Eric Russo joined Quinn Emanuel as a partner in January 2021.
Eric has a 20 year-experience in the French court system, where he was successively assigned to high-profile positions such as investigating judge, prosecutor at the Appellate Court of Paris or Deputy prosecutor of the Parquet National Financier (PNF), the leading French public prosecutor's office for economic and financial crimes.
In France, Eric is actually the first and only senior prosecutor to have moved from the prosecutor’s office to a law firm.
Eric has developed an unparalleled experience in leading international white collar investigations. He has been involved in a great number of criminal trials, both before the Paris criminal court and the Appellate court of Paris, and successfully led the negotiations of the largest settlements (CRPC and CJIP, the French equivalent of guilty pleas and DPAs) agreed over the past years in France, some of them in coordination with the US and the UK enforcement authorities. He’s an expert in the art of coordinating criminal defense in cross-border proceedings.
His detailed and operational knowledge of the French criminal procedure rules is a very valuable asset for his clients. He regularly acts in criminal investigations in France and abroad, including in extradition and Interpol red notices proceedings. Eric Russo also assists his clients in the context of the execution of mutual assistance requests from foreign regulators, both in criminal matters (international letters of requests) and in civil and commercial matters (Hague Convention) and with regard to the application of the French blocking statute, of which he has developed an operational expertise as a prosecutor and as a lawyer.
Eric also assists his clients in strengthening and implementing effective internal compliance systems (in the areas of ABC, GDPR, corporate duty of vigilance, ESG and prevention of cybercrime) as well as in conducting thorough internal investigations or dealing with whistleblowing alerts. His insights on the dynamics of the French enforcement and regulation authorities are unparalleled within the French lawyers community.
Eric also regularly acts in commercial litigation matters, notably in the context of corporate insolvency and restructuring proceedings. A former deputy Head of the French Ministry of Justice's office in charge of issuing the legislation on corporate restructuring and bankruptcy, he has a thorough knowledge of the intricacies of the insolvency proceedings (safeguard and recovery proceedings, conciliation, ad hoc mandate, …), including in a multijurisdictional context. He has advised and represented several creditors (investment funds, venture capital companies, etc.) in restructuring proceedings conducted in France.
Eric regularly participates in attorneys’ training courses at the Nanterre Bar Criminal Defense School, at the Paris Bar School (EFB) and at the National School of Magistrates (ENM). He lectures at Sciences Po Paris, at the University of Paris 1 - Panthéon Sorbonne and at the University of CY Cergy-Pontoise on business ethics and compliance, internal investigations and criminal investigations and corporate resolutions.
- Investigations, Government Enforcement & White Collar Criminal Defense Practice
- Crisis Law & Strategy Group
- Government & Regulatory Litigation
- Investment Fund Litigation
- Mergers & Acquisitions Litigation
- Sports Litigation
- Entertainment & Media Litigation
- Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") Practice
- Bankruptcy & Restructuring
- Antitrust & Competition
- National School of Magistrates – Ecole Nationale de la Magistrature (ENM)
(1999-2002) - University of Lorraine
(Master in Business Law and Tax, 1998)
The Hauts-de-Seine Bar
- French
- English
- Parquet National Financier (PNF):
- Deputy-Prosecutor with the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office, 2015-2020
- Deputy-Prosecutor with the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office, 2015-2020
- Court Of Appeal Of Paris:
- Secretary General of the Public Prosecutor's Office, 2012-2015
- Secretary General of the Public Prosecutor's Office, 2012-2015
- Ministry Of Justice - Civil Affairs And Sceau Directorate:
- Head of contract law division, 2005-2011
- Head of contract law division, 2005-2011
- First Degree Court Of Reims:
- Investigating Judge, 2002-2005
- The Best Lawyers in France Corporate Governance and Compliance Practice, Criminal Defense, Regulatory Practice, 2024
- Trophées du droit 2023 : Trophée d’or de la meilleure équipe spécialisée en Compliance et Anticorruption
- GIR Awards 2020 – Most important development of the year (Airbus case)
- GIR Awards 2020 – Prosecutor of the year (PNF’s Airbus case team)
- « Indepth Feature: Bankruptcy & Restructuring - Recent Developments in France and Challenges with Cross Border Proceedings » Financier Worldwide Magazine - Mai 2023
- « Anti-money laundering 2023 – Indepth Future » – Janvier 2023
- « La responsabilité du dirigeant face aux faits de corruption » - Revue internationale de la compliance et de l’éthique des affaires – Décembre 2022
- « Corruption : quelle responsabilité pénale pour le dirigeant ? » - Revue internationale de la compliance et de l’éthique des affaires – Décembre 2022
- « Corruption, souveraineté, conformité : enjeux et perspectives en France et aux Etats-Unis » - Revue internationale de la compliance et de l’éthique des affaires – Décembre 2022
- « Lutte contre la corruption : une nouvelle ambition française » - Le Droit comme facteur d’activité – L’exemple de la place juridique de Paris-Ile de France – Décembre 2022
- « De la loi Sapin 2 à la loi Sapin 3 » - La lettre des juristes d’affaires Magazine – 18 juillet 2022
- « Anti money laundering trends » - Financier Worldwide Magazine – July-September 2022
- « Developments in European anti-money laundering” – Risk & Compliance, April-June 2022
- « RSE : les bonnes intentions obligent désormais ceux qui les expriment », La semaine juridique 9 juin 2022, n°23
- “Visites domiciliaires fiscales : pas de protection des données stockées à distance », Revue internationale de la compliance et de l’éthique des affaires – n°3 Juin 2022
- «Corruption : Evaluation de la France par l’OCDE. En progrès, mais peut mieux faire ! », Revue internationale de la compliance et de l’éthique des affaires n°2 – Avril 2022
- Featured in PNF and AFA Publish Draft Guidance for Corruption Investigations, Global Investigations Review, 17 March 2022
- “Gauvain bill. Towards a new era of anti-corruption in France? - International review of compliance and business ethics n°1 – February 2022
- "The new challenges of compliance" - Cahiers de droit de l'entreprise n°1, January-February 2022
- Featured in France to Consider Tough Anti-Corruption Reforms, Global Investigations Review, 24 October 2021
- "International corruption: the noose is tightening a little more around companies", International review of compliance and business ethics n°5 - October 2021
- “The rising star of the national financial prosecutor's office becomes a lawyer. », Les Echos, October 7, 2020
- Featured in French Airbus prosecutor to join US law, Global Investigations Review, 12 October 2020
- Director of the annual training session for magistrates : “Strategies and methodology for white collar crime investigations” (Ecole nationale de la Magistrature)
- Lecturer on the Magistrats-Avocats-Juristes training session about judicial negotiations
- Lecturer – Diplôme Universitaire Compliance et Ethique des affaires – Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne.
- "CJIP: adjustments made by the law of December 24, 2020 and other subjects for reflection for the future", AJ Penal, February 2021
- Lecturer at Sciences Po Paris on « Business Ethics and International Regulations” (« Ethique des affaires et régulations internationales »)
- Lecture at the Ecole Nationale de la Magistrature (ENM) on « The corporate criminal liability and corporate resolutions under French law” (« Responsabilité pénale des personnes morales et poursuites contre les personnes morales en droit français »)
- Lecture at the DU Compliance Université Panthéon-Sorbonne on « Internal investigations and criminal investigations »
- Auditor of the 17th annual session of the IHEE (Institute for Advanced Business Studies), 2017