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Founding Partner of BeRecht Avocats

Attorney at law at the Paris Bar
Professional mediator accredited by the CNMA
Trained in collaborative law and arbitration
Doctor of Law from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
Associate professor (accredited to supervise research) at the Sorbonne Law School
Director of the Master of Digital Law at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
Director of the Master of the Master 2 Data Law, Digital Administrations and Open Government at the University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
President of IMODEV (Institut du Monde et du Développement pour la bonne gouvernance publique)

William GILLES is the founding partner of BeRecht Avocats.

Attorney at law at the Paris Bar and professional mediator, William GILLES assists individuals, administrations and companies in France and abroad in mediation, collaborative law, negotiation, arbitration, consulting, litigation, training, compliance and legal design.

As an attorney at law, he works in French and in English on issues of new technology law (GDPR, data protection, cybercrime, cybersecurity, digital administration, smart cities, 5G law, blockchain law, cryptocurrency and cryptoassets law, artificial intelligence and algorithms law, platform law and e-commerce law, smart contracts, crowdfunding, regulation of fake news, open government (open data, freedom of expression, citizen participation, digital divide, principle of equality), criminal law (police custody) and victims' rights.

He also assists his clients in writing legal briefs for the application for a priority preliminary ruling on the issue of constitutionality (Question prioritaire de constitutionnalité – QPC)

Holder of the Certificat d'aptitude à la médiation professionnelle (CAP'M), he is a professional mediator accredited by the Centre national de médiation des avocats (CNMA). He is also trained in collaborative law, arbitration and negotiation (certificate from the University of Louvain, Belgium). These different skills enable him to assist his clients in all procedures involving alternative dispute resolution (ADR).

As a professional mediator and collaborative law practitioner, he intervenes both on generalist cases (inter-company disputes, business-employee disputes, inter-administration or administrations-users disputes, or family disputes) and in new technologies and open government law. He is a member of the Emergency Family Mediation group of the Paris Bar and a member of the Emergency Mediation group for companies, their partners and employees of the Paris Bar.

William GILLES is a member of the French Association of Collaborative Law Practitioners (AFPDC).

He holds a doctorate in law and is a tenured associate professor (authorized to supervise research) at the Sorbonne Law School (University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), where he is the director of the Master of Digital Law (master 1 droit du numérique) and the director of the Master of Data Law, eGov and Open Gov (master 2 Droit des données, des administrations numériques et des gouvernements ouverts).

At the University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, he had been for 4 years a member of the Academic Board (Research Council) as well as a member of the Sorbonne Law School Board. He also had been the Director of the Chair of the Americas for five years at the same university.

Co-founder and President of IMODEV, an international scientific network on the issues of open government and the digital society, he is Director of the International Journal of Open Government and of the International Journal of Digital and Data Law.

William GILLES is a former jurist of the Constitutional Council (2009-2011) where he worked on the implementation of the application for a priority preliminary ruling on the issue of constitutionality (Question prioritaire de constitutionnalité – QPC). He was a member of the ad hoc Committee "Taxation and Constitution" of the Lawyers' Club (2010-2011).

He is also a former researcher of the Open Government Partnership (Washington, D.C., 2015-2016).

He has worked with European and international institutions (the European Union; Open Government Partnership; Organisation internationale de la Francophonie; United Nations Academic Impact; United Nations in Vienna, Council of Europe [Venise commission]).

In France, William GILLES has been heard several times by the French Senate (Bill for a Digital Republic, 2016; Bill on free access to and modalities for the re-use of public sector information, 2015; Joint Information Mission on Access to Administrative Documents and Public Data, 2014).

He has given several lectures in French universities (especially, the École nationale d'administration [ENA], Sciences Po, University Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas, University Paris 5 Descartes) and in French institutions (especially the Direction de l’information légale et administrative – Services du Premier ministre –, the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, the French Council of State, the Syndicat mixte Mégalis Bretagne, the French Senate, the City of Issy-les-Moulineaux, the Auvergne Institute of Territorial Development, the Institute of Decentralisation, the Palais Brongniart, the French National Assembly).

In addition to these conferences, he has worked for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ADETEF, the French Development Agency (AFD), the French Ministry of Economy and Finance, the French Ministry of the Interior (Civipol), the Res Publica Foundation, the French National Research Agency and the French Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research.

He has also given lectures in foreign universities and institutions, especially within the European Union : Germany (Stiftung Datenschutz, ForschungsKolleg Humanwissenschaften der Goethe Universität) Spain (Universidad de Murcia), Italy (Camera dei Deputati, Senato della Repubblica, Agenzia per l'Italia digitale, Città Metropolitana di Bologna, Luiss University of Rome, University of Bologna), Poland (University of Llodz), Portugal, Romania and the Czech Republic (Association of Czech Cities, Charles University of Prague), Slovakia (University of Kosice), Sweden (University of Lund).

Outside the European Union, he has delivered conferences in Norway, Russia (Moscow Duma, Institute of State and Law at the Academy of Sciences of the Russian Federation, Economic Delegation of the Russian Federation in France).

In Asia, he has worked in Vietnam (Ministry of Finance of Vietnam).

In the Americas, he has worked in Argentina (Council of the Judiciary of the City of Buenos Aires, University of Buenos Aires), Brazil (Instituto dos Advogados de São Paulo, Academia Paulista de Magistrados, Assembly of the City of São Paulo, Military Police Court of the State of São Paulo, Escola Paulista de direito, PUC University, Instituto Brasileiro de Administração Judicial), in Colombia (Colombian Council of State, Universidad Externado, Universidad Rosario), United States (Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Louisville, Association of Southeastern United States Law Schools, California Western School of Law), Mexico (INAI, UNAM, ITAM), Paraguay (Parliamentary Academy of the Congress of Paraguay).

In Africa, he has worked in Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Morocco, Niger, South Africa, Sao Tome and Principe.

Maître William GILLES welcomes his clients in French and English.