White-collar criminal law is a criminal lawyer’s job.

With so much talk of business, one could almost forget the criminal side.

Yet a company that is prosecuted does not appear before a separate court. It enters a criminal investigation, with its interviews, searches, seizures, expert reports and rules of evidence. Its director, managers or employees may be questioned, implicated and sometimes prosecuted alongside it.

Our conviction is simple: the criminal defence of a company first requires a criminal lawyer’s reflexes: understanding the facts, testing the evidence, mastering the procedure and preparing for trial. But it also requires an understanding of the organisation: who decides, who controls, who raises the alarm, who really has the means to act?

Vouland Avocats has practised criminal defence since 1976. In Marseille and Paris, the firm assists companies, organisations and their directors before an investigation, from the very first procedural steps and before the courts, both in defence and when they are victims.

Prevent. Investigate. Defend.

What is white-collar criminal law?

“White-collar criminal law” is not a separate code. The expression refers to all situations in which the activity, decisions or organisation of a legal entity come into contact with criminal law.

The risk may arise from:

• a management decision or a financial transaction;
• a public contract or a commercial relationship;
• a workplace accident or a safety failure;
• pollution, a discharge or poor waste management;
• a report of harassment, corruption or fraud;
• a communication, a commercial practice or the processing of data;
• the conduct of an employee, manager, delegate or director;
• an offence committed against the company.

Article 121-2 of the French Criminal Code provides that a legal entity may be held criminally liable for offences committed on its behalf by its organs or representatives. This liability does not exclude that of the individuals who committed or were accomplices to the same acts, subject to the provisions of Article 121-3.

The question is therefore never simply: “Has an offence been committed?”

It is also necessary to determine:

• who had decision-making power;
• in whose name and on whose behalf the decision was taken;
• what instructions, procedures or delegations actually existed;
• what resources had been allocated;
• what the company knew at the time of the facts;
• how it reacted when it became aware of them.

Criminal liability cannot be read solely from an organisation chart. It is reconstructed from decisions, exchanges, practices and evidence.

Understand the organisation before defending against the accusation.

The criminal process often begins before the trial

For the company, the first procedural step can be sudden:

• a summons to a voluntary interview;
• a search at the head office or on a site;
• police custody of a director or manager;
• a requisition for documents, email accounts or data;
• an administrative inspection that may feed into criminal proceedings;
• a seizure of accounts or assets;
• a report sent to the public prosecutor;
• receipt of a complaint or a summons to court.

These first hours do not determine everything. They often determine a great deal.

The company must preserve the relevant documents, identify the people concerned, organise the flow of information, avoid contradictory initiatives and protect everyone’s rights. Internal and external communication must be designed in line with the defence: a sentence intended to reassure may, a few months later, become a piece of evidence.

Vouland Avocats acts from this first stage to:

• determine the procedural status of the company and of those summoned;
• prepare interviews and assist those being questioned where the law allows;
• attend searches and analyse the regularity of seizures;
• organise the collection and preservation of material useful to the defence;
• assess whether an internal investigation is appropriate;
• anticipate the financial, commercial, employment and reputational issues;
• build a joint strategy where interests converge — or separate defences where they diverge.

Waiting for the hearing to prepare the defence often means letting the investigation write the story of the case on its own.

Defending the company, its directors and its managers

The company, the director and the managers do not always form a single client.

Their interests may be perfectly aligned. They may also diverge: over who made a decision, the scope of a delegation, the resources available, whether an alert was passed up the line or the strategy to adopt.

This question must be examined from the outset. A serious criminal defence does not artificially assume a community of interests; it verifies it.

Depending on the configuration of the case, our work covers in particular:

• analysing the liability of the legal entity;
• the personal defence of the director, legal representative or delegate;
• the legal classification of the facts and identification of the constituent elements of the offence;
• analysing delegations of authority, decision-making channels and internal procedures;
• challenging irregular acts of investigation;
• discussing technical, accounting or scientific expert reports;
• restoring the economic and operational context;
• preparing for questioning and hearings;
• defence before the criminal court, the Court of Appeal and, with the lawyers admitted to the Council, before the Court of Cassation;
• examining the procedural routes suited to the case, including, where the legal conditions are met, negotiated mechanisms applicable to legal entities.

A company is not defended as an abstraction. Its functioning must be translated into the language of the criminal trial, without diluting responsibilities or allowing organisational complexity to stand in for guilt.

When the company is the victim

A company may be implicated. It may also be the first victim.

Internal fraud, scams, breach of trust, embezzlement, fake transfer orders, attacks on information systems, bribery of an employee, theft of confidential documents, defamation or malicious false accusations can jeopardise its business well before the damage has been definitively quantified.

In this situation, we help the organisation to:

• secure the initial findings and preserve evidence;
• conduct or support the internal investigation;
• identify the extent of the loss and its various components;
• file a complaint or bring the matter before the competent court;
• follow the investigation and request useful investigative measures;
• seek the return of funds or assets and consider appropriate protective measures;
• join the proceedings as a civil party;
• coordinate the criminal proceedings with commercial, employment or insurance litigation.

Article 2 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure grants the right to bring a civil action to those who have personally suffered damage directly caused by the offence. For a company that is the victim, the strategy is therefore not just to report the facts: it must establish the evidence, the causal link and the extent of the loss.

Prevention: looking at the company through the investigator’s eyes

Criminal risk is not simply a list of offences. It often lies in a gap:

• between the official organisation chart and the powers actually exercised;
• between the written procedure and day-to-day practice;
• between an alert received and the response given to it;
• between a signed delegation and the resources actually granted;
• between a regulatory obligation and proof that it has been fulfilled.

Our preventive support does not consist in promising a risk-free company. No such company exists.

It consists in making responsibilities clear, decisions traceable and teams capable of reacting:

• criminal law audit and mapping of vulnerabilities;
• review of delegations of authority and approval channels;
• whistleblowing procedures;
• internal investigations;
• protocols for searches, interviews or serious accidents;
• training for directors, managers, in-house lawyers and operational teams;
• analysis of a decision, contract or transaction likely to create a criminal risk.

A useful procedure is not only legally sound. It must be known, understood and workable when the situation deteriorates.

Discover our expertise: internal investigations, criminal law audits and corporate training.

Internal investigations. Criminal law audits. Corporate training

Our main areas of practice

White-collar crime and offences against property

• misuse of corporate assets, breach of trust and fraud;
• money laundering and tax fraud;
• forgery, use of forged documents and misappropriation;
• accounting and financial offences and offences relating to corporate life;
• criminal seizures, confiscations and asset-related issues;
• misleading commercial practices and consumer offences.

Corruption and breaches of probity

• corruption and influence peddling;
• favouritism and public procurement;
• unlawful taking of interest;
• misappropriation of public funds;
• inspections, investigations and litigation relating to anti-corruption systems.

Employment and governance criminal law

• workplace accidents and breaches of health and safety rules;
• moral or sexual harassment;
• discrimination, obstruction of employee representatives and undeclared work;
• liability of directors and delegates;
• handling of alerts and organisational failures.

Environmental criminal law and regulated activities

• pollution of water, air and soil;
• waste, classified installations and industrial risks;
• harm to protected species and habitats;
• transport and regulated activities;
• liability of operators, directors and legal entities.

Reputation, data and the international dimension

• press offences and crisis communication;
• offences against data and information systems;
• liability of foreign companies before the French courts;
• criminal cooperation, cross-border investigations and extradition.

Each field has its own legislation, regulators and technical complexity. The trial, however, remains criminal.

Our expertise

A defence method built around the facts

1. Understand

We reconstruct the organisation, responsibilities, chronology and decision-making process. Documents are compared with actual practice and with the explanations of those involved.

2. Test

We examine the legal classification adopted, the evidence for each element of the offence, the regularity of the procedure and competing hypotheses. What seems obvious in an official report is sometimes much less so when one goes back to the documents.

3. Decide

We define the strategy with the client: respond, produce documents, challenge, request an investigative measure, file a complaint, conduct an internal investigation, negotiate where the legal framework allows, or prepare for trial.

4. Defend

The written strategy and the courtroom strategy are designed together. The aim is not to multiply arguments, but to identify those that will enable the judge to see the case differently.

Where the case so requires, we work with experts in accounting, industry, the environment, health, digital technology or crisis communication. Their involvement meets an identified need; it never replaces the legal and criminal direction of the defence.

A recognised practice, stated with restraint

Vouland Avocats has been recognised for three consecutive years in the Palmarès du Droit Marseille in the “white-collar criminal law” category.

In 2024, the firm was ranked first in this category. It also received the “Niche Firm of the Year” award.

These distinctions are no substitute for experience of an investigation or work on a case. They do, however, attest to a practice recognised by the professionals surveyed for these rankings.

The firm has offices in Marseille and Paris and appears before courts and investigative services throughout France.

Publishing, teaching, passing on knowledge

Corporate criminal law is built at the crossroads of several disciplines. It requires keeping up with developments in procedure, the liability of legal entities, environmental criminal law, employment law, probity and compliance mechanisms.

The firm’s lawyers publish in legal journals, speak at professional training courses and teach criminal law and defence strategy. This activity feeds into our cases: teaching forces clarity; publishing forces verification; defending forces the rule to be confronted with reality.

Read our analyses and publications.

Some of our work

• Defence of a waste treatment company prosecuted in a corruption and fraud case linked to a public contract.
• Assistance to a company operating internationally in proceedings concerning acts of corruption committed abroad.
• Defence of a media sector executive prosecuted for misuse of corporate assets and money laundering.
• Representation of a local authority in a case of unlawful taking of interest.
• Assistance to a public body that was the victim of a bank details change fraud.
• Defence of a healthcare provider prosecuted for fraud against a health insurance body.

Frequently asked questions

When should a company consult a criminal lawyer?

There is no need to wait for a formal indictment or a summons to court. An internal alert, a serious accident, an inspection, an unusual request for documents, a summons, an announced or suspected search, or the discovery of fraud may all justify a consultation. The earlier the involvement, the more options the company retains to preserve evidence, organise its response and avoid irreversible decisions.

Can the company and its director have the same lawyer?

Yes, where their interests are compatible and remain so. This compatibility must, however, be assessed concretely and re-examined if the case evolves. Where interests diverge or are likely to diverge, separate defences are necessary.

Is the existence of an offence enough to make the company liable?

No. Under Article 121-2 of the French Criminal Code, it must in particular be established that an offence was committed on behalf of the legal entity by one of its organs or representatives. The analysis depends on the facts, the offence alleged and the identification of the person or organ that acted.

What should be done if the company is searched?

Identify the service carrying out the search and its legal basis, contact the lawyer immediately, designate internal contacts, keep the business running without obstructing the operations, and keep a precise record of the premises, media and documents examined or seized. Instructions should be prepared before the crisis and adapted to the legal framework of the search.

Can a company that is a victim join the proceedings as a civil party?

Yes, if it can show personal damage directly caused by the offence, in accordance with Article 2 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure. The nature of the damage, its proof and the choice of procedural timing must be examined case by case.

Criminal law does not always leave time to prepare

An alert, a summons or a search immediately changes the way an organisation operates.

Our role is to restore order: identify what is established, what remains uncertain, who needs to be protected, what decision can still be taken and what defence will need to be presented.

Vouland Avocats assists companies, organisations, their directors and their managers in Marseille, Paris and throughout France.