Best Lawyers^®, the most respected guide to the legal profession with more than 40 years of experience compiling purely peer review data, is pleased to release the 14th edition of The Best Lawyers in France™ and the third edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in France™.

The 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in France recognizes the professional excellence of 3,227 lawyers in 78 practice areas across 16 metropolitan areas. The “Lawyer of the Year” honor is awarded to only one individual per practice area in each region with extremely high overall feedback from their peers. In the 2024 edition, only 85 honorees earned this exceptional distinguishment.

“We are pleased to continue presenting the most reliable, unbiased legal awards for the top legal professionals in France through our esteemed and unique peer review process,” says Best Lawyers CEO Phillip Greer. “It continues to be an honor to recognize talented and deserving lawyers earlier in their careers in France through our Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch honors.”

The Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in France list is conducted with the same methodology as all Best Lawyers recognitions: Purely Peer Review™. Lawyers are the best resource to provide feedback on the caliber of work performed by their peers, and the honorees on this list have been identified as the top legal talent who have on average been in practice for 3-8 years. In the 2024 edition, 654 honorees were recognized in 28 practice areas across 8 metropolitan areas.

In addition to the individual lawyer recognitions, 21 firms received a “Law Firm of the Year” award in 25 practice areas. “Law Firm of the Year” awards are country and practice area specific. They are determined based on a handful of factors, including feedback from lawyers recognized by Best Lawyers on individual lawyer and firm-wide work, the size and coverage of the firm in a specific practice area, historical analysis of the firm’s “Lawyer of the Year” awards in this area and research surrounding the firm’s overall scope and areas of expertise.

A lawyer can be nominated for the traditional Best Lawyers recognition or Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch awards, but they cannot be nominated for recognition in both lists at the same time. Lawyers who are nominated for consideration are voted on by currently recognized honorees working in the same practice area and located in the same geographic region. Our awards and recognitions are based purely on the feedback we receive from these top lawyers. Lawyers are not required nor allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore, inclusion in a Best Lawyers list is considered a singular honor. Those who receive high peer reviews undergo a thorough verification process to make sure they are currently still in private practice. Only then will Best Lawyers recognize these top lawyers.

“Law Firm of the Year” Awards:                                                            

Allen & Overy - Litigation
Arsene Taxand - Tax Law
August Debouzy - Information Technology Law
Bird & Bird - Privacy and Data Security Law
Bredin Prat - Arbitration and Mediation and Competition / Antitrust Law
Cabinet D'Avocats Vigo - Criminal Defense
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton - Capital Markets Law and Corporate Law
Clifford Chance – Mergers and Acquisitions Law and Project Finance and Development Practice
Courrégé-Foreman - Aviation Law
De Pardieu Brocas Maffei - Insolvency and Reorganization Law
Dechert - Biotechnology and Life Sciences Practice
Deprez Guignot Associés - Media Law
DS Avocats - Environmental Law
Flichy Grangé Avocats - Labor and Employment Law
Gide Loyrette Nouel - Banking and Finance Law and Real Estate Law
HMN & Partners - Insurance Law
HOYNG ROKH MONEGIER - Intellectual Property Law
Lacourte Raquin Tatar - Construction Law
Moyersoen Avocats - Sports Law
UGGC Avocats - Public Law
Willkie Farr & Gallagher - Private Equity Law

For research purposes, smaller and more rural cities located within a reasonable distance to larger cities are combined into single geographical regions called “metro areas” to help collect as much feedback and data as possible. France, as defined by Best Lawyers, is composed of 16 metro areas. Paris is the metro area with the most listed lawyers.

Search The Best Lawyers in France results by lawyer name, firm, region and/or practice area by visiting www.bestlawyers.com/france.