KPMG France Recruits 10-Lawyer Team to Create IP/IT Department
The new department is the latest move by KPMG Avocats to broaden its practice beyond its parent firm's traditional competencies in tax and corporate law.
April 30, 2020 at 05:10 PM
3 minute read
The legal arm of Big Four accounting firm KPMG has created an IP/IT law department in France with the recruitment of 10 lawyers, including two partners from a rival French firm, KPMG announced Thursday.
The new department is the latest move by KPMG Avocats, the legal arm in France of the global accounting firm, to broaden its practice beyond its parent firm's traditional competencies.
"The goal of KPMG Avocats is to provide our clients with full legal and tax services," Mustapha Oussedrat, president of the firm, said in a statement. "We want to cover not only tax, corporate, M&A and labor, but all the areas of law that our clients need."
Patrick Amouzou and Julie Bellesort will lead the team as partners and co-practice heads, KPMG said.
Amouzou comes from Hoche Société d'Avocats, where he practiced for a total of 15 years, including nine as partner. He also practiced for four years as head of IP/IT at Ayache, Salama & Associés, and was legal adviser to the CNIL, the independent regulator of data collection and privacy in France, under whose jurisdiction falls compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation.
Bellesort practiced at Hoche as a partner for two years. She also practiced IP/IT law at a firm she founded in 2009, and has taught IT/IP law in France.
The two partners are joined by eight associates and two legal interns, KPMG said.
Since its founding in 2019, KPMG Avocats has added departments in competition, compliance and economic law. The firm today numbers 250 lawyers in 21 offices throughout France.
KPMG Avocats made headlines at the time of its founding with the arrival of 144 lawyers from a rival French law firm, Fidal. Thirteen lawyers returned to Fidal shortly thereafter, and Fidal sued KPMG Avocats, alleging improper competition.
The matter was referred to the Conseil de l'Ordre, the standards and disciplinary body of the French bar, to investigate whether the recruitment breached ethics rules. The investigation is ongoing, a spokesperson for the Conseil de l'Ordre said, declining to elaborate.
"The issue is being treated by the body best placed to do so," Oussedrat told Law.com International during a recent interview. "In the meantime, everyone has regained their composure and is moving forward."
Fidal did not respond to requests for comment.
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