Paris-based criminal defence lawyer, the firm provides rigorous and responsive representation:
meticulous hearing preparation, tailored procedural strategy, and strict protection of fundamental rights.
We combine written submissions with courtroom advocacy to secure each stage of criminal proceedings.
The firm regularly represents English-speaking and international clients.
Beyond explaining what is happening, we translate a legal culture and a way of thinking—so you can make
informed decisions and be prepared for what comes next.
Has your relative just been taken into police custody in France?
You may not know where they are, when the custody started, or what will happen next.
The firm can intervene at any time of day or night to locate a person held in custody in Paris
and act immediately so that they know their family is present and actively protecting their legal interests.
In France, family members or close relatives may appoint a lawyer during police custody.
This does not require the detained person’s authorisation, and it does not depend on any prior approval
from the police or judicial authorities.
This point is crucial and often misunderstood by non-French families.
Early legal positioning matters: decisions made in the first hours—especially whether to speak or to remain silent—
can have irreversible consequences.
Our role is twofold: to assist the person in custody immediately, and to act as a bridge for the family,
providing clarity, reassurance and strategic guidance in an urgent and unfamiliar context.
The rules change once proceedings move forward (particularly in pre-trial detention),
but at the police custody stage, family intervention is both possible and often decisive.
Voluntary interview
Targeted preparation • Controlled answers
The goal is to be as prepared as possible: anticipate questions, reconstruct the facts precisely,
and run an “internal investigation” to identify helpful material (documents, messages, witnesses, technical elements).
We structure the narrative, identify risk areas, and calibrate answers.
After the interview, we plan the next steps (no further action, alternatives, prosecution summons)
and, where appropriate, submit additional written observations.
Investigating judge (Instruction)
Procedure challenges • Phone & digital evidence • Special investigative techniques • Pre-trial detention
The firm has extensive experience in proceedings before an investigating judge and stands out for its
technical approach (phone records, digital evidence, procedural defects, special investigative techniques).
We apply a proactive strategy: filing investigative requests early so the defence is never a bystander.
Technical work. Phone evidence (CDR, cell-site mapping, IMSI/IMEI), digital forensics,
interceptions, covert recordings, geolocation: systematic audit of authorisations, chain of custody and procedural validity,
with a focus on actionable defects.
Pre-trial detention litigation. Regular applications before the liberty and detention judge
and the Court of Appeal; strict review of legal criteria, credible alternatives, and compliance monitoring.
Acting during the investigation. Requests for acts (confrontations, witness interviews, expert reports,
site visits, requisitions) and appeals against refusals where appropriate: the instruction phase is meant to be active.
Higher appeals. Appeals to the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) and, where needed,
applications to the European Court of Human Rights.
Approach. The case for dismissal is built during the investigation—both in felony and misdemeanour matters.
Urgent defence under time pressure: requesting adjournment, assembling guarantees, preparing personal background evidence,
and rapid evidential work. Extensive experience in immediate trial hearings.
Where custody or pre-trial detention is at stake, our default strategy—unless the client decides otherwise—
is to request the statutory adjournment in order to prepare the defence properly.
The client remains in control; our role is to present structured options and consequences.
An adjournment enables meaningful preparation: procedural challenges, witness strategy where relevant,
and the gathering of documents. We also file targeted procedural submissions when urgency requires it.
Where appropriate, we develop an individualised sentencing strategy.
Deep experience in serious criminal cases (sexual offences, homicide, organised robbery and violent offences).
Particular attention to witness and expert examination, and to trial dynamics.
Niche expertise includes challenging photo-identification procedures and scrutinising psychological/psychiatric expert reports.
Jury trials require both technical rigour and pedagogy: the ability to make complex issues clear, without shortcuts.
Preparation includes analysing the case file and witness lists, proposing relevant witnesses where appropriate,
building structured examinations (no “fishing”), and delivering a clear, coherent closing argument.
Criminal Court (Tribunal correctionnel)
Written submissions • Procedural challenges • Individualised sentencing
Procedural security (defects, constitutional issues where relevant), evidential analysis, and sentencing advocacy,
including, where possible, sentence adjustment.
Clear structure facts/law/evidence, targeted investigative requests, expert debates, and trial advocacy consistent with written submissions.
Guilty plea procedure (CRPC)
Risk assessment • Negotiation
Sometimes a guilty plea proposal is hard to refuse. The client must weigh reputation, risk and outcome.
But CRPC should never be used to conceal procedural defects or evidential weakness.
Method: identify decisive points (procedural defects, absence of offence, misqualification). If none applies,
we advise on an informed choice and negotiate the sentence.
Our experience allows us to benchmark the proposal against local court practice.
The client’s decision remains central; our role is to make it informed.
Prison law
Detention conditions • Health • Remedies • Disciplinary proceedings
Effective remedies (including urgent administrative proceedings) in cases of serious infringements.
A zero-tolerance approach to inhuman or degrading detention conditions, with structured, documented requests.
Protection of family ties and defence of prisoners’ rights. Rigorous documentation (reports, medical certificates, witness statements)
to obtain swift and practical measures.
Sentence adjustment
Electronic monitoring • Community placement • Conditional release
Structured applications (housing, employment, treatment, supervision) to persuade the sentence enforcement court.
Sentence adjustment tool (in-house).
Case-building and fine-tuning: guarantees, partners, monitoring, and coordination with ongoing proceedings and release plans.
Depending on the profile: electronic monitoring, community placement, and conditional release.
