Headline: Doyen’s Anglo-Saxon move shocks Paris lawyers Source: Euromoney Date: February 2001
The restructuring of the Paris legal scene took an unexpected turn late last year, whenone of the city’s leading French M&Apartners finally gave up on his old firm anddid what his colleagues had spent the lasttwo years avoiding – he joined an Anglo-Saxon firm.
Gerard Mazet was the senior partner of once dominant Jeantet & Associés, and his decision to join the Paris office of Wall Street’s mighty Sullivan & Cromwell shook his old firm to its foundations.
To the outside world, his move was seen as the most significant sign yet that a new order is emerging among Paris lawyers, one that does not have Jeantet and rival Gide Loyrette Nouel as its leading lights.
The very fact that S&C had made such a daring move also struck a chord, as Mazet was the firm’s first lateral-hire partner in its illustrious 122-year history. He was soon joined at S&C by his respected colleague at Jeantet, head of tax Jean-Pierre Le Gall, and by capital markets expert Richard Villanova from the Paris office of Benelux giant Stibbe Simont Monaham Duhot.
