Aller au contenu

The firm

Catherine Verdier.Paris Bar since 2018.

Eighteen years as a prosecutor — six of them at the French National Financial Prosecutor's Office — then criminal defence.

I. Background

From prosecution to defence.

French National School for the Judiciary (École nationale de la magistrature), Bordeaux, class of 2000.

Eighteen years in the public prosecutor's office. Judicial Court of Lille — Bordeaux General Prosecutor's Office — Judicial Court of Versailles — French National Financial Prosecutor's Office (Parquet National Financier — PNF) in Paris, the final six years. Corruption, misuse of corporate assets, money laundering of tax fraud, illegal taking of interest. Long judicial investigations, correctional court hearings, criminal chamber petitions.

Resignation in 2018. Admission to the Paris Bar in September of the same year, under number 156234. Solo practice established in 2019 as a single-shareholder SELARL (limited liability professional company).

The move from prosecution to defence rests on one conviction: sound defence requires intimate knowledge of how prosecutions are built. The angles a prosecutor will pursue, the timeline of an indictment, the exhibits an investigating magistrate will look for in priority — none of this is learned at law school. It is learned from the other side of the bench.

The firm now defends, before the courts, what it spent two decades investigating from the prosecution side. White-collar crime first; general criminal law, police custody, free interview and cybercrime second.

Member of the French Association of Criminal Defence Lawyers (AFAP).

II. Credentials

Education, admissions, languages.

  • École nationale de la magistrature, Bordeaux — class of 2000
  • Master's degree in criminal law and criminal sciences
  • Paris Bar, n° 156234 — admitted September 2018
  • French Association of Criminal Defence Lawyers (AFAP)
  • Annual continuing legal education validated by the French National Bar Council
  • Working languages: French (native), English (fluent), German (intermediate)

III. Approach

Three working principles.

Procedural precision

Every file opens with a complete reading of the case exhibits. Article numbers, timeline, potential annulment arguments are identified before any public position is taken.

Written prior engagement

No act is performed without a signed fee agreement. Scope, fee structure and engagement diligences are determined in writing before any act of representation.

Strict secrecy

No client name is cited, ever. No testimonial published. No public communication on any pending matter.

IV. Clients

Profile of the firm's clients.

Corporate executives — listed companies, mid-sized enterprises, family-held private companies. Public figures indicted or summoned. Self-employed professionals — physicians, notaries, certified public accountants. French nationals living abroad and subject to French criminal proceedings.

The firm does not act in traffic offences and does not accept legal-aid mandates.

Request an appointment