Georges KIEJMAN
A renowned attorney esteemed by his peers, Georges Kiejman has been active in both CRIMINAL and CIVIL law.
IN CRIMINAL LAW
He has been the defense attorney in many high-profile criminal cases. He was successful in having Pierre GOLDMAN’s conviction in a double murder overturned. He also defended Alain CAILLOL in the kidnapping of Baron EMPAIN.
He represented the United States when it was a civil plaintiff in a case against George Ibrahim ABDALLAH who had been behind numerous terrorist attacks and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
He represented the family of Malik OUSSEKINE, a young student who was killed during a demonstration. He also represented the family of Ghislaine MARCHAL (de RENTY), Omar RADDAD’s victim, before the Court of Revision. He was the attorney for the family of Marie TRINTIGNANT, who was killed in Vilnius by Bertrand CANTAT.
Recently, he represented Liliane BETTENCOURT, and was one of President Jacques CHIRAC’s lawyers.
He has been involved in numerous cases relating to the press, defending either publications or personalities.
He has been instrumental in defining case law with regard to the press and the protection of personality rights. He was the lawyer of Lucie and Raymond AUBRAC, and of François MITTERRAND’s heirs against Dr. GUBLER. He is as ardent a defender of freedom of the press, as he is of private citizens who have suffered from the abuse of this freedom.
A passionate defender of human rights, he has represented individuals threatened with extradition and has actively fought for the release of General OUFKIR’s children.
He served on several reform committees, including the Committee on Criminal Law, the Committee on the Status of Judges, and the Press Justice Committee.
IN CIVIL LAW
He has defended numerous film directors, producers, writers, publishers, painters (Jean Dubuffet during the “Salon d’été” trial) or their heirs, and fashion designers.
He has been the advisor for all the major writers’ associations.
Yet he has also been the attorney for several major corporations and audiovisual companies.
Equally attached to the defense of artistic creation, he defended RIVETTE’s “La Religieuse,” GODARD’s “Je Vous Salue Marie,” and COSTA GAVRAS’s “Amen.”
He was a member of the Supervisory Board of the newspaper “Le Monde” from 1985 to 1990 as the attorney in charge of representing its “Société des Lecteurs” (reader-shareholders). He has been on the board of the SAINT-SIMON Foundation, the Danièle MITTERRAND, FRANCE-LIBERTES Foundation, and the Pierre MENDES-FRANCE Institute since it was founded.
In 1979 he was appointed Head of the Committee for Advance Payments on Film Royalties, thus straddling the worlds of both cinema and publishing. In that capacity, he worked in collaboration with Florence MALRAUX, Milan KUNDERA, Costa GAVRAS, and played a role in maintaining the “Selective Endowment for French Cinema” (“Aide Sélective au Cinéma”) in existence.
He is a frequent presence on both television and radio. He produced three documentaries, all broadcast on French TV’ Channel 5, on the Kravchenko trial, the Pétain trial, and the Caillaux trial.
Furthermore, he has had a POLITICAL CAREER, and worked with Pierre Mendes France for twenty years. His governmental positions include:
o Deputy Minister of Justice in Michel ROCARD’s government from October 1990 to May 1991; he was in charge of reforms, and, in this capacity, supported several bills in the French Parliament ;
o Deputy Minister of Communication in Edith CRESSON’s government from May 1991 to April 1992; he initiated a project for a “channel that promotes knowledge and excites curiosity”; that channel is known today as “Arte”;
o Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in Pierre BEREGOVOY’s government from April 1992 to March 1993; his main focus during that time was France’s relationship with Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. He headed the French Delegation on several occasions in bilateral meetings as well as in meetings between various regional organizations such as ASEAN and the European Community.
Due to his professional background as well as his personal interests, he always emphasized France’s concerns with human rights during those meetings. Indeed, he was specifically in charge of these issues at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons was placed under his direct supervision.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
· Human rights and civil liberties
· General criminal law / International criminal law
· White-collar criminal defense
· Audiovisual media law
· Press law
· Personality rights and the right to privacy
· Literary and artistic propertye
· Labor law
· Inheritance and gift law
· Family law
· Commercial contracts
· Finance law
VARIOUS POSITIONS HELD
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (1992-1993)
Deputy Minister of Communication (1991-1992)
Deputy Minister of Justice (1990-1991)
Admitted to the Paris Bar (1953)
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
Advanced Degree in Public Law
AWARDS
2nd Secretary of the Conference of Paris Bar Attorneys
Grand Officer of the French Legion of Honor
LANGUAGES SPOKEN
English
Thierry MAREMBERT
Thierry Marembert currently leads the law firm he co-founded with George Kiejman.
For nearly twenty years, he has been representing corporations, their executives and corporate officers, international institutions and local authorities, in court and before various regulatory bodies.
After studying liberal arts at the Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS Ulm), political science at the Paris Institute of Political Science (Sciences Po), and political science and law at Panthéon-Sorbonne University, he worked in the office of Prime Minister Michel Rocard. He was then at the American firm, Shearman & Sterling, and the British firm, Linklaters, where he specialized in international mergers and acquisitions, project finance, and privatization/liberalization of regulated industries such as energy and telecommunications.
He joined Georges Kiejman in 1996.
He is a member of 3 Verulam Buildings, a major Inn of Court of London barristers https://www.3vb.com/.
His expertise is in white-collar criminal matters, corporate law, and arts, media and entertainment law.
In white collar criminal matters he has handled numerous cases involving :
· international corruption
· money laundering
· insider trading
http://fr.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idFRCHE82608720080211
. tax fraud
Most of the cases he has worked on have involved the criminal jurisdictions and regulatory authorities of different countries, and required coordinating defense teams from several States.
He has defended clients before all French criminal courts, regulatory bodies, and administrative authorities (including the AMF, the Court of Auditors, as well as the Budget and Finance Disciplinary Court).
Because of that experience, Thierry Marembert frequently appears as a speaker on international corruption at the annual OECD / IBA Anti-Corruption Conferences :
http://www.int-bar.org/conferences/conf387/prog_detail.cfm?uid=426457ef-2b1d-4c06-bfd6-1fde6d5e75e1,
http://www.int-bar.org/conferences/conf419/prog_detail.cfm?uid=b2f42523-881b-43bc-a436-fe7f3d2692ef
http://www.int-bar.org/conferences/conf555/binary/Paris,%20Anti-Corruption%202014%20PROG.pdf
He also participated in a conference on criminal procedure held at the University of Panthéon Assas on November 25, 2011, where he spoke on the issue of “Language, Linguistics, and the Right to an Attorney.” The papers presented at this conference were published under the title, Droit pénal, langue et Union Européenne [Criminal Law, Language, and the European Union] edited by Cristina Mauro and Francesco Ruggieri, and published by Editions Bruylant in 2012.
In the area of corporate law, he has intervened on behalf of French and foreign majority shareholders and investment funds in several shareholder disputes involving both listed and unlisted companies. He has also handled complex cases of environmental liability, financial derivatives, as well as insolvency and composition proceedings.
In addition, he represents major film and audiovisual production companies, companies specializing in the distribution of cultural products, as well as numerous artists, publishing houses, art galleries and cultural organizations on all matters pertaining to those specific products : copyright law, Internet law, distribution and advertising law, labor law and specialized criminal law.
Finally, he has extensive experience in press law. He has represented major foreign news media as well as personalities involved in defamation cases : http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/apr/17/bob-dylan-racial-hate-charges-dropped.
In that capacity, he chaired the conference entitled “Freedom of expression : an endangered freedom?” at the Institut Villey on June 15, 2012. His main focus was on “Defamation in the Internet Age”: http://www.revuegeneraledudroit.eu/blog/2011/06/25/la-liberte-dexpression-une-liberte-menacee/
Thierry Marembert has taught a course entitled “Key Issues in Political, Economic and Social Policy” at Sciences Po for over 10 years. He has also taught courses for admission to the Paris Bar, and he lectures at the Paris School of Journalism, and in the MBA program of the Management Institute of Paris.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Partner since 2000
Admitted to the Paris Bar (1994)
Georges Kiejman Law Firm (1996-2001)
Linklaters & Paines (1992-1996)
Shearman & Sterling (1991)
Office of Prime Minister Michel Rocard (1989-1990)
EDUCATION
Advanced Graduate Degree in Business Law, University of Paris I (1992)
Advanced Graduate Degree in Political Science, University of Paris I (1988)
Graduated from Paris Institute of Political Science (Sciences Po) in 1988
Admitted to the Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS Ulm) (1984)
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
· White-collar criminal defense
· General Criminal Law / International Criminal Law
· Securities Law / Finance Law / Corporate Law / Private Equity
· Commercial contracts
· Insolvency and composition proceedings
· Intellectual property
· Audiovisual media law / cinema law
· Press law, right to privacy, image rights
· Labor law
· Sports law
· Art law
AWARDS
Knight of the French Order of Merit
LANGUAGES SPOKEN
English and Portuguese
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CLASSEMENT
Dispute Resolution : White-Collar Crime -France
Band 1
Sources say Thierry Marembertof Kiejman & Marembert is « superbly smart ans thinks outside of the box ». He is well versed in white-collar crime proceedings, including corruption, tax fraud, insider training and money Laundering ».
https://chambers.com/profile/individual/253798?publicationTypeId=7
Cécile LABARBE
A graduate of ESSEC business school, Cécile Labarbe holds an LLM in Business Law from the University of Paris I-Panthéon Sorbonne. She joined the firm upon being admitted to the Paris Bar in 2009.
Her main area of expertise is business law, with a focus on disputes between company partners and stock market and financial litigation.
Cécile Labarbe also handles civil and criminal press cases involving both individuals (writers, journalists, politicians) and legal entities.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
· Business law
· White-collar criminal defense
· Finance law
· Capital markets law
· Banking and credit law
· Press law
· Criminal litigation
· Civil litigation
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PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
Kiejman & Marembert Partners since January 2021
Kiejman & Marembert Law Firm (2009-2020)
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EDUCATION
Admitted to the Paris Bar (2009)
Master’s degree in business law, Paris-I Panthéon-Sorbonne University (2007)
ESSEC business school (2006)
LANGUAGES SPOKEN
English
Céline SERPAGLI
Holds an LL.M in intellectual property and a Specialized Advanced Graduate Degree in Information Technology law. She joined the firm in 2007.
She advises and defends the law firm’s clients in the areas of literary and artistic property and audiovisual media, trademark, and new technology.
Her particular area of expertise is audiovisual media law and motion picture law.
She also handles general civil litigation and inheritance law.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
· IT law
· Literary and artistic property
· Recording industry and music copyright law
· Trademark law
· Media law
· Entertainment
· Inheritance and gift law
· Civil litigation
· Criminal litigation
· International criminal law
· Art law
EDUCATION
Admitted to the Paris Bar (2007)
Specialized Advanced Graduate Degree (DESS) in IT and new technology law, University of Paris XI (2004)
LL.M in intellectual property, San Francisco (2003).
Master’s degree in Anglo-American law, University of Paris X (2003)
LANGUAGES SPOKEN
English and Norwegian
Mathilde VARET
Holds a Master of Laws in General Private Law from the University of Paris I and an LLM in comparative criminal law and corporate criminal law from Trinity College, Dublin. Mathilde Varet joined the firm upon graduating from the Paris Bar Admissions School (EFB) in 2016.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
· Business law
· Corporate criminal law
· General criminal law
· International criminal law
· Business litigation
· Business litigation
· Liability law
EDUCATION
Attorney at the Paris Bar (2016)
LLM in comparative criminal law and corporate criminal law – Trinity College Dublin (2016)
Master of Laws in General Private Law, with special emphasis on criminal law – University of Paris I (2010)
Certificate of Forensic and Criminal Science, University of Toulouse I – Capitole (2009)
LANGUAGES SPOKEN
English, Spanish, Portuguese
Aaron BASS
Studied at the Paris Institute of Political Science (Sciences-Po). He holds a Master of Laws in Business Law, with special emphasis on litigation and arbitration. Aaron Bass joined the firm upon graduating from the Paris Bar Admissions School (EFB) in 2016.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
· Corporate criminal law
· Business law
· General criminal law
· International criminal law
· Civil litigation
· Personality rights
EDUCATION
Attorney at the Paris Bar (2016)
Paris Institute of Political Science (Sciences-Po), Law School - Master of Laws in Business Law, with special emphasis on litigation and arbitration (2014)
New York University School of Law, Sciences-Po semester-abroad program (2013)
University of Southern California, Sciences-Po year-abroad program (2011)
LANGUAGES SPOKEN
Rumanian (native fluency), English, Hebrew
Marie BOURGON-FARRAN
Marie Bourgon-Farran is a graduate of ESSEC Business School and has a Master’s degree in financial criminal law. She joined the firm after completing the program at the Paris Bar School (EFB) in 2018.
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She mainly handles cases dealing with business law and business criminal law.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
· Business Law / Corporate Law
· Business Criminal Law
· Criminal Law
EDUCATION
Attorney at the Paris Bar (2019)
Institute of Criminology and Criminal Law, University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas (2017)
Master’s degree in Financial Criminal Law, University of Cergy-Pontoise (2016)
Master’s degree from ESSEC, Grande Ecole (2016)
LANGUAGES SPOKEN
English
Anaïs PERICAT
apericat@kiejman-marembert.com
Anaïs Pericat holds an LLM in Business Law and an LLM in Corporate Tax Law. She joined the firm in 2020.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
· General Criminal Law
· Criminal Tax Law
· Business Criminal Law
· Business Law
· Tax Law
· Civil and Commercial Litigation
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TRAINING AND EDUCATION
Attorney with the Paris Bar (2021)
LLM in Corporate Tax Law – Dauphine-PSL University (2018)
Business Law Institute – Panthéon-Assas University (2015-2017)
LANGUAGES SPOKEN
English and Spanish
Irina KRATZ
ikratz@kiejman-marembert.com
Irina Kratz is an alumna of the Paris Institute of Political Science (Sciences-Po). She holds an LLM in litigation
and arbitration as well as an LLM in general private law. Ms. Kratz joined the firm in 2020. She was elected as a representative of the Paris Young Bar Association for Criminal Law in 2023.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
· Business Criminal Law
· General Criminal Law
· Business Law
· Civil and Commercial Litigation
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TRAINING AND EDUCATION
Attorney with the Paris Bar (2020)
LLM in General Private Law –Paris-II/Panthéon-Assas University (2019)
LLM in Economic Law – Sciences Po Paris School of Law (2016-2018)
Attended a year-abroad program at the University of California, Berkeley as an exchange student (2015)
Sciences-Po Paris University College, Cum Laude (2012-2015)
LANGUAGES SPOKEN
English
Camille SAYEGH
csayegh@kiejman-marembert.com
Camille Sayegh holds a Master's degree in Intellectual Property Law and a Master's degree in Art History. She has joinded the firm in 2021.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
· Intellectual property Law
· Art Market Law
· New information technologies Law
· Media and press Law
· Civil and Commercial Litigation
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EDUCATION
Admitted to the Paris Bar (2020)
Master 2 in Literary, Artistic and Industrial Property Law - University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne (2018)
Master 1 Private Law - University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas (2017)
Master 1 (research) History of Art - University of Paris IV Paris-Sorbonne (2017)
LANGUAGES SPOKEN
English
Margot WEYL
mweyl@kiejman-marembert.com
Margot Weyl holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in International and European Business Law and a Master’s degree in International Taxation. She joined the firm in 2022.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
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· White-collar crime defense
· Criminal Tax Law
· General Criminal Law
· Tax Law
· Business Law
· Civil and Commercial Ligitation
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TRAINING AND EDUCATION
Admitted to the Paris Bar (2022)
Criminal Sciences Certificate - Institute of Criminology and Criminal Law of Paris (2021)
Master’s degree in International Taxation - Panthéon-Assas University and HEC (2019)
Master’s degree in Business Law and Taxation - Panthéon-Sorbonne University and HEC (2018)
LL.M. in International and European Business Law - Universidad Pontificia Comillas ICADE, Madrid (2017)
Attented a year abroad program - King's College London (2016)
LANGUAGES SPOKEN
English, Spanish