Former Brown Rudnick trio join Paris-based private equity boutique Moncey Avocats

Former Brown Rudnick trio join Paris-based private equity boutique Moncey Avocats

Moncey Avocats, a French private equity boutique, has expanded its restructuring practice by hiring a trio of lawyers from the now-closed Paris office of Brown Rudnick. The new hires include veteran restructuring partner Pierre-Alain Bouhénic, counsel Thibaut Lefort, and associate Louis Gibon.

The team previously consisted of one partner, David Malamed, and two associates. The new additions are expected to significantly increase the size and capabilities of the boutique's practice.

Moncey Avocats was founded in the spring of 2021 by managing partner Frédéric Pinet and other partners David Malamed, Frédéric Bosc, Guillaume Giuliani, and Marie-Victoire James, as a spin-off of established French boutique Desfils.

The boutique Moncey Avocats was created to capitalise on the busy mid-cap private equity market in France that emerged in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The firm's managing partner Frédéric Pinet said that they were thrilled that Pierre-Alain and his team are joining Moncey Avocats.

"His arrival demonstrates our twofold desire to be among the key players in transactional work on the French market and to meet our clients' needs with teams adapted to their challenges. Their concerns in relation to the reorganization or restructuring of their companies or joint ventures are more important than ever. We can now respond to them with a team perfectly adapted and dimensioned for that," Pinet said.

Pierre-Alain Bouhénic is a veteran restructuring partner who specialises in corporate turnarounds and restructurings. He has experience in preventive procedures and distressed M&A. He works with French and foreign corporate clients, including groups of companies, listed companies, mid-cap companies, investment funds, and turnaround funds.

Prior to joining Moncey Avocats, he spent six years at DLA Piper, which he joined when it absorbed his boutique Frieh Bouhénic. Before that, he was a partner in the Paris office of the US law firm Weil Gotshal & Manges. He joined Brown Rudnick in 2018.

The firm stated that Bouhénic's capabilities in corporate turnarounds and restructurings will add a new dimension to the restructuring work conducted by David Malamed, who focuses on corporate and real estate acquisition finance and financial restructuring for foreign and French investment funds, listed companies, and groups under LBO. The firm also offers services in M&A, finance, tax, labour law, non-transactional corporate work and litigation, and arbitration.

The firm added that Bouhénic's hire is aligned with Moncey Avocats' ambition to respond to the challenges of growth, reorganisation, and development of its clients both in terms of transactional aspects and operational support in the long term.

Moncey Avocats' significant clients include European private equity firms such as 21 Capital Partners, M80 Partners, and EMZ Partners. The firm has advised EMZ Partners on its investment in the Faunché group.