LEXperience SPECIAL EDITION. Welcome to ALLY Avocats

🎧 Listen to the LEXpérience Special Edition: “Welcome to ALLY Avocats”

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Welcome to ALLY Avocats

Summer 2026 Special Edition of the LEXpérience Podcast

Six episodes: tax audits, unpaid bills, criminal law, AI, and intellectual property. And you still don't know who's behind the microphone?

It's summer, our customers are on vacation, and we've decided to take this opportunity to do something we should have done from the start: introduce ourselves.

In this first special issue of LEXpérience, Jérôme Sujkowski and Clotilde Biron, the two founding partners ofALLY Avocats, take the time to share who they are, where they come from, and why they founded the firm. For once, there are no guests or technical topics—just a conversation that’s as free-flowing as it is authentic.

 

Two unconventional paths that eventually crossed

Nothing suggested that Clotilde and Jérôme were destined to go into business together. Not the same city, not the same path, nor quite the same view of the law at the outset.

Clotilde began by earning a bachelor’s degree in private law at ICES in the Vendée region, before moving on to the Sorbonne for her first-year master’s program, and then to Poitiers for two second-year master’s programs: one in intellectual property and the other in international litigation. Her guiding principle has always been the same: understanding how different areas of law interact with one another, across borders. A stint in California, a thesis on design law that she began and ultimately abandoned (not out of weariness, but out of a passion for real-world practice). Practice caught up with her before theory did.

Jérôme, on the other hand, earned a science-track high school diploma because his parents told him it would open doors. He quickly realized that math didn’t interest him. Surrounded by artists and creative types, intellectual property law came naturally to him. He found in this field a way to be of service to those he loved. He got his first experiences at a law firm by literally knocking on doors, while simultaneously working for years flipping fries at McDonald’s to pay for his studies.

The two met as interns at the same law firm, doing the same thankless tasks: going to the post office before 6:15 p.m. and filing documents with the INPI before midnight. And they discovered that they worked well together.

The Status of an Associate Attorney: Freedom and Job Insecurity

It's a topic that's rarely discussed, and yet.

An associate attorney is not an employee. Their employment may be terminated at any time, without compensation or unemployment benefits. In return, they have the right to develop their own client base—clients they bill in their own name—in addition to their work for the firm.

It was this unique situation that led Clotilde and Jérôme, each on their own, to come to the same conclusion: their personal client base was growing. They could no longer handle everything. They had to make a choice.

Clotilde resigned after seven years working alongside Nicolas Moreau: a heartbreaking parting, but also one marked by mutual respect. Jérôme gave his firm nine months’ notice, out of respect. And the two of them decided, together, to launch ALLY Avocats on January 1, 2023.

The Birth of ALLY: A Name, A Vision

Coming up with a name for a law firm is a task that few lawyers are prepared for. We graduate from law school with legal skills but not necessarily with a background in marketing.

Clotilde and Jérôme worked with a brand strategy consultant: Who are they? Who do they work for? How do they want to be perceived? The answer came quickly: allies. Discreet, working alongside their clients, not in front of them. The consigliere—the one who whispers in their ear, not the one who steals the spotlight.

ALLY: “ally” in English. Short, memorable, international. And with an A, so it comes first in the alphabet.

There were other suggestions. Cime. Mutini. And even, for a while, Junipero —a reference to a cult episode of *Black Mirror* and to the founding father of California, whom Clotilde had discovered during her internship in Palo Alto. In fact, a pink neon sign still hangs in the firm’s offices.

But it was ALLY that came out on top. And along with it, a visual identity that they love and use for everything under the sun!

What We Actually Do at ALLY Avocats and Who We Serve

Since the podcast began, guests have discussed taxation, delinquent payments, criminal law, AI, and intellectual property. And some listeners thought that ALLY Avocats handled all of that.

The reality is more precise.

ALLY Avocats is a law firm specializing in intellectual property, digital law, the GDPR, image rights, and commercial contracts. These are areas that are closely intertwined:

• A brand is also about image;
• A digital contract also involves personal data;
• A content creator also produces intellectual property.

Our clients? Startups and scale-ups, content creators and their agents, digital and 360° agencies, executive management teams at major corporations, artists, athletes transitioning to new careers, microbusinesses, small and medium-sized enterprises, and nonprofit organizations. And sometimes individuals, when the situation calls for it.

The firm provides both advisory and litigation services, and often the two overlap. A case that begins with a contract may end up in court. And a legal dispute may lead to a new business relationship.

LEXpérience: Much More Than Just a Podcast

LEXpérience is first and foremost a podcast, but it also has a broader mission: to demystify the law, make it accessible, and bring it to life in a new way.

It comes in three sizes.

1. First, the podcast. The one you’re listening to. One episode a month, one topic, and one or two experts in the field. And sometimes, custom formats for companies that want to train their teams in a different way.
2. Next up are the Pop Culture & Law conferences. Every year at the Grand Rex, ALLY Avocats organizes a conference that analyzes a cultural work from a legal perspective. Friends, James Bond, Stallone, and this year, Spielberg. With popcorn, passionate lawyers, and 10-minute presentations you won’t soon forget. All past editions are available on the firm’s YouTube channel.
3. Immersive training, at last. No more “big 2s” and “little As.” ALLY Avocats has redesigned its training programs to make them practical, scenario-based, and interactive. These are learning journeys where participants are the heroes—ensuring the legal message gets across without anyone needing to know the specific applicable statute behind it.

 

Why would a law firm start a podcast?

That's a question we're often asked. And the answer is simple.

ALLY Avocats has always sought to work behind the scenes: to be the discreet ally, the one who makes the decisive plays without seeking the spotlight. The podcast does not break that commitment; rather, it is a natural extension of it.

Because making the law accessible is also a way of standing by our clients. It’s about equipping them with the right instincts, the tools they need, and a practical understanding of their risks even before they need to walk through the doors of a law firm.