Michel Sapin advises on high-stakes domestic and cross-border matters of government and public sector law, especially matters involving the African continent. His wealth of expertise in anti-corruption law is an invaluable complement to the firm’s core strength in compliance issues.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in October 2019, Michel Sapin became a lawyer after a highly distinguished political career. After graduating from France’s prestigious Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) and Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA), earning a bachelor’s degree in history and a postgraduate degree in geography and graduating from Sciences Po Paris, he began his career at the Administrative Court in Paris before being elected to the French National Assembly to represent the first district of Indre (1981-1986), then Hauts-de-Seine (1986-1991) and again Indre (2007-2012). He went on to become Minister of State for Justice (1991-1992) then Economy and Finance Minister (1992-1993) under the Bérégovoy government, during which period the first law bearing his name was passed. He also served as Minister for Civil Service and Government Reform from 2000 to 2002 under the Jospin government, then as Labor and Employment Minister (2012-2014) and Finance Minister (2014-2017) under the François Hollande presidency. He also served as mayor of Argenton-sur-Creuse from 1995 to 2012, and as Chairman of the Regional Council for Centre from 1998 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2007. In October 2019, he joined Franklin.
- Legal 500 EMEA 2024 – Michel Sapin is recognized in Administrative & Public law.
‘Good service, efficient team.’
‘Michel Sapin: strong listening skills, good understanding of issues, good quality of research.’ - Leaders League 2023 : Michel Sapin is recognized in the rankings Compliance Program (Excellent) and International investigation and internal investigation (Highly recommended) of the Compliance Guide, in the rankings Renewable energy law (Highly recommended) and Environmental litigation (Valuable practice) of the Enery & environment Guide and in the ranking Market regulation (Excellent) of the Public law Guide.
- National School of Administration
- Paris Institute of Political Studies
- École normale supérieure : Postgraduate degree in geography
- École normale supérieure : Bachelor’s degree in history