Patrice Lefèvre-Péaron and Laure Rinchet.
“From our subsidiary in Abu Dhabi, we work with investors on cross-border projects, in particular in the infrastructure and energy fields, on the basis of English-law legal documents. The United Arab Emirates are also the seats of numerous arbitration proceedings we handle for our clients.”
Jonathan Simpson and Racha Wylde.
We support companies with their transition processes, whether ecological, societal or digital…
All the challenges we can help you to meet!
“The law on accelerating the production of renewable energies includes several measures in favour of the development of self-consumption, offshore wind farms, agrivoltaics and electricity storage projects. This law passed in 2023 will have major impacts for the actors in energy transition in 2024.”
Magalie Dejoux and Béatrice Boisnier.
“Reinforcement of the duty of vigilance, progressive entry into force of the CSRD from 1 January 2024, sustainable finance, climate litigation: these new regulations and trends in the sustainability field will have multiple consequences for businesses, whatever their size.”
Pierrick Le Goff and Bruno Deffains.
“The Egalim 3 law passed against a background of high inflation in 2023 aims to rebalance the commercial relationship between industry and commerce, in particular in the mass distribution sector. For the producers of raw materials, manufacturers and distributors, good management of commercial relations requires precise and strategic implementation of legal rules: specific legal provisions for suppliers and purchasing centres situated abroad, supervision of logistics practices, limitation of promotions on fast-moving consumer goods, etc.”
Thierry Titone and Matthieu Dary.
“This is a small revolution. It is now possible to get a pan-European ruling in patent disputes from a multi-national court (common to 17 European countries). The court’s judges are both legally and technically qualified. It is able to implement different judicial mechanisms which are the fruit of the appropriation and harmonisation of what were until now national practices: admissibility of actions, interim measures, methods of providing evidence, etc. It represents as many opportunities as it does risks for the actors we support.”
Francine Le Péchon-Joubert and Charlotte Hébert-Salomon.
“The adoption of the Artificial Intelligence Act by the European Union is a major step forward in the regulation of this sector. By classifying AI systems into risk levels, Europe is introducing a standard inspired by its ethical values in favour of users. This regulation is intended to influence future foreign initiatives, which will necessarily have to adapt to this European vision. Digital sector firms, both European and foreign, will have to take it into account when they roll out their AI solutions in Europe.”
Julien Horn and Georgie Courtois.
“The European Commission’s legislative package includes a revision of the Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and the establishment of a regulatory framework for financial data access (Open Finance proposal). The main objective is to combat fraud and protect consumers in the face of the constantly changing challenges of the digital era. It will provide a prevailing legal framework for the innovative projects of the financial players.”
Louis de Gaulle and Nataliia Ivanytska.
A platform of business law services covering the issues facing all companies.
Our firm of lawyers and notaries is a leading player in the business law world. We support our clients with:
The value of a business is measured by its human capital and the people that work in it.
The first of the changes is organisational, by structuring and adapting our Group’s cross-functional departments with the aim of improving efficiency and supporting constant growth in business.
The second change is technological. The legal and notarial professions now include a key technological dimension requiring financial and human investments in robust and secure information systems which are seamlessly integrated into their activities, including applications featuring embedded artificial intelligence.
