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.