David Pere is a partner in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department of Eversheds Sutherland in Paris, where he heads the Regulatory and Investigations practice.
David has extensive experience in white-collar crime, particularly in complex, high-risk matters.
He represents companies and senior executives in investigations involving money laundering, corruption, misuse of corporate assets and tax fraud, as well as in employment-related and consumer criminal law matters. He is recognised for his ability to manage crisis situations and was one of the first lawyers in France to prepare executives for interviews with law enforcement authorities through realistic simulations. David also assists clients with the preventive implementation of anti-corruption procedures and the conduct of internal investigations.
David’s experience spans the consumer, industrial, financial services and technology sectors.
David is also strongly committed to high-profile pro bono matters involving the representation of victims of terrorist attacks.
- advising and represented a senior employee from a leading global aerospace player on an criminal investigation for allegedly corrupt behaviour led by the French, UK and US authorities
- advising a financial institution on money laundering issues in the context of international financing operations
- advising companies on the robustness of their anticorruption program in the context of the new French Sapin II law
- assisting the French Anticorruption Agency (AFA) as external expert in the course of investigations
- In charge of the defense of a natural person indicted for money laundering (220 million euros procedure)
- defending a company executive prosecuted for illegal practice of banking, undeclared transfer of sums of money, money laundering, and no justification of resources (107 million euros procedure)
- assisting an individual indicted laundering the proceeds of undocumented work and tax evasion, and from whom the French authorities claimed payment of the sum of 2.2 million euros in respect of evaded social contributions: acquittal and abandonment of the authorities’ claims
- assisting individuals accused of laundering the proceeds of tax evasion and customs violations, and illegal practice of the banking profession, from whom the Customs authorities are claiming 37 million euros of penalties
- defending of an art dealer listed on the Falciani files and prosecuted for tax evasion and money laundering: nullity of proceedings, acquittal and lifting of criminal seizures
- assisting family members of a French politician under investigation for misappropriation of public funds
- defending a legal counsel investigated for the laundering of bribery of foreign public officials
- assisting a Middle Eastern investment fund victim of an attempt to scam and use forgery in public writing
- assisting private equity funds in criminal litigation after acquisitions for false balance fraud
- representing defendants in "French plea guilty" (CRPC) proceedings in cases of misappropriation of social assets
- David Père regularly speaks at conferences and contributes to publications on white-collar crime, compliance and investigations. He has contributed to events organised by Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, London International Disputes Week (LIDW), TRACE International and Moody’s, and to publications including L’Agefi and La Lettre des Juristes d’Affaires
- His areas of focus include anti-corruption, internal investigations, dawn raids, police custody of senior executives and evidentiary issues
David Pere is ranked in legal independent guides Legal 500 and Chambers.
Client testimonials in Legal 500 (White-collar crime):
- “David Père is an excellent litigator, with extensive legal skills, comprehensive commercial understanding and remarkable interpersonal skills. I highly recommend him.”
- “David Père is extremely qualified and has a perfect command of his subject matter. He provides transparent communication on all matters.”
- “David Père: knows the courtroom very well and is able to give relevant advice; a true expert in his field.”
- “David Père is both a skilled litigator who resolutely gets to the heart of the matter.”
Clients testimonials in Chambers (White-collar crime):
- “David is a great lawyer, with extremely solid legal and procedural technicality, and an extraordinary sense of business and interpersonal skills.”
- “He is competent, responsive and rigorous. He is an experienced lawyer and I trust him.”
- “David Père shows reactivity and availability. He is very good.”
- “David Père is an excellent lawyer, subtle, precise and pugnacious.”
- “David Père is hands-on, available, he has the ability to understand the needs of international clients and provides great assistance.”
- Long-standing and recognised pro bono commitment to representing victims of terrorist attacks
- Member of the Steering Committee for the University Diploma in Business Ethics and Compliance at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University
- Seminar lecturer on the Master 2 programme in International Business Criminal Law at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University
- David Père has been a member of the Paris Bar since 2005. He holds a postgraduate degree (DEA) in Business Law from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University (2003) and an LLM in International Law from the University of Reading (2002)