Le Borgne | Saint-Palais
ASSOCIÉS
the lawyers
Jean-Yves Le Borgne
After studying law at the Université Panthéon-Assas, Jean-Yves Le Borgne was admitted to the Paris Bar in 1973. Elected Secrétaire de la Conférence in 1977, he quickly became a specialist in courtroom hearings and pleadings and has since developed a widely-recognized expertise in criminal law.
Since the early 1990s, he has established himself as a key player in the defense of white-collar crime, and has distinguished himself in sensitive cases, bringing his expertise to bear on political and business figures. He was elected member of the Paris Bar Council in 1992, then Vice-President of the Paris Bar in 2010; the first to hold this position in the history of the French Bar. He was also President of the Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (2003).
An Officer of the Legion of Honor and the National Order of Merit, his commitment to the public service is also reflected in his reflections on reforming the justice system and the judiciary, notably in his two books La garde à vue, un résidu de barbarie (Le Cherche Midi, 2011) and Changer la justice (PUF, 2017). He is also the author of Accusés Levez-Vous (Plon-Gründ, 2022), an illustrated anthology of criminal justice.
See also:
Portrait of Jean-Yves Le Borgne in Les Echos magazine.
Laure Moureu
Laure Moureu was admitted to the Paris Bar in 2005 and since then has been practicing within Le Borgne | Saint-Palais Associés.
She holds a Master’s degree in Private Law and Judicial Careers from Paris II- Panthéon Assas, and is a graduate of the same university’s Institute of Criminology.
With 20 years’ experience in cases requiring a high level of technical expertise and an acute understanding of the courtroom, she assists plaintiffs and defendants before all jurisdictions, including disciplinary ones.
Her working languages are French and English.
Christian Saint-Palais
Christian Saint-Palais holds a post-graduate diploma (DEA) in international public law. He was admitted to the Paris Bar in 1992 and joined Jean-Yves Le Borgne’s criminal defense practice in 1995.
A former Secrétaire de la Conférence, he is widely regarded as an expert in criminal procedure and a “defender of the defense” and has been involved in the most sensitive criminal cases. He has also developed an expertise in white-collar crime, which has led him to assist numerous economic decision-makers in the most high-profile cases of the last years.
He was President of the Criminal Defense Lawyers Association from 2016 to 2021.
See also :
Christian Saint-Palais’ Grand Interview on LCP
Portrait of Christian Saint-Palais in the Dalloz legal journal
Ranked as one of the most powerful lawyers in France by GQ magazine.
Marie-Laure Dabadie
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2008, Marie-Laure Dabadie trained in private law and holds a Master’s degree in intellectual property law from Bordeaux IV University.
After gaining experience with a firm specializing in copyright law, she joined Le Borgne | Saint-Palais Associés in 2009.
Marie-Laure Dabadie handles both general and business criminal law cases and has developed a specific expertise in press and criminal health law.
She is a member of the bar association council (2026 - 2029).
Maël Atain Kouadio
Maël Atain Kouadio is a graduate of the Magistère in International and European Business Law from the Faculty of Law of Nancy and holds an LL.M in International and Transnational Criminal Law from the University of Amsterdam.
A member of the Bar since 2025, he joined the firm the same year. He has honed his practice at leading law firms such as WJ Avocats, Maisonneuve, and Gosset Lasek Esclatine.
He also has experience with the Ministry of Justice and the French Embassy in Senegal, where he developed a thorough understanding of institutional and international issues.
His practice focuses primarily on general criminal law, white-collar crime, and international criminal law.
He practices in both French and English.
