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Aurélia Grignon joined Soulez Larivière & Associés in January 2007, to undertake her compulsory six-month training period for qualification as a lawyer. On completion of her training period, she was immediately taken on by the firm in October of the same year as an associate.

"It took me a while to realise that my broad and very humanist aspirations could be fulfilled by working as a lawyer: I have always felt that social responsibility and political issues are very important. I find the mix of law, media and power fascinating, so much so that at one point I thought my future would lie in sociology ..."

Her educational background is a reflexion of her quest. In 1999, she did work experience with Morgan Lewis & Bockius, in New York, which enabled her to experience daily life in a large law firm. In 2000, in Paris, she was admitted to the second year of a preparatory class in humanities for entrance to the École Normale Supérieure.
Fully bilingual, she obtained a second-class degree (LLB in English and French Law) at King’s college London in 2002. On her return to Paris, she studied at the University of Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne, where she was awarded a Maîtrise (Master’s degree) in French-English law in 2004 and in public law in 2005. In 2005 and 2006, she studied for a Master 1 in sociology and anthropology (option political sociology) at the University of Paris VII, before attending the Ecole de Formation des Avocats (Bar’s College of Law) in Paris in 2006, where she studied for her bar examination, which she passed in 2007.

"My training with Soulez Larivière & Associés took place at the same time as the trial in the Erika case. I was therefore able to follow the four-month long trial, from February to June 2007. It was my first real criminal trial, my first legal case with political implications that generated a lot of media interest. This case opened up my eyes to the legal world: I found the complexity of the case fascinating. I felt that I had found what I had been looking for, a job that could fulfil my aspirations. Following this, my work rapidly diversified, not only within the boundaries of criminal law: general (drug trafficking, murders), white-collar crime, town planning, "disasters"; but also in civil law, for example: literary and artistic property, contracts and health law. With each new case, I feel like I am starting from scratch, firstly on account of the fact that each case covers numerous different aspects of the law, and also because the specific facts of a case are always unique, and it is necessary to carefully weigh up the significance of each fact in order to develop a defence that is legally sound."

"At Soulez Larivière & Associés, we are given responsibility and encouraged to be independent. And yet, we are all aware of the importance of the synergies generated by a deliberately chosen collaboration. More often than not we work in tandem: one phone call is all it takes! It’s a very stimulating and yet simple way of organising things. I feel as if I am learning what it really means to be a good lawyer, which goes far beyond the legal skills that we are required to have in order to be able to handle our cases: this strong team spirit also ensures that knowledge is passed on, regarding the main challenges of our job and the political, legal and cultural society in which we practice."