Benoît Gréteau/courtesy photo

Veil Jourde, a Paris boutique firm known for high-profile litigation, is rebuilding and expanding its tax practice, adding a partner and three lawyers to help respond to client needs arising from recent anti-tax-fraud legislation in France.

Benoît Gréteau joined Veil Jourde in mid-March as a partner and head of the tax department, following 10 years in a similar role at the French firm Aramis, according to a statement by Veil Jourde. He previously practiced at Ayache Salama & Associés and in the legal department of Ernst & Young.

Gréteau is joined at Veil Jourde by associates Rébecca Renard and Charlotte Bittermann, both tax specialists from Aramis, and Pauline Delaflotte from KPMG Avocats.

The new team fills a gap left by the departure last year of Veil Jourde partner Christophe Delrieu, who moved to San Francisco for family reasons and is now a solo practitioner there.

In addition to advising Veil Jourde's corporate clients on transactions and ongoing fiscal compliance, Gréteau said the team was put in place in preparation for the effects of the French Anti-Fraud Act, which was passed in late 2018.

The law is designed to strengthen the measures to fight against taxpayers' failure to comply with tax and social welfare payments. It includes, among other measures, a requirement that prosecutors refer a greater proportion of tax complaints automatically to the courts, rather than waiting for a preliminary opinion from the Finance Ministry, a procedural step known as the "Bercy lock" for the street address of the ministry headquarters in Paris.

"In the next months and years, the courts will be flooded with files as the 'Bercy lock' is removed, and as tax law becomes increasingly focused on criminal penalties," Gréteau said Wednesday by telephone from western France, where he is working remotely during the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown.

Moving to Veil Jourde "gives us a chance to expand the firm's and our practice, and to develop a specialized service to respond to these new needs," Gréteau said.

Gréteau and his team are the second significant addition to Veil Jourde this year. An IP/IT team of four lawyers led by a former partner, Nicolas Brault, joined the firm in January.

Founded in 1990, Veil Jourde numbers more than 50 lawyers, including 18 partners. Its co-founder, Jean Veil, is a former partner at Gide Loyrette Nouel and the son of the late French health minister Simone Veil. He has acted on behalf of clients such as Société Générale against the rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel and Prince William and Kate Middleton against the magazine Closer.

Veil Jourde also represented KPMG France in 2019 in its dispute with the French firm Fidal over the hiring away of 144 Fidal lawyers by KPMG.