Best Lawyers in France™ Reveals Transformation of the French Legal Market

AUGUSTA, Ga. (June 11, 2026) — Best Lawyers® today releases The Best Lawyers in France™ and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in France™ as a barometer of the transformation of the French legal market. For this 17^th edition of Best Lawyers and the 6th edition of Ones to Watch, nearly 4,000 recognized lawyers, more than 1,000 early career attorneys and 849 firms were spotlighted. 

One of the insights of the 2027 edition lies in the evolution of female representation within the most strategic practices in the market. Practices such as Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Law remain majority male where men represent fourfold among distinguished lawyers; but several specialties that are the focus of major economic transformations — data protection, compliance, health, HR, innovation, digital platforms — are now predominantly female in both rankings. This is particularly the case for Privacy & Data Security Law, Labor and Employment Law, Biotechnology and Life Sciences. 

This transformation is evident in the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in France™ ranking, spotlighting emerging talents in the French market, where there are more female-dominated specialties than male-dominated specialties. Women represent the majority of honorees in several key areas of expertise: 

• In intellectual property, women represent nearly three-quarters of awardees 

• In data protection, women outnumber men more than four to one 

• In employment law, litigation and competition law, 6 out of 10 distinguished lawyers are women 

Growth is Shifting Towards Compliance and Regulation 

The 2027 edition confirms the stability of the major historical pillars of French business law. Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Tax Law, Labor and Employment Law and Litigation remain the most represented practices year-over year.  

This illustrates the resilience of a market that is still strongly structured around transactional operations, taxation and litigation risk management. Yet, behind this apparent stability, certain practice areas are experiencing significant growth. This is notably the case for Corporate Governance & Compliance, where the number of recognized lawyers has increased by 46% compared with the previous edition. 

This trend comes against a backdrop of growing regulatory requirements facing businesses, particularly in relation to ESG, corporate sustainability due diligence obligations, AI governance, cybersecurity and reputational risk management. 

Companies now look for legal advisors able to support them not only in their strategic operations, but also in their regulatory, technological and reputational exposure. 

Intellectual Property Supplants M&A Among Emerging Talents  

For the first time, Intellectual Property Law has been included in the Top 5 of the most represented specialties among Ones to Watch, replacing Mergers and Acquisitions Law from the 2026 edition. 

This shift symbolizes a profound change in the legal market. Historically, M&A has been one of the hallmark practice areas of the French business law market, both in terms of activity and visibility for law firms.  

In an economy where value is increasingly based on digital assets, platforms, algorithms and intellectual property, new generations of lawyers are focusing on specialties related to data, digital platforms, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.

This is notable among the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in France™ awards, where some practices have recorded spectacular increases year-over-year: 

• Environmental Law: +400% 

• Energy Law: +79% 

• Biotechnology and Life Sciences: +75%  

• Privacy & Data Security: +61% 

France Sees Highest Voter Participation to Date 

The 2027 rankings also confirm a strong mobilization of the French legal market around the peer review process. More people participated this year in France than in any edition before. The results are based on more than 297,000 peer reviews this year, bringing the historical total of reviews to more than 1.3 million for the French market. The breadth of participation in this peer-review process reinforces Best Lawyers’ position as a leading observer of the trends and developments shaping the French legal market. 

“The Best Lawyers and Ones to Watch rankings are designed to recognize professional excellence, but they also serve as a valuable lens through which to observe developments across the legal market. The results of the 2027 edition highlight the emergence of new areas of expertise, new talent and new priorities that are likely to help shape the future of the legal profession in France,” said Best Lawyers CEO Phillip Greer.  

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