“ EMPATHY AND TALENT”

 

Portrait by Michel Faure, Journalist & writer

Stéphanie Roquefort is based in Nice, where she has demonstrated her ability to take action by successfully leading her first fundraising efforts on behalf of growing companies, business angels, or investment funds. Her clients appreciate her expertise in financial matters related to corporate law, as well as in business law, an area in which the young woman began her career in Paris alongside Me Saam Golshani, a key figure in restructuring, who became a true mentor to her.

Quickly recognized as a specialist in complex cases, Stéphanie saw the number of her clients expand rapidly. “The snowball effect,” she says with a radiant smile.

Stéphanie Roquefort completed the Magistère in taxation, business law, and accounting at the University of Aix-en-Provence in 2011. She furthered her education with a Master’s degree at ESSEC in 2012, and began her career in Paris at a large American law firm before returning to Nice, her hometown, in 2017. “I missed the proximity of the mountains, as well as the blue and the light of the Mediterranean,” she says, standing by a window with a view of the sea.

A first experience at a legal consulting firm in Monaco allowed her to grasp the specificities of the principality. She then decided, in 2019, to set up her own practice in Nice, facing the challenge of a rapidly developing region. After her initial successes, she invited her friend Arthur Anton, whom she met during her studies, to join her. “I am loyal in friendship,” says Stéphanie, “and Arthur is too. It’s a pleasure to work with people who are close and with whom you share the same values.”

For this young woman, the profession of lawyer is inseparable from empathy. “Understanding the needs and intentions of clients, discussing them with them, creates a bond. The line between work and friendship sometimes becomes fragile, but when my client asks me for help, I don’t want to let them down. Sympathy and trust make the cases even more stimulating.”

In early 2020, Stéphanie and Arthur accepted the invitation from the Parisian business law firm Simon et Associés to join as partners. Stéphanie remained in Nice, but, as she has throughout her career, kept one foot in Paris.

In 2022, she met the founders of Couderc Dinh & Associés, who were planning to open an office in the south of France. They quickly agreed on topics such as teamwork and a shared vision for the firm. The young woman appreciated the talents and experience of the partners, their kindness, and the strong bonds that unite them. “For me,” she says, “this meeting was a professional love at first sight.”

Stéphanie Roquefort joined the firm Couderc Dinh & Associés as a partner in the spring of 2023.