The Firm
Some criminal cases are not only argued before a judge. They are built at the intersection of several legal systems, several States, several institutional frameworks. That is where the firm operates.
The firm practises criminal law in high-stakes proceedings: organised crime, terrorism, corruption and white-collar crime, as well as transnational cases. It appears before all specialised criminal courts in France — the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecution Office (PNAT), the National Anti-Organised Crime Prosecution Office (PNACO), the Inter-Regional Specialised Courts (JIRS), and the National Financial Prosecution Office (PNF).
When criminal proceedings cross borders — digital data transmitted without effective judicial oversight, international cooperation whose legality has never been examined, coercion imposed on an individual without effective remedy — the defence cannot be confined to domestic law. The firm handles the French and European dimensions of such defences: challenging Red Notices before Interpol's Commission for the Control of Files, analysing the transnational chain of evidence, and examining the legality of judicial cooperation mechanisms. It is this simultaneous command of French law, European Union law, and international procedures that leads foreign counsel to engage the firm.
In the most sensitive cases, the decisive issue is not solely the discussion of the facts. It lies in the analysis of the legal, technical and institutional mechanisms through which the prosecution was constructed.
This practice has led the firm to act in cases arising from the Sky ECC and EncroChat operations, as well as in proceedings raising questions of EU law, admissibility of evidence and protection of fundamental rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.
In complex criminal matters, the outcome often turns on the point that no one had thought to examine.
The firm also advises and represents participants in the art world — artists, authors, galleries, auction houses and institutions — in art law and art market law.
The firm is based in Lyon and in Paris, at 262 boulevard Saint-Germain (75007), on the Left Bank. It acts throughout France and internationally, coordinating defence strategies with lawyers in multiple jurisdictions when a case requires it.
Naguin Zekkouti holds a doctorate in private law and criminal sciences (Université Jean Moulin Lyon III) and a certificate in criminal sciences (Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas). He teaches at EM Lyon Business School.