What Aklea does

Aklea is a privately held French business law firm (société d'avocats) headquartered in Paris with a second office in Lyon, founded in 2009 by Gilles Bazaille, Lionel Roche, and Christophe Cochet, all formerly of Bignon Lebray & Associés. The firm operates across 12 practice areas spanning corporate law and financing, taxation, labor law and HR, intellectual property and data protection, civil and commercial litigation, competition and distribution, commercial contracts, compliance, public business law, environmental and renewable energy law, sponsoring/foundations/associations, and agro-economy. With approximately 50 collaborators (9 partners, 20 associates, 21 support staff), Aklea serves growing mid-size companies (ETIs), entrepreneurs, investors, and non-profit organisations across France, drawing on the Law Firm Alliance international network for cross-border matters.

The firm delivers services through a partner-led, multidisciplinary model in which dedicated teams are assembled per mandate rather than relying on productized offerings; there is no proprietary technology platform, and the only disclosed infrastructure is a GDPR-compliant website with standard cookie management. Revenue is generated under a professional services, quote-based pricing model that varies by matter complexity and seniority of personnel assigned. Distribution is relationship-driven, combining direct client service in Paris and Lyon, targeted thought-leadership and legal publications, participation in industry events, and structured deal-flow pipelines through the EM Lyon Incubator and the Digital League cluster. Recent activity shows sustained lateral hiring (eight or more new collaborators between 2023 and 2026), internal partner elevations (Garcia, Rouleux, Greder, Briswalder between 2018 and 2020), and consistent Décideurs Magazine rankings across 2022-2024, while high-profile mandates include the €100M Mylight150 fundraising, H2 Créteil hydrogen infrastructure, and multi-step acquisition programs for EODD and Xynergy.

Name

Aklea

Legal name

Aklea société d'avocats

Website

https://aklea.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Aklea is a privately held French business law firm founded in 2009, with offices in Paris and Lyon and approximately 50 collaborators, serving mid-size enterprises, entrepreneurs, investors, and non-profit organisations across 12 practice areas including corporate/M&A, tax, labor, IP, and environmental law.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Business Law / Legal Advisory Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), Legal Services (5411)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate & Commercial Law (BPAHAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships Advisory (JVs, Alliances, Carve-outs) (BPAHAOAG), Accounting & Bookkeeping Services (BPAHABAC)

Keywords

• Business law services
• Corporate legal advisory
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Tax law advisory
• Employment law counsel

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Legal Advisory Services: Comprehensive legal, tax, and social operations services for companies throughout their lifecycle, including mergers and acquisitions, litigation, contracts, and compliance matters.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Aklea is a multidisciplinary French business law firm (société d'avocats) providing comprehensive legal, tax, and social advisory services to companies throughout their lifecycle. The firm delivers counsel across 11 distinct practice areas, including corporate law and financing, taxation, employment and HR, intellectual property and data protection, commercial contracts, competition and distribution, civil and commercial litigation, compliance, environmental and renewable energy law, public business law, and sponsorship/foundations/associations. Services are delivered directly through its Paris and Lyon offices and internationally via the Law Firm Alliance network.

Product overview

Aklea is a multidisciplinary French law firm offering comprehensive legal advisory services. The firm operates as a single unified service portfolio rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. Its core offerings span 12 distinct legal practice areas including corporate law and financing, taxation, labor law, intellectual property, compliance, litigation, commercial contracts, competition law, environmental law, public business law, sponsorship and foundations, and agro-economy. The firm serves growing companies, investors, and non-profit organisations across France with offices in Paris and Lyon.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Competition, Distribution, Consumer Affairs Legal counsel on competition law, distribution networks, franchise agreements, commercial agents, and consumer protection matters for companies operating in France and internationally.
• Civil and Commercial Litigation Representation and counsel in civil and commercial disputes, including arbitration proceedings, for businesses across industries.
• Commercial Contracts Drafting, negotiation, and review of commercial contracts including general terms and conditions, commercial leases, and annual negotiations for businesses.
• Intellectual Property, IT, Data Protection IP protection services including trademarks, patents, copyrights, IT law, and GDPR compliance for companies.
• Compliance Regulatory compliance services including GDPR compliance, RSE, competition compliance, alert procedures, crisis protocols, and anti-money laundering for companies.
• Labor Law, Human Resources and Mobility Employment law counsel covering individual and collective labor relations, HR strategy, restructuring, and international mobility for employers and executives.
• Corporate Law and Financing Corporate law services including mergers and acquisitions, capital transactions, restructuring, LBO/MBO operations, and fundraising support for growing companies and investors.
• Taxation of Companies, Assets and Non-profit Organisations Tax advisory services for businesses, individuals, and non-profit organisations including tax audits, transfer pricing, and international tax matters.
• Sponsoring, Foundations, Associations Legal support for sponsorship agreements, foundation creation and management, and association governance for non-profit organisations.
• Environment & Renewable Energy and Climate Challenges Environmental law services including polluted sites remediation, ICPE regulations, renewable energy projects, and hydrogen contracts for energy and industrial clients.
• Agro-economy Legal services tailored to the agricultural sector and agro-food industry.
• Public Business Law Public procurement law, urban planning, public domain management, and administrative law matters.

Named customers16 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Law Firm AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009International network of experienced quality partner law firms enabling Aklea to serve clients internationally. The network provides access to quality legal partners across multiple jurisdictions for cross-border matters.
• GN-Avocats / NogaredeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with GN-Avocats firm, displayed as a logo partnership on Aklea's website footer.
• EM Lyon IncubatorcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAklea has been a partner of the EM Lyon business school incubator for more than 10 years. Gilles Bazaille is an active member of this incubator, providing entrepreneurial support for start-up projects and innovative companies with a legal perspective.
• Digital LeagueminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMarie Briswalder is committed to creating value through law in start-ups through a partnership with the Digital League, a cluster for digital companies.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• CMS Francis Lefebvre: French arm of global CMS network. Competes for mid-market and upper mid-market corporate, tax and M&A mandates that overlap Aklea's practice, but with the international footprint of a global firm.
• Fidal: Largest French business law firm by headcount with nationwide office network. Competes with Aklea for mid-market corporate, tax and labor mandates but at significantly greater scale and with broader geographic coverage.
• DS Avocats: International French-origin business law firm. Overlaps with Aklea on corporate/M&A, tax and employment mandates for mid-market clients, with the advantage of owned international offices (source of Aklea's lateral hires).
• Andersen Legal: French member of the global Andersen tax & legal network. Competes with Aklea on tax and corporate work for mid-sized French companies, with the benefit of international Andersen network reach (Aklea previously employed a partner who worked at Andersen Legal/E&Y).

Direct peers

• Bignon Lebray: French mid-size business law firm where all three Aklea co-founders previously practiced. Operates a similar multidisciplinary model with comparable headcount and French regional footprint, making it the closest peer for positioning and scale benchmarking.
• DELSOL Avocats: Lyon- and Paris-based full-service business law firm and direct predecessor to several Aklea partners. Comparable multi-practice structure serving ETIs, investors and mid-cap corporates across similar legal domains.
• Bolze Associés: Mid-size French business law firm with a multi-practice structure (corporate, tax, employment). Direct comparable in scale and target clients, and a known lateral-hire source for Aklea.
• Cornet Vincent Segurel: Mid-size French full-service business law firm with offices in Paris, Lyon and several other French cities. Closely comparable in size, practice breadth and target client segment to Aklea (also a former employer of an Aklea collaborator).
• Lamartine Conseil: Lyon-based business law firm specializing in corporate law, M&A and tax for mid-market companies. Geographic and practice overlap with Aklea's Lyon office makes it a close regional peer.
• Yards: Paris-based business law firm serving growing companies and their founders, with a comparable multi-practice offering and target clientele. Frequently cited as a direct competitor for French ETI mandates.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/loriane-catil-terrat-a4417966
• Xx.com/AkleaLawFirm

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Aklea