A five-lawyer competition team has left Latham & Watkins to join August Debouzy in Paris, in a move that will see the top French independent launch a new competition, European regulation and foreign investment control group.
The incoming team is led by partner Mathilde Saltiel, Latham’s former Paris litigation chair, and includes a counsel and three associates. Saltiel’s practice spans the full spectrum of competition law, including merger control, dawn raids, cartel and abuse of dominance investigations and litigation, damages actions and compliance programmes.
At August Debouzy, the team will work alongside senior lawyers from the firm’s Paris and Brussels offices as part of the new competition group, including Brussels office co-head Emmanuelle Mignon, an expert in European public law and litigation before EU courts who was chief of staff to former French president Nicolas Sarkozy from 2007 to 2008.
August Debouzy – a leader in the French market in M&A, employment and IP – said the group had been launched in response to “profound transformation” in European economic law, notably increasingly complex merger control rules, the rise of economic sovereignty instruments and stronger foreign investment screening mechanisms.
For her part, Saltiel joined Latham eight years ago from Willkie Farr & Gallagher, making partner in 2021 and becoming chair of the firm’s Paris litigation team the following year. At Latham, she advised EssilorLuxottica on its $8bn acquisition of GrandVision and Worldline on its €7.8bn acquisition of Ingenico. She also worked with the Orange group on several matters following dawn raids conducted by the French Competition Authority and the European Commission.
August Debouzy’s managing partner, Mahasti Razavi, said the hire of Saltiel and her team was a “milestone” for the firm.
“At a time when competition issues are becoming increasingly central, our clients seek teams capable of anticipating developments and securing their most transformative decisions,” she said.
She added that the firm’s new competition group included lawyers who offered a combination of legal and institutional understanding that was “unique” in the French market.
In the new group, Saltiel and her team will work alongside Vincent Brenot, who advises on foreign investment control and public business law, as well as Nicolas Baverez, a former Gibson Dunn partner and former judge at the Cour des comptes who focuses on public economic law and state aid.
The group also includes Pierre Sellal, who served for more than 10 years as France’s permanent representative to the European Union, Brussels co-head Marc Mossé, former general counsel and director of public affairs at Microsoft Europe, who advises on digital competition matters, and David Zygas, an expert in European litigation.
Saltiel said joining August Debouzy was an opportunity to build a “top-tier competition practice while delivering a differentiated approach for clients”.
“We can provide deep insight into European institutions, economic sovereignty challenges and a comprehensive strategic vision. This is precisely what companies need to navigate today’s European competitive landscape,” she said.
Saltiel marks a comparatively rare addition to 150-lawyer August Debouzy’s partnership. Last year, the firm recruited former McDermott Will & Emery counsel Antoine Ricol as a partner in its private equity group and financing partner Jennifer Hinge into its seven-partner corporate practice.
Her move comes at a busy time for lateral hires in the Paris legal market. Last month, Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier recruited a four-partner M&A team in Paris from rival Gide Loyrette Nouel while Proskauer Rose hit Hogan Lovells for a three-partner private equity team. Latham also added a quartet of PE lawyers from Clifford Chance.
A Latham spokesperson commented: “We thank Mathilde for her contribution to the firm, and we wish her the best for the future.”
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