Interview with: Pierre-Anne Noghes Du Monceau, Founder/Partner

Founding partner of one of the leading law firms in Monaco, Pierre-Anne Noghès du Monceau built her wealth of international experience in top-tier law firms in Washington DC and Brussels, specialising mainly in commercial and corporate issues. As a member of the Monaco Bar, the exclusive circle of 30 attorneys entitled to litigate in the Principality’s courts, Pierre-Anne Noghès du Monceau and her team expertly provide local know-how and legal support, while also covering all international concerns with ease and consolidated proficiency.

 

1) What do you see as the main points that differentiate Cabinet Noghès du Monceau from your competitors?

Cabinet Noghès du Monceau is unique in Monaco for its combination of extensive international experience and deep local knowledge. Our team is composed of both Monégasque and international lawyers who have acquired the highest standards of practice by working for top-tier international law firms. Collaborating closely on a daily basis with the best law firms around the world allows us to offer our clients unparalleled cross-border assistance, while at the same time providing the highest level of knowledge of how the Principality of Monaco – a very specific sovereign country only half the size of New York’s Central Park- works.

 

2) What makes the Noghès du Monceau team unique?

See above what both differentiates us and makes us unique in Monaco (at Cabinet Noghès du Monceau, we like our clients not to waste time reading lengthy reports).

 

3) Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that?

Our experience in a wide range of legal practice areas and in various jurisdictions offers a one-stop service to address each client’s specific legal concerns. We are however particularly focused on business law and have proven our ability to provide decisive counseling in complex, cross-border financial crime cases (money laundering, frozen assets, white-collar crimes, compliance and fraud) and international transactions. In the next 12 months, we foresee further expansion in this area.

Cabinet Noghès du Monceau also has strong expertise in shareholder dispute resolution and we plan to build upon the foundation of our success in this area. We have recently recruited high-profile lawyers from the financial sector, who will drive this expansion.

 

4) What are the main values of the firm that benefit clients?

Our guiding principle is justice for all and so we frequently represent underprivileged clients on a pro-bono basis. We have been appointed to handle over 270 pro-bono files since the opening of the firm in 2016, including numerous criminal, employment and liability cases.

Whether we are representing a multi-national corporation, internationally-renowned fashion houses, Formula One racers and other celebrities, or one of our pro-bono clients, we dedicate the same level of attention to finding the best solution for our clients.

Cabinet Noghès du Monceau upholds a strictly merit-driven recruitment policy. We seek to champion all our employees without distinction of sex, sexual orientation, race, nationality or other. As a result, our team is a diverse group with minority groups well-represented. Three-quarters of our team are women and the same proportion are foreign with 5 different nationalities represented. They hail from career backgrounds as diverse as fashion, science, TV and banking, which amplifies and enriches our overall perspective.

Three of our team have recently become members of the Women’s Law Network (WLN), which aims to enable women in all legal and related fields to achieve their full personal, professional and economic potential and to contribute to the future development of their profession.

 

5) Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide?

With residents from 139 different nationalities, a large majority of Monaco’s population is made up of foreign nationals, who account for over 80% of our clientele. Therefore, the combination of our team’s international background and language skills, coupled with competent use of AI, enables us to offer a systematic, cost-efficient French-to-English translation of all draft deeds in order for our foreign clients to be able to make more informed decisions with the assistance of our lawyers in a language they fully understand.

Due to the fact that most Monaco case-law is unpublished, access to legal precedent is a major challenge for clients. For this reason, we have developed an internal know-how app dedicated to Monaco published and unpublished case-law to draw upon our experience, reduce search time and, ultimately, work more efficiently for the benefit of our clients.

 

6) Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time?

The last three years have shown us that the world can change rapidly. We see our role as anticipating all eventualities in order to protect our clients from upheaval, as well as positioning them to better seize any opportunities. For this, our firm’s strategy is purely pragmatic : we adapt, fast, like a high-speed boat, both in terms of workforce and expertise. Therefore, no matter where the world is three years from now, our firm will be exactly where our clients need us to be.