Picovschi Lawyers
Picovschi Law firm was founded in 1988 by managing partner Gerard Picovschi. Comprised of some of the finest legal minds in Paris, our firm strives to provide each and every client with the upmost satisfaction. We are honored to be recognized by many embassies based in Paris. At Picovschi Law Firm we approach every legal situation eagerly and attentively. We are proud of our “can do” attitude!
Our lawyers are available over the phone to answer your legal questions
90 av. Niel - 62 & 69 rue Ampère 75017 Paris
Areas of Expertise
Partner Embassies
News feed
International succession: what is the applicable law? published 19/06/2020
You are the heir to a succession with an international dimension (real estate in several countries, bank accounts or corporate securities held abroad, etc.) and you are wondering about the settlement of the succession in regards to the laws of the various countries. Which law applies to the succession? Which court should be seized in case of litigation? Is it possible to choose the law that will apply to the succession? Don’t worry, Picovschi Lawyers puts its more than 30 years of experience in international succession law at your service to help you break the deadlock and resolve the situation.
Heirs of foreign bank accounts, what should be declared in France? published 25/03/2020
Each year, you have to report your income as well as your bank accounts abroad to the tax authorities, and as an heir to a bank account outside France, you may not know how to regularize the situation. Picovschi lawyers guides you through the process after inheriting a bank account abroad.
Will and codicil: what to do in case of conflict ? published 19/03/2020
Have you written a will you wish to amend? You are an heir to an estate, and you have been informed that a new person has been added to it by a codicil? Did you just find out that you were removed from a relative’s will? In such cases, the drafting of a codicil by the testator and the request for its nullity may be made by one or more heirs. Requesting an attorney ‘assistance is the best way to challenge the validity of a codicil or to enforce it. Picovschi lawyers, competent in succession law for over thirty years, will help you better understand your options in such a case and offer you the best defense possible.
Marriage abroad: how to divorce in France published 26/02/2020
Nowadays, couples are increasingly deciding to celebrate their marriage abroad. Sometimes some of these couples are “mixed” couples meaning they do not have the same nationality. In addition, couples tend to live in several cities during their marriage. Is it possible for a couple who has contracted a marriage abroad to divorce in France? Under which conditions? The assistance of an attorney is necessary to guide you in your divorce proceedings in France. Picovschi lawyers, competent in family law, can help you navigate throughout this difficult time.
In the Business Law Department, our team of lawyers and our staff can advise you on any kind of corporate issue you may face.
We take pride in our ability to represent and to create the appropriate legal entities for a company’s particular interests by implementing our previous experience in advising both the management and development sectors.
Our strong background in corporate governance allows our firm to oversee relationships between stakeholders, directors, employees, customers, creditors, and suppliers, as well as supervising a company’s objectives. Furthermore, we are able to optimize and reorganize businesses both before and after mergers, acquisitions, and corporate restructurings.
In cases of corporate fraud litigation, our English-speaking attorneys can take care of any and all corporate legal issues by negotiating on your behalf and representing your company in court proceedings.
With the help of the tax office, or the internal revenue service, our corporate lawyers can use welfare benefits and tax credits to help optimize your business’ performance.
Picovschi Law Firm also specializes in commercial contracts, banking law, insurance disputes, distribution agreements, and franchising. Our typical clientele often includes Foreign companies that wish to reach the French and European markets without undertaking substantial costs or obligations.
We draft franchising contracts with care, taking into account all aspects of the commercial context and the aims of the franchiser. We also make sure that your project complies with French and European laws and regulations, particularly franchise and competitions law, areas in which our firm thrives. We are proud to partner with multiple Paris-based embassies, including the US, UK, Spain, and Canada.
Picovschi Law Firm has also garnered a strong reputation our ability to reduce social costs. Our approach lies in our belief that reliable legal solutions do exist in France, a fact proven by our capacity to reduce payroll taxes levied on income from 60% to 25% while still retaining Social Security Coverage. Our knowledge of the Social Security Regulations also enables us to drastically reduce the social costs often associated with a number of salaried positions within a company. We believe the reduction of payroll taxes is essential to the management of your business. Thus, lawyers at Picovschi Law firm can play an essential role in the social optimization of your company.
In recent years, Picovschi Law Firm has accumulated extensive experience and practice in the real estate domain. Our department of lawyers is prepared to advise you on any kind of real estate transaction in which you are involved, represent you in court proceedings, and guide you through any real estate litigation you may face.
The real estate department can provide you with the finest legal advice regarding the current condition of the local real estate market in France, as well as in the United States. In addition to analyzing the legal issues related to property and real estate, our firm handles each step of the purchasing process. We examine contracts, handle disclosures, and help you close the deal.
We understand that these transactions can be time sensitive. At Picovschi Law Firm we have a diverse team which enables us to employ a comprehensive, yet efficient, approach in analyzing and resolving your concerns. We have experience in a variety of real estate estate properties, including apartment buildings, individual houses, offices, malls or shopping centers, hotels, and student housing. Therefore, whether we are dealing with the acquisition or sale of a multi-million Euro residential or commercial property, undertaking a corporate restructuring, or advising an individual home or business owner, we can approach any situation with the same level of rigor and professionalism.
Our law firm is able to intercede on a client’s behalf in major operations in the Paris Financial District (“La Defense”) or in cases requiring complex technical expertise in “Butte Montmartre” in Paris.
We are experienced in land use and zoning law. In the past we have even intervened in cases of politically sensitive real estate development. You can be assured that our in depth knowledge of French Land Use Regulations, and local rules and practice, will provide you with the best assistance and advice possible.
The lawyers at our firm are fully aware of the legal complexity and financial risks associated with real estate transactions. Bearing this in mind, we can advise you on every step of the process, from implementing the construction program, researching and purchasing land, creating a purchasing corporation, to finding appropriate funding and financing.
The Real Estate Department, in connection with the International Law department, can handle your property acquisition in both France and the US, as many of our lawyers have been passed the Bar in both New York and Paris.
In labor and employment law, Picovschi lawyers act as both legal counsel and litigators. The department has a broad range of functions, spanning from general employment law-related topics to the specific French rules of Social Protection (URSSAF).
Over the years, many of our lawyers have worked in this field at length, establishing our firm as a source of reference in Paris for these types of issues. Our lawyers appear regularly before the employment specialized courts of the Professional Social Security. We take pride in our extensive experience in the business sector, and our strong relationship with the French Social Security Authorities (Labor Inspectors, URSSAF controllers, etc…)
We constantly strive to be effective litigators, always analyzing and learning from our own work-related conflicts, allowing us to determine techniques that better the working-relationship, making it more harmonious, productive, and competitive.
Many business leaders find themselves concerned with social conflicts within the workplace. Thus we have developed a set of techniques which complement our expertise and allow us to renegotiate and arbitrate workplace power based relationships more effectively.
Over time, our team has garnered experience by arguing labor law and work related issues. Our experience has allowed us to develop methods regarding payroll optimization which generate substantial savings in social security.
With regard to the hiring process, we can advise employers and employees on negotiations involving employment contracts and terms of employment, including the wage system, working hours (part-time or full-time) at will contracts, etc.
Our firm assists companies in choosing between the indefinite duration contract (or at will contract, i.e. CDI), the fixed term contract (CDD), the temporary to permanent contract, subcontracting, outsourcing, offshoring and other arrangements. We are up to date on all French and European Laws and Regulations with which these contracts must agree.
Our job requires a sophisticated understanding of the approach to the structural needs of a business, allowing us to give advice on organizational procedures available through Human Resources (HR). Throughout the labor contract process, our firm can advise and help improve human resource management in ways such as sending workers overseas with our Cross Border Mobility partners. We can also help you with beneficial business practices such as information technology and communication, telecommuting, hygiene and safety, attendance management, accidents, sickness, the exercising of disciplinary power, and more. We stand by our clients, helping them maintain efficient collective labor relations with the firm, ranging from establishing staff representative bodies, electing and appointing staff, and conducting mandatory meetings with employers. Our firm is also competent in criminal law, and can assist you in criminal cases, including but not limited to clandestine work issues.
Since our establishment in 1988, we have proudly provided our clients with high quality, personalized, legal service. Our team boasts some of the best tax attorneys in Paris. Assisting them, we have former tax auditor Jean Martin, whose expertise in the field has proven invaluable in providing the most comprehensive legal advice to our clients. With this group of diverse specialists, we are confident in our ability to support you in every best possible way.
Our team is proficient in income, estate, capital gains, and payroll taxes (social security contributions), as well as inheritance, sales, and even corporate taxes. Therefore, our tax planning and optimization team assists our clients in opening offices in France by helping them plan operations efficiently and by reducing taxes as much as possible.
With our help, you could benefit from establishing business in France, giving your company an international competitive edge against other multinational competitors. Picovschi lawyers can help facilitate these benefits by substantially reducing payroll taxes and labor costs, which companies often incur when doing business in Europe. We can also advise both French and foreign companies on how to create international structures for a company and on how to exclude profit taxation on other structures established abroad.
Picovschi Law Firm’s tax and corporate departments are also highly experienced in establishing national and multinational business operations that allow foreign companies to access the European goods and services market, while paying the fewest taxes possible. For example, we advise companies on how to avoid unnecessary taxes during mergers, during sales (based on residency status), or during a variety of other business operations that can incur a lower sales tax.
Amongst our great success, we have convinced local tax authorities to take particular tax deductions into account, substantially reducing financial costs for our clients. We have also been particularly successful in the field of construction in attaining tax waivers for certain projects, greatly increasing our clients’ profits. We have also justified the nature of various multinational business operations qualifying each for the most advantageous tax formula available.
At Picovschi Law Firm we pride ourselves in our ability to navigate tough negotiations and complex tax litigation before all local and European governmental tax and court authorities with ease.
Our fast growing International Law Department assists European foreign companies in their general transnational pursuits. For international litigation, we approach international commercial disputes by using negotiation and arbitration. Our overall success in the field stems from a wealth of experience involving trade relations with culturally diverse countries including the USA, the UK, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, China, Japan, and others in the Middle East.
We also boast an ability to navigate more difficult or sensitive legal areas, including aeronautics, civil and commercial aviation, car construction and distribution, composite materials production, protection of international high-tech sites, information technology, industrial property, construction of major projects, etc. Our particular knowledge of aeronautics allows us to help clients during negotiation and drafting of aeronautics contracts and in national and international joint venture agreements.
Our experience also allows us to assist international companies with international trade activities and to handle establishment and relocation in conjunction with the Corporate, Taxation, and Employment Departments. We strive for tax efficiency and optimization of social welfare and corporate profits.
We help companies to expand their international network and to take advantage of foreign markets. We can also provide you with high quality counseling in US and International law as many of our lawyers come from common law countries and are fluent in foreign languages such as English and Spanish.
Our International Law Department will also negotiate on your behalf with the French and European authorities and administrators (public officials, politicians, control and regulations agencies).
Picovschi Law Firm can provide advise on Management and Risk Optimization, focusing on the reorganization of your company in order to maximize profits. This may include reducing managers’ and directors’ payroll taxes from 60% to 20%, as well as preventing and diminishing labor disputes with employees and staff.
Just as we can assist you with your legal issues in the US, we can also help you with your investments in Canada. As an official partner of the Canadian Embassy in France, we offer many advantages, including a thorough knowledge of commercial contracts, international tax optimization, and Canadian law. We also have a web of local partners who are equally as dedicated to our clients. We can use local contacts to help you enter the Canadian market, minimizing your costs through our network connections.
Finally, we can advise you on choosing the most effective legal entities for your particular project.
This combination of low costs, connections with North American Markets, a great business environment and our dedicated team, allows Picovschi Law Firm to strive and provide you with the best environment for your business to flourish.
We protect art, design, and other types of industrial property by filing trademarks, patents, and design applications. We prosecute all acts that infringe upon your intellectual property rights and file actions, either before legal institutions for the protection of intellectual property, or before courts against all unfair competitive activities that might damage your business in France. Our firm also negotiates, secures, and drafts all agreements related to the protection and transfer of technologies as well.
The Intellectual Property Department specializes in patents, trademarks, copyright, models and designs, information technology, e-commerce, and unfair competitive practices.
Regarding trademarks, the firm can perform trademarks and trade name investigations to screen and clear proposed logos and company names for use in France, the European community, and North America. We can also file and prosecute national and European trademark applications and oversee the filing and prosecution of foreign trademark applications, often working in conjunction with foreign clients or law firms. We also posses the knowledge necessary for trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings before the French Patent and trademark Office (INPI), allowing us to represent both trademark owners and parties who seek to oppose or cancel trademark registrations of third parties. Picovschi lawyers also have experience managing trademark matters involving the internet and have been particularly successful in resolving internet domain name disputes.
Our firm also takes on intellectual property inquiries for clients involved in mergers and acquisitions. Such investigations can include infringement studies to ascertain the potential impact of intellectual property rights of third parties, the different IP rights to be acquired, and the contracts actually conveying the IP rights.
Our firm also sets up intellectual property rights contracts, transferring and registering them with the relevant trademark, design or patent office. We also handle every aspect of research and technology contracts, such as technology software, shrink wrap licenses and transfer agreement, OEM agreements, distribution agreements, consulting and research agreements, confidentiality and development agreements, and joint venture agreements.
The law firm obtains copyright and design registrations for its clients for industrial designs, software, websites, literary and artistic works, music, multimedia pieces, cinematographic works, etc. We establish agreements according to French and European law allowing for the creating of and ownership of copyrightable works, as well as the publishing, distributing and representing of agreements, such as those in the field of recordings, advertising, television, and cinema. We also represent actors and other personalities in their contractual relationships with production companies and consult and represent collective bargaining organizations that manage copyrighted works for their members.
Picoschi Law Firm can provide counseling in matters involving unfair competition, such as simulations, plagiarism, misrepresentation, trade secretes and trade dress infringements.
In general, our firm is competent in all fields of IP litigation. Our expertise allows us to counsel our clients on the necessity of taking legal action against a third party and helps us estimate the rate of success of such actions. Further, our firm is well-versed in all civil and intellectual property legal procedures, enabling us to obtain the maximum amount of damages while avoiding any procedural risks for our clients.