William BOURDON has been a member of the Paris Bar since 1980, and is also an international human rights activist. His main areas of practice are criminal law, business law, public law, media law and public and private international law (including arbitration law and commercial contracts).
In complex human rights cases, he has assisted the Franco-Chilean families in proceedings that led to the issue of an international arrest warrant for Augusto PINOCHET, and defended the victims of Hissène HABRÉ in a trial that took place before the Extraordinary African Chambers in Dakar over several weeks and led to Hissène HABRÉ being sentenced to life imprisonment
In international business law and criminal business law, particularly in the fight against corruption, embezzlement and money laundering, he was at the origin of the proceedings initiated in 2007 which led to the conviction of Teodoro OBIANG, son of the President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, for various financial offences, and continues to support the so-called « ill-gotten gains » proceedings relating to the enrichment of numerous heads of state in Africa. Still in his capacity as TRANPASRENCY INTERNATIONAL’s lawyer, the proceedings he initiated led to the indictment of various African dignitaries (Gabon, Congo Brazzaville). Before the African courts, the State of Senegal gave him the task of assisting in the proceedings that led to the conviction of Karim Wade and his accomplices.
He is one of those who initiated the protection of whistleblowers in France and Europe. It was in this context that he defended the whistleblowers behind the conviction of UBS in France, Hervé FALCIANI (SwissLeaks) leading to the prosecution of HSBC, Antoine DELTOUR acquitted by the Luxembourg courts after the revelations that led to the LuxLeaks and with Edward SNOWDEN’s American lawyers and finally Rui PINTO, a Portuguese national who is the subject of various proceedings in Lisbon that led to the FootballLeaks and Luanda Leaks. Specifically in Africa, he organised and structured the defence of the South African whistleblowers whose revelations led to the departure of ZUMA.
In addition, his firm continues to assist private parties and NGOs in major international corruption cases in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
He also advises various governments and public bodies in Africa on negotiating and drafting international contracts.
Lastly, he acts on major environmental law cases on behalf of various NGOs in France and abroad, before both the criminal and administrative courts.
He is the lawyer of several foreign and/or Franco-African businessmen and politicians and assists them in various criminal proceedings initiated by different regimes, sometimes leading to international arrest warrants. He organised the international defence of the former president of Brazil, LULA.
Deeply committed to freedom of expression, he also regularly acts as counsel for journalists, the media and opponents facing prosecution in various countries around the world.
Finally, the firm’s multi-faceted practice also advises and litigates for architects (Jean NOUVEL) and former sports greats (Michel PLATINI, Yannick NOAH).
He is also a frequent speaker at conferences in France and abroad, and writes articles on a regular basis on international criminal and civil justice, human rights, criminal law, globalisation, terrorism, the fight against corruption, whistleblowers, and environmental and economic crime.
Lastly, he plays an active role in various projects within French and European institutions, as well as in parliamentary work in France, Brussels and Strasbourg (European Parliament, Council of Europe) through hearings and/or submission of notes (written proposals) and drafting of amendments on the same subjects. He set up the SHERPA association in 2001, of which he is founding chairman (https://www.asso-sherpa.org/accueil).
It is in this context that it has initiated various procedures that have sometimes led to mediation (AREVA, TOTAL for its activities in Burma), but also to legal proceedings (VINCI for its activities in Qatar, SAMSUNG, etc.).
More recently, he set up the PPLAAF association (Plateforme de Protection des Lanceurs d’Alerte en Afrique) (https://www.pplaaf.org) His last two books are « Petit manuel de désobéissance citoyenne », published in February 2014 by Éditions Lattès and « Les dérives de l’état d’urgence » published in January 2017 by Éditions PLON.
