Lawyers dedicated to the Defense, Aerospace and Dual-Use Technology sectors

Collaborative projects in this sector put the parties’ most sensitive know-how at stake. Our lawyers step in at every stage to ensure agreements support the innovation strategy without blocking future cooperation: drafting consortium and co-development agreements, structuring the sharing of intellectual property and sensitive know-how, managing relationships with the authorities and agencies of national and European programs, and defining civil, military or dual-use rights.

The innovations of sector players concentrate both their value and their exposure to risk. Our lawyers protect companies’ strategic advantage while preserving their attractiveness to clients and investors: IP protection strategy (patents, software, databases, trade secrets), integration of technological sovereignty requirements (localization, audit, code access), management of IP in international collaborative projects (NATO, EU, aerospace programs) and securing of transfers and licenses.

The systems operated or hosted by sector players are often critical: embedded systems, command and control, predictive maintenance. Our lawyers build a legal framework that is credible in the eyes of public and private contracting parties: contracting of cloud and data architectures, protection of sensitive or classified information (NDAs, access policies, security clauses), coordination between the GDPR, national defense secrecy and NIS2, and compliance of the subcontracting chain.

Access to public contracts in this sector, in France and across Europe, turns regulatory constraints into a competitive advantage from the bidding stage onward. Our lawyers assist at every milestone: analysis of opportunities and legal framing of tender responses, structuring or review of groupings (joint contracting, subcontracting, consortia) and negotiation of sensitive clauses (IP, liability, penalties, export, aviation security).

Capital transactions in this sector are among the most tightly regulated. Our lawyers help founders, executives and investors integrate, from the outset, all the sector-specific regulatory issues: structuring of funding rounds involving foreign investors (FDI screening), regulatory due diligence (defense, aerospace, export, sanctions, compliance) and M&A transactions, joint ventures and strategic alliances with high sovereignty sensitivity.

The sector’s workforce operates in environments subject to specific security and confidentiality constraints. Our lawyers secure companies’ HR and employment matters in light of these requirements: drafting employment contracts and sensitive clauses (confidentiality, intellectual property, non-compete) for strategic profiles, support with security clearance and access to protected information, employment aspects of growth and restructuring transactions, and handling of collective labor relations in a demanding industrial context.

The sector’s international operations unfold in a shifting regulatory environment, where the classification of a product determines the entire framework. Our lawyers secure these flows to enable the international deployment of solutions without exposure to non-compliance: classification of defense products and dual-use goods and the associated export risk analysis, securing of contracts with non-EU clients, partners and subcontractors, consideration of embargo and sanctions regimes, and assistance with filings before the competent control authorities.