FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Sophie Scemla, Didier G Martin, Diane Paillot de Montabert and Calypso Korkikian, Gide Loyrette Nouel
Key factors considered to assess legal risks include: • Internal audits and compliance reviews – regular audits to detect non-compliance with regulations and internal policies. • Internal investigations – internal analysis to identify misconduct before regulatory inter- vention. • Regulatory landscape analysis – reviewing local and international legal frameworks to anticipate liabilities, including where appli- cable environmental, anti-corruption, and financial reporting risks. • Third-party risk evaluations – assessing busi- ness partners and suppliers for adherence to ethical and compliance standards. • Crisis response preparation – establish- ing committees and task forces to manage emerging risks proactively. 5.5 Involvement of Lawyers Legal teams are involved early in the crisis man- agement process to ensure regulatory compli- ance and mitigate legal exposure. Their role includes conducting immediate risk assess- ments, co-ordinating with enforcement authori- ties, protecting privileged communications, and overseeing crisis communication to align public statements with legal strategy. The legal crisis management team is typically structured as follows. • General counsel – oversees legal strategy and liaises with regulators. • Compliance and regulatory experts – ensure adherence to laws and internal compliance frameworks. • Litigation specialists – co-ordinate legal defence strategies.
• Data protection officers – manage privacy concerns, especially in cyber-incidents. External legal counsel is often engaged, prefer- ably very early in the process, notably to ensure legal privilege, particularly for: • prosecution authorities cross-border investi- gations; • white-collar crime allegations and internal investigations; • investigations by the authorities (criminal, civil, tax, antitrust, environmental, AML/CFT, labour, etc); and • high-risk litigation (eg, class actions, and shareholder disputes). Selection criteria for external counsel include the following. • Expertise in crisis management and regula- tory defence. • Experience in high-profile investigations and litigation. • Ability to co-ordinate with enforcement agen- cies while protecting company interests. • Alignment with internal compliance policies and corporate governance principles. 5.6 Documentation and Evidence Preservation Companies implement structured protocols to collect and preserve evidence during a crisis, balancing corporate liability risks and defence necessities. Key processes include the follow- ing. • IT charters – providing access to corporate electronic documents and data, consultation of professional electronic devices, profes- sional messaging systems, etc.
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