- Business Criminal Law
- Labor and Corporate Criminal Law
- Transnational Criminal Law
- Tax Criminal Law
Soulez Larivière Avocats has one of the most specialized and recognized areas of expertise in this field. The firm assists its clients at every stage of the proceedings and before all courts.
Soulez Larivière Avocats is ranked Tier 2 in White Collar Crime in the Legal 500 EMEA 2026 guide
Capucine and Aurélia have been recognized in the “leading partners” category and by the Best Lawyers in France rankings in the area of criminal defense since 2022.
The firm is also recognized by the Décideurs - Leaders League rankings in the areas of business criminal law, labor criminal law, environmental criminal law, and industrial risks (aviation sector), as well as for its recognized practice in compliance and fraud (internal investigations and compliance).
The firm handles cases in all areas of criminal law
- Criminal Law of Accidents
- Criminal Law of Public Health
- Criminal Law of the Environment
- General Criminal Law
Business Criminal Law
The emergence of numerous political-financial scandals beginning in the late 1970s—some of which involved the firm (the Arc Affair, the Garantie Foncière Affair, political party financing, Carrefour du Développement, etc.)—contributed to the development of modern business criminal law. A pioneer in this field, Soulez Larivière Avocats is recognized for the quality of its work in this area.
The firm advises and supports its clients—both corporations and individuals, including executives and shareholders—who are facing criminal proceedings related to the life and management of the company, its operations, or its investments. These may include offenses such as misappropriation of corporate assets, breach of trust, fraud, industrial espionage, or deception, as well as economic and financial offenses such as corruption or insider trading. Finally, the firm is regularly retained in criminal proceedings involving the public sector (notably offenses of favoritism, influence peddling, and illegal conflict of interest).
The firm acts both as defense counsel and as a civil party, and assists its clients in preventing criminal liability through customized training programs.
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Environmental Criminal Law
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The law firm Soulez Lariviere Avocats has been a pioneer in environmental criminal law cases. It represented clients in the ERIKA case, which helped define the concept of ecological damage.
The firm’s attorneys also handle cases involving pollution, classified facilities (such as ICPEs), and industrial risk.
At the same time, the firm assists its clients in preventing criminal liability related to environmental issues and participates in numerous forums (working groups, teaching at the Paris Bar Training School and Sciences Po Paris).
Transnational Criminal Law
Innovative and modern in its practice, Soulez Larivière Avocats was one of the first criminal law firms to assist clients facing transnational criminal proceedings (e.g., the Rainbow Warrior case, on behalf of the French government and two of its officials).
It was therefore only natural that, beginning in the 2000s, the firm pioneered the practice of advising and defending—alongside American colleagues—a French company in its negotiations with the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) leading up to the signing of a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in 2013.
The firm assists clients facing multiple proceedings in different states and, with the support of foreign colleagues, develops coordinated defense strategies, particularly when the facts may fall under the provisions of U.S. (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act—FCPA) or U.K. (UK Bribery Act) anti-corruption laws.
In cases of this nature, in addition to the traditional tools of criminal defense, “negotiated justice” mechanisms allow for a comprehensive approach to multi-jurisdictional prosecutions.
Today, these transnational proceedings primarily involve issues such as international corruption, the importation of controversial goods, and cybercrime.
Drawing on this experience with transnational litigation, the firm is frequently consulted by clients facing requests for information from foreign authorities regarding the application of France’s blocking law and the protection of personal or confidential data (including bank secrecy, trade secrets, and attorney-client privilege).
Finally, the firm’s attorneys are well-versed in the application of European and international mutual legal assistance and judicial cooperation procedures, and assist numerous clients in extradition proceedings and European arrest warrant cases, which require a thorough understanding of European law and the case law of the CJEU and the ECHR.
Criminal Law Related to Accidents
Since the early 1980s, the law firm Soulez Larivière Avocats has been a leader in the field of crises and disasters, particularly industrial, aviation, and maritime incidents.
The firm has gained this expertise through numerous cases. Among the most widely publicized are most of the plane crashes that have occurred in France over the past quarter-century, the collapse of the Furiani grandstand, the sinking of the Erika, the collapse of a vaulted ceiling in Terminal 2E at Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle Airport, and the explosion at the AZF factory.
Beyond these high-profile cases, the firm regularly represents both individual and corporate clients in all types of accidents leading to criminal prosecutions for involuntary injury, involuntary manslaughter, or endangering the lives of others.
The unintentional nature of these negligence offenses—a highly specialized area of French criminal law—requires, in all such cases, a thorough understanding of the activity, which is sometimes highly technical, during which the accident occurred. This expertise enables the firm’s attorneys to effectively defend the assessment of risk conducted in advance and the measures taken to prevent it.
Drawing on this experience, the firm is also frequently consulted on a preventive basis regarding these matters.
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Criminal Labor and Business Law
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The firm handles numerous cases related to workplace health and safety regulations, occupational hazards, and, more generally, the various violations under the Labor Code that have led to increasingly frequent prosecutions in recent years (harassment, obstruction of justice, undeclared work, illegal labor leasing, and illegal labor brokerage, etc.).
It regularly handles cases involving work-related accidents and occupational diseases, as well as occupational exposure to a hazardous product or activity. The firm is particularly well-regarded for its expertise in cases of unintentional offenses (unintentional injuries and homicides), a field that combines technical, legal, human, and societal aspects.
The firm handles these cases in both the criminal and civil proceedings before criminal courts or specialized courts.
Public Health Criminal Law
Soulez Larivière Avocats handles health-related issues in a wide variety of economic and social cases, ranging from criminal medical liability to major public health crises.
The firm represented one of the directors of the National Blood Transfusion Center (CNTS) during the second “contaminated blood” case, ultimately securing a general dismissal of the charges. Similarly, the firm has acted as defense counsel in cases involving hepatitis B, Legionnaires’ disease, nosocomial infections, asbestos, and other products.
The firm possesses in-depth expertise in the area of unlawful advertising for tobacco and alcohol products, both in litigation and in monitoring legislation.
The firm also assists its clients in cases involving defective products, as well as in cases of aggravated fraud (notably the PIP case) and forgery.
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General Criminal Law
Soulez Larivière Avocat, a law firm particularly renowned in the fields of business criminal law and major accidents, brings together criminal defense attorneys who share extensive experience in common law criminal cases—a background that provides invaluable training for practicing all branches of criminal law.
The firm’s attorneys handle both misdemeanor and felony cases involving the most serious offenses, representing clients in both the defense and civil action capacities at every stage of the proceedings; they are well-versed in all aspects of criminal procedure.
The firm also provides emergency criminal defense services, with several of its attorneys listed on the Paris Bar Association’s rosters for court-appointed counsel and criminal duty services.
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Chambre criminelle
Criminal Tax Law
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The firm is recognized for its expertise in criminal tax litigation, particularly in cases involving tax fraud or money laundering related to tax fraud.
The firm’s attorneys handle technical cases involving international elements and/or complex financial structures.
Recently, the firm achieved a notable victory by securing an acquittal before the Paris Court of Appeals in a case where the prosecution’s case centered on the concept of abuse of rights.