The firm
FIRSH was founded by Claire POIRSON, member of the Paris Bar since 2006, who who trained and practised for nearly 20 years in leading Anglo-Saxon and French law firms.
Drawing on this extensive professional experience, in both advisory and litigation, as well as a strong client-focused business approach, she founded FIRSH in 2023. The firm was born from a desire to be even closely aligned with her values of freedom, equality and justice, and from the conviction that a different form of governance for a business law firm should be developed: one closer to the common good and designed to promote the collective intelligence of all the firm’s stakeholders.
For this reason, FIRSH is an “entreprise à mission”, a mission-driven company under French law, serving law and innovation.
The firm also includes FIRSH LAB, a laboratory working on governance, collective intelligence and the common good, and helping to prepare the law of tomorrow in the firm’s areas of expertise: intellectual property, tech, data, AI, NFTs and the metaverse.
Convinced that the law frames progress, and that lawyers not only a duty of vigilance but also a role in driving change, FIRSH has developed strong expertise in legal issues connected with societal, digital, and ethical challenges.
The team
Founder and Managing Partner of FIRSH | Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, Technology and Innovation Lawyer
Claire Poirson has been a member of the Paris Bar since 2006 and is the founder of FIRSH, a French business law firm dedicated to innovation, intellectual property, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.
For more than 20 years, she has advised French and international companies, multinational groups, scale-ups, investors, creators and business leaders on strategic matters involving intellectual property, digital law, artificial intelligence, technology contracts, data protection, cybersecurity and complex disputes.
Before founding FIRSH, Claire Poirson practiced with the international law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, where she worked on high-stakes international transactions and litigation matters. She then spent nine years at Depardieu Brocas Maffei, one of France’s leading independent business law firms, before joining Bersay as a partner and head of the Intellectual Property and Information Technology (IP/IT) practice for five years.
This combination of experience within both leading international and French business law firms enables her to provide clients with strategic, business-oriented advice on complex legal, technological and regulatory matters, both in France and internationally.
Claire is widely recognized for her expertise at the intersection of artificial intelligence law, intellectual property, technology law, digital law and business law. She advises companies and institutions on issues relating to the EU AI Act, AI governance, AI-generated content, software, digital platforms, blockchain technologies, personal data protection, cybersecurity and the protection and monetization of intangible assets.
She is consistently ranked among the leading business lawyers by major legal directories and publications, including The Legal 500, Décideurs Juridiques, Best Lawyers, Le Point and IP Stars.
A frequent speaker, trainer and media commentator, Claire Poirson regularly contributes to newspapers, magazines, radio and television programs on topics related to artificial intelligence, innovation, intellectual property, cybersecurity, digital regulation and the societal impact of emerging technologies. Her expertise is regularly sought to analyze legal developments and major public policy issues arising from the digital economy and artificial intelligence. She also publishes thought leadership articles in leading professional and industry publications and speaks at national and international conferences dedicated to innovation, technology governance and digital transformation.
Areas of Expertise
Artificial Intelligence (AI), AI Act, Intellectual Property, Innovation, Digital Law, Emerging Technologies, Software and SaaS, Technology Contracts, Data Protection and GDPR, Cybersecurity, Blockchain, Deepfakes, IP Strategy, Technology Disputes and Digital Transformation.
Industry Sectors
Technology, Luxury Goods, Industry, Media, Creative Industries, Digital Platforms, E-commerce, Software, FinTech, Healthcare and Innovation.
Our DNA
Accompanying, adapting and anticipating legal needs in light of today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.
FIRSH is the law firm for all those who undertake innovation and progress.
In both consulting and litigation, we offer our clients the possibility of being accompanied in their entrepreneurial approach, with the objective of using the rule of law as a performance tool in the service of Innovation and progress.
Our ecosystem
Law is often only one component of a strategic project.
FIRSH has built a solid network of legal, financial, and strategic experts, specialists in CSR, the Circular Economy, and climate and energy issues, both in France and internationally.
This ecosystem is the common property of our clients and becomes the FIRSH community.
FIRSH, at the center, interacts, protects and multiplies this ecosystem tenfold at the service of the community, which enriches and helps each other
Our
purpose
Law is at the heart of human activities and interactions. Innovation goes faster than law.
Law is at the service of innovation.
This is why FIRSH is “entreprise à mission” (a French legal framework in which businesses pursue a set social and environmental purpose with specific sustainability goals).
Dignity, conscience, independence, probity and humanity. These principles of the lawyer’s oath are a valuable aid in developing a policy of corporate social responsibility that is at the heart of our daily work.
FIRSH is committed to several causes necessary for a more just and peaceful society.
Through its actions within three associations – the French Association of Women Lawyers (AFFJ), the European Women Lawyers Association (EWLA), the Gender and Governance Action Platform (2GAP) – equality between women and men is at the heart of the firm’s commitments.
The firm has participated and still participates in the evacuation of Afghan women and families threatened by the Taliban since the capture of Kabul. This action continues in France through mentoring assistance via 2GAP’s female and mixed professional networks.
The firm is part of the Tech For Good movement and is committed to taking a stand on responsible, inclusive and ethical artificial intelligence
To reduce its environmental impact on the web, the website is eco-designed, its design is uncluttered, the site contains few photographs and does not host any video to reduce energy consumption.