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.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Hengeler Advises On €7B Baltica 2 Wind Farm Deal Between Ørsted and PGE
2 minute read
A&O Shearman To Lose Another Five Lawyers, Including Madrid Practice Head, to EY
3 minute read
Rosenblatt Breaks Away From RBG, Becomes 40-Strong Standalone Firm
Law Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
- 1Bar Groups Say IOLA Settlement Protects Civil Litigants' Fund From Future 'Raids'
- 2'Every MAGA Will Buy It:' Elon Musk Featured in Miami Crypto Lawsuit
- 3Pennsylvania Law Schools Are Seeing Double-Digit Boosts in 2025 Applications
- 4Meta’s New Content Guidelines May Result in Increased Defamation Lawsuits Among Users
- 5State Court Rejects Uber's Attempt to Move IP Suit to Latin America
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
