Legal Tech Startups in France 2021, by field of activity The French legal market in 2021When Covid-19 landed in early 2020, everyone France thought the same thing. Policymakers, investors and political pundits were preparing for a major economic collapse. Bankrupt lawyers spoke openly of an « Armageddon » on the way. Everyone was wrong. The country has seen remarkable growth since the lifting of the first and only total lockdown in France in spring 2020. « The end of the lockdown in May 2020 has freed up energy, » said a star partner company. And because « there was a lot of liquidity and strong financial support from the government was already in place, the economy was able to restart quickly. » M&AS, LBOS, PRIVATE EQUITY, CAPITAL MARKETS, REAL ESTATE MARKETS ARE BOOMING, WHILE INSOLVENCY PROCEEDINGS AND UNEMPLOYMENT RATES HAVE REACHED HISTORICALLY LOW LEVELS. And while 2020 turned out to be a good fiscal year – to the surprise of many – 2021 was great. Several emblematic private equity and M&A transactions, such as the M6-TF1 merger in the audiovisual sector or the acquisition of Suez by Veolia, testify to the appetite of investors – the Veolia-Suez operation, for example, gave rise to « one of the fiercest stock market battles ever fought in France ». Business law firms are no exception and have seen exceptional growth – some of them saw a staggering 25% increase in revenue in 2021. In retrospect, « the pandemic years weren`t so bad for business, » one partner concluded.

The country`s current strong economic momentum is reflected in many industries: financial services, infrastructure, technology, data centers, healthcare, green transition projects. This trend is supported by proactive government measures such as the €100 billion « France Recovery » investment programme launched in September 2020, which aims to modernise the country and make it the first major low-carbon economy in Europe by 2050, relying in particular on nuclear power. Predictably, this has caused some controversy. The France`s dependence on nuclear energy is a long-debated issue. President Macron, who closed several nuclear production facilities at the beginning of this mandate, has since changed his position and announced the construction of six new EPR nuclear power plants by the end of 2021. After a short period of fasting, a strong recovery in economic growth can be easily understood, and this was a fact shared by many economies around the world. But as this wave of confidence continues and shows no signs of fatigue, many can`t help but wonder if it`s a bit at odds with the many uncertainties that lie ahead, not the last of the ongoing pandemic. It is true, however, that there are now reasonable reasons to be optimistic about public health. A high Covid-19 vaccination rate has allowed many shops, services and schools to remain open, while the introduction of the « medical passport », replaced by the « vaccination passport » in early January 2022, has met with little resistance. However, rising inflation rates as well as energy and commodity prices and the imminent end of emergency state aid are legitimate concerns, even if they have not yet been able to shake investor confidence.

Even more surprising, the prospect of the presidential election in spring 2022, which usually almost freezes the French economy a few months in advance, does not seriously dampen investor appetite this time around. While Macron`s France is increasingly seen as a « business-friendly » destination, it would be wrong to conclude that the country has become a paradise for investors. As many lawyers point out, this business-friendly environment is also accompanied by a steady tightening of the regulatory and enforcement framework, which has made lawyers` expertise even more reliable for businesses. For example, the French economy is now subject to strong state interventionism, a situation that has only exacerbated the Covid-19 crisis, and although it can sometimes be to its advantage, state interference is above all perceived as a real brake on companies` projects. In the M&A market, the effects of state presence are perhaps the most striking. Finance Minister Le Maire`s veto of the proposed mergers and acquisitions of retail giants Carrefour and Couche-Tard in early 2021 is still on everyone`s lips.