CITIZEN AVOCATS
CITIZEN AVOCATS is an international law firm based in Bordeaux, France. It is dedicated to solving transnational issues, especially between France and the UK, Mauritius and the USA and helping entrepreneurs grow their business.
The firm provides its Clients with consultancy and litigation services.
Whatever the nature of our intervention, we make it a point of honour to be reactive and keep you informed of the progress of your case.
Consultancy – advisory services
The members of CITIZEN AVOCATS have developed expertise in consultancy services, particularly for individuals who wish to structure, optimize, or transfer their assets, or towards companies developing international business.
We offer all-inclusive fees offers, covering the negotiation and drafting of the deeds, all the exchanges with our Clients, as well as the other parties involved in the transaction (notaries, colleagues, administrations, accountants, etc.), and administrative formalities.
Each file is approached with pragmatism and handled individually. We thrive to reduce costs and delays, promote feasibility and avoid risks.
High-performance digital tools (properly configured AI, digital signature of deeds, secured clouds and e-mails…) and day-to-day legal monitoring increases the accuracy of our legal documents and help us assure their compliance with the applicable law, without ever losing our warm and human communication.
Litigation services
We first ascertain whether the dispute can be resolved amicably (eg. via transaction).
If not, we assess the appropriateness of legal action, based on a preliminary analysis of the facts and the applicable law. A litigation strategy is then drawn up, in continuous collaboration with our Clients. During the written phase of the proceedings, we conduct in-depth research and analyse the opposing arguments to prepare the judicial documents.
We dedicate time and efforts to the search for evidence (expert reports, testimonies, preparation of documents…).
Finally, each pleading is prepared with great regards to the nature of the case and the interests involved, and argued with true conviction.
CITIZEN also assists its clients in the implementation of alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) mechanisms such as mediation, conciliation or arbitration.
We make it a point of honour to ensure that our Clients keep control over their proceedings and that they understand the ins and outs of their trial.
This is why we prepare our legal documents and pleadings in close collaboration with them, keeping them informed in due time of progress made. Our litigation policy is clear and transparent: we handle a limited number of cases, we keep our clients informed at every stage of the process, we are perfectionists when it comes to preparing documents, and we plead each case with strength, dedication and conviction.
International outlook
As a member of our CITIZEN INTERNATIONAL group of companies, our firm is structured, designed, and managed to transcend national borders. Being a firm with an international focus, we have great relationships with law firms from several foreign countries, especially the UK, Mauritius and the USA (but also Switzerland, Belgium, etc.).
In particular, the firm is at the origin of the Citizen – SO Legal initiative: an exclusive collaboration, dedicated to supporting British individuals and companies in France. This day-to-day dialogue facilitates the handling of cross-border issues, the outsourcing of activities and the resolution of international disputes. It also ensures that your legal support is consistent on both sides of the border.
Maître Simon Deceuninck
Avocat at the Bar of Bordeaux
Chairman & Founding Partner
Simon Deceuninck is a French lawyer and a member of the Bordeaux Bar Association. He advises and represents private clients in complex international cases, particularly in matters of probate, trust and estate planning. He also assists and defends companies engaged in cross-border commercial activities.
As a truly international lawyer, he is recognized for his expertise in Franco-British relations and the structuring of investments in the Southern Hemisphere.
Maître Théo Le Flohic
Avocat at the Bar of Bordeaux
Partner
Based in Mauritius, Indian Ocean, Théo Le Flohic brings to the firm his expertise in tax, wealth structuring and corporate law, both at French and international levels.
He handles on a daily basis high-level and complex cases involving international structuring, expatriation, asset optimisation and business transfers.
Ethics & principles
The legal profession in France is heavily regulated. This means that, in-order-to become a lawyer, and then work as one, one has to comply with a rigid set of rules, most of which are here to protect the rights and interests of litigants.
Lawyers must therefore follow their oath and conscience, like sailors their compass : “I swear, as a lawyer, to exercise my functions with dignity, conscience, independence, probity and humanity”.
In addition to this oath, a set of legal rules, deontological principles and customs, form their deontology.
You will find below some of the principles to which CITIZEN is particularly committed in its relationship with its Clients.
