What does the law have to say about major changes in the economy and society?

Cryptocurrencies, AI, corporate climate responsibility, GAFAM & competition rules or environmental law: the student dissertations rewarded over the last 20 years by the Allen & Overy - HEC Paris legal and tax award illustrate the relevance of law in analyzing major business trends and society in general. The 2023 edition of the Prize, held on October 10, confirms that legal careers at HEC Paris have a bright future.

^{Auteur/Author of this article: Frédéric Voirin}

"The title doesn't necessarily make you dream...but it is about your rights". It was with this touch of humor that Quentin Dupré, a student in the Grande école's International Tax and Legal Strategy Program, and 2nd winner of the Allen & Overy - HEC Paris 2023 Prize, summed up in front of the jury members his dissertation on the insolvency of cryptoasset service providers, following the fall of FTX.

This remark and the subject of his dissertation illustrate the specific features of this Prize, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, combining cutting-edge legal analysis with economic and financial news.  

Created in 2004, this annual competition rewards the best research work by students in the International Tax and Legal Strategy Majeure and the International Law and Management Specialized Master/LLM program at HEC Paris.

Research that sheds light on the present and the future  

As Eloïc Peyrache, Dean and Director of HEC Paris, reminds us in his introductory speech: "Facing up to the major challenges of our societies and questioning the status quo is the core of our ambition at HEC. This means exposing our students to research."

The research and knowledge produced by HEC professors infuse the school's programs, making them both intellectually stimulating and practically relevant.  

Alexandre Ancel, partner at Allen & Overy and president of the jury, underlines the virtues of this prize: "Law is at the heart of contemporary concerns, and makes an essential contribution to a more fair and trust-worthy society. So there's still plenty of work to be done, and plenty of exciting and rewarding dissertations from HEC Students for the members of the jury to be read. "  

"The law is at the heart of contemporary concerns, making an essential contribution to a more fair and trust-worthy society."

Commenting on the six student dissertations selected by HEC Professors Arnaud Van Waeyenberge, Mirko Hayat and Michael Loy, he adds: "This year's candidates were particularly sensitive to societal issues, and in particular to legal and tax issues around the challenges of the energy transition and taxonomy. Innovation was also on the agenda, particularly around the crypto ecosystem and bankruptcies in this sector. We look forward to ushering in the new decade with ever more talented new HEC student candidates for the Prize."

Between tax law, economics, politics and competition law: interdisciplinarity rewarded

The first 2023 prize (€ 7,000) was awarded to Garance Anjubault for her dissertation entitled "rescrit fiscal et lutte contre les aides d'Etat : bilan et réflexions à la lumière de la justice fiscale" (“tax ruling and fight against state aid: assessment and reflections in the light of tax justice”).

The young H.23 graduate of the International Tax and Legal Strategy Major succeeded in magnifying the analysis of this method by questioning tax law texts with rigor, intellectual curiosity and in-depth work (3 fundamentals recommended by attorney Ancel himself).  

"This 'First of the class' Prize is a real privilege", she declares, "and I encourage all law students to take part". 

"The best dissertation must be easy to read, deal with a topical issue in a clear and detailed manner, and include case law".

Tabitha Coombe, Global Manager of Financing Legal at BNP Paribas and member of the Allen & Overy jury for the 4th time, justifies the jury's choice as follows: "Garance's dissertation hooked the jury because it was enjoyable to read, dealt with a topical issue in a clear and detailed way, with case law and a real interdisciplinarity combining tax law, economics, politics and competition law."

Cryptocurrencies: what legal recourse for investors in bankrupt platforms?  

Presented by Jean-Paul Laval, Legal Director of Orange Concessions, the 2nd prize (€ 4,500) was awarded to Quentin Dupré for his work dedicated to "the insolvency of crypto-asset service providers". Just a few days after the opening of the trial of the fallen "Mozart of cryptocurrencies" Sam Bankman-Fried, responsible for the downfall of the FTX platform, the 2023 international law graduate explains that his research clarifies the context of these failures, how these bankruptcies are handled legally and above all what rights users of these bankrupt platforms have.  

How can we reconcile the business world with planetary limits?

Finally, the 3rd prize (€2,000), awarded by François Garnier, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Ipsen, went to Amély Nicolas for her dissertation on "the responsibility of managers in the face of climate change". 

The 2023 graduate in international tax and legal strategy points out that "we're going to have to take a long-term view and reconcile the business world with planetary limits". To achieve this, the student immediately suggests a method: "First, we need to train top managers, by raising their awareness via a climate fresco or a 2-tons workshop, for example. Second, we must take action by integrating a climate strategy into the company's overall strategy, focusing especially on the Paris Agreement and the reduction of greenhouse gases, with a view to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050."

AI and straight professions: a winning topic before ChatGPT!

Among the topics that have made their mark on previous editions are : tax optimization (Anne-Caroline Payelle, 2009 & Anthony Seghers, 2008), tighter controls on foreign investment in France (Constantin Mathew, 2022) and Europe (Diana Philippova, 2011) - a topic that remains topical in 2023 -, GAFA hypercompetition (Marie Dupin, 2018), environmental taxation (Claude Dao, 2020) or protecting copyright in the face of artificial intelligence (Aurélie Borgat, 2021).  

Discover a recap of the Allen&Overy-HEC Paris Awards (2004-2023)

About artificial intelligence, Tabitha Coombe, Global Manager of Financing Legal at BNP Paribas, points out that "digitalization has already changed the way we work, and AI actually has a bright future for the legal profession. Artificial intelligence might make it seem like we'll need fewer lawyers, but it represents more of an opportunity than a threat for our sector."

"Artificial intelligence represents more of an opportunity than a threat for the legal profession"  

An award that promotes legal excellence at HEC Paris

Present at the awards ceremony on October 10, Bastien Martel-Gomez, H.23 graduate of the LLM Specialized Master's in International Law and Management, reminded us: "It's not said enough, but HEC also trains excellent lawyers. In fact, there's a wide variety of profiles: tax specialists, business law professionals, international law specialists, but also legal specialists in CSR. This is not necessarily the case in law schools."

"HEC also trains excellent lawyers, tax experts, specialists in business law, international law and CSR".

And Allen & Overy understood this a long time ago. As the first law firm to join the HEC Foundation in 2004, Allen & Overy was immediately keen to highlight the best legal and tax research carried out by students at HEC Paris, making it already accessible to as many people as possible, both for those with and without a legal background, and thus maximizing its impact in the public interest.  

For law students, the prize is an opportunity to present the results of their research to a high-level jury, made up of legal directors and managers from major groups, as well as partners from Allen & Overy. Their expertise is not limited to the evaluation of these dissertation topics, as they provide students with invaluable advice on their career choices.  

A potential springboard to a career in law  

Since 2004, the Allen & Overy - HEC Paris Prize has been part of a dual commitment by the firm and the school to encourage talented young students in their pursuit of excellence, and to promote their integration into the professional world.  

Since its inception, over 60 winners have been awarded legal and tax trophies, and 140 HEC Paris students have been honored as finalists before pursuing their career in law.

This was particularly true for their predecessors, such as Anne-Caroline Payelle, Claude Dao and Constantine Mathews. All three of them were present at the Allen & Overy award ceremony and are now pursuing brilliant legal careers.  

Anne-Caroline, for example, has become an M&A lawyer at Allen & Overy. Claude Dao, winner of the 2020 Prize and double graduated from HEC Paris and Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne in business law and taxation, has become a specialist in environmental taxation and regularly publishes papers on the subject. He has recently published a book entitled La fiscalité environnementale unifiée. Une solution structurelle à l'urgence écologique et climatique (Editions Larcier-Intersentia), which won the Cercle Montesquieu 2022 prize for excellence. Finally, Constantin Mathews is now pursuing a legal career with the European law firm Bredin Prat, and will soon take the oath to become a corporate lawyer.  

The Allen & Overy Legal and Tax Prize is part of a long-standing partnership with HEC Paris. For the past 20 years, it has been a major initiative in promoting legal and tax research in the public interest. In the long term, it is an essential prize for promoting the excellence of students who provide concrete legal answers to current and future societal challenges. Last but not least, this prize can inspire people to take up a career in law, and to build lasting careers in the service of the law.