Herbert Smith Freehills boosts finance practice in Paris with the re-hire of Laure Bonin

Laure re-joins from August Debouzy, where she was head of the Banking and Finance team. She has more than 20 years of experience advising banks and debt funds on syndicated loans, acquisition finance and leveraged finance.

Laure has been recognised in several legal directories, including Chambers and Partners Europe and Global 2023, where one client described her as managing "…to drive the negotiations process in a very smooth and smart way in order to meet overall objectives", Legal 500 EMEA 2023 as a Next Generation Partner, IFLR1000 2023 and Best Lawyers 2024. 

Laure re-joins the firm with senior associate Emmanuel le Galloc'h, who also spent several years in the Paris Finance team at Herbert Smith Freehills before joining Laure at August Debouzy.

Commenting on the hire, Régis Oréal, Managing Partner for the firm's Paris office, says:

"We are delighted to welcome Laure back to the firm. Having her expertise will enable us to strengthen our acquisition and leveraged finance offering and her developing practice advising private debt funds aligns well with the firm's Private Capital strategic choice."

Laure Bonin comments:

"The Herbert Smith Freehills Finance team in Paris is well-known for its strong connections with French banks, which I will be able to support through my practice. Having spent most of my career at the firm previously, I know the partners both in Paris and across the firm's global network well – I look forward to working with the various teams again."
    
Laure is the fourth partner to join the Herbert Smith Freehills finance practice in EMEA and London since the start of 2023. In January 2023, the firm announced it had hired private capital debt specialist Ambarish Dash based in the London office, in March it announced the hire of Dr Fritz Kleweta in the firm's Frankfurt office, and in November it announced the hire of Sergio Cires in the firm's Madrid office. Our global Finance practice boasts 200 lawyers including 59 partners. 

Herbert Smith Freehills celebrates the 60th anniversary of its Paris office in 2024. The Paris office currently boasts 31 partners, 14 of Counsel and 79 fee-earners.