Best Law Firms™ – France celebrates the launch of its inaugural edition, establishing a new benchmark for firm-level excellence. This initiative follows the 2024 research announcement, which marked the start of comprehensive data collection across France.
This represents the first evaluation of French firms through a process that blends extensive client feedback with peer review.
A Benchmark Built on Local Insight
Best Lawyers® developed these rankings using a methodology that considers local differences and has been refined globally since 2009. While The Best Lawyers in France™ awards have recognized lawyers individually for years, Best Law Firms – France expands that recognition to evaluate entire firms.
Thousands of French legal professionals, firm leaders and clients contributed to the research. Their insights ensure the results reflect local perspectives rather than an imported framework.
Mehdi Ali Larbi, CEO of FOBS Family Office and Business Services, emphasized, “The Best Lawyers and Best Law Firms awards are valuable tools for identifying high-quality legal service providers. They offer useful insights, especially when they reflect consistent feedback from clients and peers.” His comment underscores that client and peer input forms the foundation of these rankings, making them a reliable guide for the French market.
Research Voices and Methodology
Eligibility for Best Law Firms – France starts with recognition in The Best Lawyers in France, ensuring that each candidate firm meets a standard of excellence.
The 2026 research cycle drew on input from across the country. Surveys reached 785 firms and 3,409 lawyers within the French legal community. This produced 163,811 votes on 1,045 firms. Clients contributed 5,296 references, providing 5,860 evaluations and more than 400 detailed comments. Results from Best Law Firms France’s survey of firms and clients are available in our France Legal Market Report.
In addition, 81 managing partners and practice group leaders provided interviews that offered strategic context.
This multi-perspective approach combines client satisfaction, peer judgment and leadership insights, providing a comprehensive view of a firm’s performance.
Complete details are available on the Best Law Firms – France methodology page.
Firm Distinctions: Regional, National and “Law Firm of the Year”
Regional recognition forms the foundation of Best Law Firms – France. Across 50 practice areas, 748 firms earned distinction within their jurisdictions. This level reflects the competitive nature of each region and the breadth of firms delivering high-quality legal services.
From there, national recognition marks the next step. A total of 292 firms across 30 practice areas demonstrated the ability to serve clients beyond their local regions. These firms stand out for their capacity to deliver consistent results across France.
At the top, "Law Firm of the Year" represents the highest achievement. A total of 23 firms, representing 26 practice areas, received this distinction.
Best Law Firms awards it only to firms that show consistent excellence and leadership in their fields.
Insights into France’s Most Active Legal Practices
A diverse mix of practice areas defines France’s legal sector, reflecting the country’s economic, regulatory and societal priorities. This section highlights the five most prominent fields in the Best Law Firms – France rankings and the factors driving their current significance.
Litigation
Litigation in France is entering a period of expansion. The 2025 class action reform opens the door to broader collective redress, extending beyond consumer issues to include B2B disputes. Designed to align with EU directives, the framework is expected to generate more mass claims by lowering barriers for plaintiffs.
Regulatory enforcement is also intensifying. Oversight bodies have issued higher-profile penalties, including fines against Shein for cookie violations, underscoring closer scrutiny of corporate practices. At the same time, cross-border disputes continue to shape the market. A prominent example is French nuclear group Orano’s arbitration with Niger over its uranium mine.
While arbitration and mediation are gaining traction as alternatives, courtroom litigation remains a defining feature of the French legal system.
Corporate Law and Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Corporate law in France continues to attract global attention, with international investment reinforcing the sector’s strength. At the May 2025 The "Choose France" summit, more than €40.8 billion in foreign investments were announced across the defense, energy and artificial intelligence sectors. This climate sustains robust M&A law activity, as French companies expand abroad and foreign investors deepen their presence.
The momentum is visible in major structural moves within the legal market, including Morgan Lewis expanding its Paris operations by acquiring a 54-lawyer cross-practice team from Kramer Levin. This high-profile lateral move highlights continued investment in French corporate deal-making capabilities.
Labor and Employment Law
France's labor and employment sector remains dynamic, shaped by complex regulations, ongoing reforms and evolving work arrangements. The 2023 pension reform continues to spark debate in 2025, leading to widespread protests and strikes and reflecting the nation's challenge in balancing social welfare and economic sustainability.
In the private sector, companies are adapting to flexible work arrangements, with firms like EY revisiting workweek limits to address employee concerns. These developments underscore the steady demand for employment law expertise in France, as businesses and workers alike adapt to a rapidly changing legal and economic landscape.
Tax Law
France has introduced reforms reshaping tax law rules for multinational enterprises. Key measures include the Pillar Two global minimum tax, which requires multinational groups to meet at least a 15% effective tax rate.
The 2025 Finance Bill also added surtaxes and new reporting obligations for large firms, including enhanced Pillar Two requirements. Recent cases, such as UBS agreeing to pay nearly $1 billion to settle cross-border business tax issues, show that tax compliance and strategic structuring remain central to high-stakes corporate activity.
Practice Area Comparisons Across Europe
To understand France’s legal market, it is valuable to place it in the context of other major European jurisdictions where Best Law Firms conducts research. Comparing France with Germany and Spain highlights how national priorities, regulatory environments and market trends shape the practice areas that gain recognition.
The 2026 Best Law Firms – France rankings underscore the country’s distinctive focus on litigation and a strong regulatory environment in employment and tax, reflecting a market where disputes and compliance drive legal demand.
By contrast, the 2026 Best Law Firms™ – Germany emphasizes corporate, M&A, labor and tax law, with arbitration playing a prominent role. Firms there are balancing traditional cross-border work with a growing focus on domestic matters and consolidations such as Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer signal strategic moves to strengthen local capabilities.
2026 Best Law Firms™ – Spain shows yet another pattern: corporate, labor and M&A law dominate alongside strong real estate and banking practices, reflecting a market that combines core transactional activity with sector-specific priorities.
Viewed together, these comparisons illustrate how different EU markets prioritize legal expertise. France’s litigation and regulatory emphasis distinguish it from Germany’s arbitration-centered focus and Spain’s strength in real estate and banking, providing a broader perspective on the factors shaping legal recognition across Europe.
Defining Legal Excellence Across France
The inaugural 2026 Best Law Firms – France rankings provide a clear view of excellence across the country. Recognition affirms a firm’s professional expertise and standing within the French legal community. At the same time, it gives clients a trusted reference for navigating the legal landscape and selecting reliable advisors.
What sets this benchmark apart is that it is rooted in the French community. These rankings incorporate the perspectives of clients, peers and firm leaders throughout France. By capturing these inputs, the results offer an accurate portrayal of the French market rather than an outside assessment.
This combination of viewpoints provides firms with a meaningful way to gauge their performance and helps clients make informed decisions when selecting legal representation.
Discover the Best Law Firms – France 2026 rankings to identify recognized firms by practice area and jurisdiction.
