Our specialties

The situation

You are considering buying a competitor, opening a subsidiary abroad or launching a new business line. The figures look encouraging, your teams are keen, and the window seems short. Yet one question has no clear answer: what happens if the main assumption turns out to be wrong?

What is at stake

A growth decision commits the company’s cash, organisation and reputation for years. A misjudgement about a market, a partner or a country is rarely paid for straight away; it is paid for when turning back has become expensive.

What we do

We go through the project with you, assumption by assumption. We check what rests on facts and what rests on hope, compare two or three realistic scenarios and identify the conditions to secure before you commit: a clause, a guarantee, a timetable, a counterpart. When the matter calls for an investment bank, a lawyer or an accountant, we work with them and tell you so from the outset.

Typical situations

• An acquisition abroadAn industrial group wants to buy a supplier in Morocco. We examine the target’s governance, the local framework and hidden dependencies before the binding offer.
• A new locationA services company is torn between two countries for its first office outside France. We compare the real cost, licensing timelines and the stability of each option.

The situation

Your company has an ethics charter, a code of conduct, sometimes an anti-corruption programme. On paper, everything exists. Then a major client asks for evidence, a regulator announces an inspection, or an employee reports questionable behaviour, and nobody can say with certainty what is actually applied.

What is at stake

The gap between what a company claims and what it does is the first thing an inspector, a journalist or a buyer looks at. It can cost a contract, a penalty or the trust of a long-standing partner.

What we do

We start from what happens inside the company, not from what is written. We talk to the people involved, follow a few sensitive transactions from start to finish and identify where commitments are not kept. We then propose corrections proportionate to your size, which your teams can apply without extra bureaucracy.

Typical situations

• Ahead of an inspectionA mid-sized company is notified of an inspection of its anti-corruption programme. We prepare with management an accurate account of what exists, what is missing and the plan under way.
• At a major client’s requestA key customer demands guarantees on your subcontractors’ practices. We build a verifiable answer rather than a statement of principle.
• After an internal reportA whistleblower implicates a sales manager. We help management handle the report methodically, without haste and without burying it.

The situation

Every month you sign contracts, guarantees and partnership agreements. Each one has been reviewed, but nobody has ever seen the whole picture. The day a client disputes a delivery or a partner defaults, you discover an exposure you had never measured.

What is at stake

An unidentified legal risk always surfaces at the wrong moment: during a fundraising, a sale, a dispute. It then weighs on the price, the timetable, and sometimes on the personal liability of directors.

What we do

With your teams, we map your exposures: key contracts, off-balance-sheet commitments, dependence on a supplier or a client, regulatory obligations. We rank these risks by likelihood and cost, then propose the measures that are worth taking. Questions for a lawyer go to a lawyer; we coordinate and keep the overall view.

Typical situations

• Before a saleA family shareholder is preparing to sell the business. We identify early what the buyer’s due diligence will find, so it can be dealt with before it is used to push the price down.
• A critical dependencyA small company earns more than half its revenue from a single client, under a contract terminable at three months’ notice. We assess the exposure and prepare the options.

The situation

You run the company, and your name is tied to it. An old statement resurfaces, a dispute with a former partner becomes public, or you have to speak on a sensitive subject. Every word will be read, quoted and sometimes twisted.

What is at stake

An executive’s reputation is built over years and can be damaged in days. It shapes the trust of investors, authorities, employees and clients, and it often outlasts the role itself.

What we do

We analyse your real exposure: what is published about you, what could be, and the subjects on which you are expected to speak. We prepare your messages and speaking opportunities with you and anticipate the difficult questions. If you are challenged, we help you respond accurately, at the right time, without saying too much.

Typical situations

• A high-profile appointmentA new chief executive joins a company in difficulty. We prepare the first hundred days of communication, internally and externally.
• A past that resurfacesAn article revisits an old, closed court case. We assess whether to respond, how, and to whom.
• A hearingAn executive is summoned before a parliamentary committee. We help prepare the statement and the answers to foreseeable questions.

The situation

A cyberattack shuts down your systems, a product is recalled, a site is closed by administrative order, or a country where you operate tips over. Calls keep coming, information is contradictory, and everyone expects an immediate decision from you.

What is at stake

In a crisis, the first forty-eight hours often decide what follows: client trust, the attitude of the authorities, the cohesion of your teams. A decision taken in confusion can cost more than the event itself.

What we do

We join your crisis unit. We help establish the facts, separate what is certain from what is assumed and set a few clear priorities. We prepare decisions and messages, keep the timetable and look ahead to what the crisis will leave behind in legal, financial and reputational terms. Outside a crisis, we prepare your teams with realistic scenarios.

Typical situations

• A cyberattackA retail group finds its customer data encrypted on a Friday evening. With management, we organise the response to authorities, clients and staff within the required deadlines.
• Political instabilityA subsidiary operates in a country where the situation is deteriorating fast. We help decide on staff protection, business continuity and which commitments to suspend.

The situation

Your clients, investors and future employees ask about your impact. European regulation now requires you to publish new information. You have initiatives, some of them sincere, but they do not add up to a policy, and you worry about being accused of saying more than you do.

What is at stake

A commitment that is not kept becomes a risk: litigation, accusations of greenwashing, a lost tender, talent walking out. A clear and verifiable policy, by contrast, reassures partners and guides the company’s decisions.

What we do

We work with you to identify the issues that genuinely matter for your business, rather than the full list of possible topics. We set measurable objectives, check the robustness of the data and prepare communication that states what has been done, what remains to be done and by when.

Typical situations

• A first reporting obligationA mid-sized company falls within the scope of the new European reporting rules. We help it choose its priorities and produce reliable information.
• A disputed commitmentAn NGO challenges a brand’s environmental claims. We examine what can be demonstrated and what needs to be corrected.

The situation

A draft law threatens your business model, a local authority must rule on your project, or you wish to support a cause without your gesture being misread. You know that a strong case is not enough: it must reach the right people at the right time.

What is at stake

Poorly conducted advocacy invites suspicion of conflicts of interest and penalties. No advocacy at all leaves others to write the rules for you. In philanthropy, a poorly chosen commitment can harm both the cause and your reputation.

What we do

We map the decision-makers and timetables that matter for your issue, prepare well-argued positions and organise transparent exchanges, in line with the applicable disclosure rules. In philanthropy, we help you choose a cause consistent with your business, structure your commitment and follow its effects.

Typical situations

• A text in preparationA trade federation wants to set out the practical consequences of a draft EU regulation. We prepare its briefing notes and its meetings with the rapporteurs.
• A corporate foundationA family group wants to set up a foundation. We help define its purpose, its governance and its first partnerships.
• A local projectAn industrial project needs to win over elected officials and residents. We organise a genuine consultation, ahead of the decisions.