Privacy Policy

Abstract white wavy lines forming a flowing pattern on a black background.

Leading Individuals & Partners SAS
Executive Search – Recruiting Worldwide Lawyers

Leading Individuals & Partners (LI&P), a simplified joint-stock company (société par actions simplifiée) with a share capital of €1,000, registered with the Paris Trade and Companies Register under number 988 454 104, whose registered office is located at 60, rue François Ier, 75008 Paris, France, represented by Mr Samuel BLANC in his capacity as President and legal representative (hereinafter “LI&P” or the “Controller”), is the owner of the website www.leading-individuals.com (hereinafter the “Website”).

LI&P provides executive search and recruitment advisory services for law firms and in-house legal departments.

This Privacy Policy is addressed to the users of the Website (hereinafter the “Users) to inform them about:

  • the methods used to collect their personal data;
  • the nature of the data collected, understood as any information allowing a User to be identified directly or indirectly (e.g., last name, first name, e-mail address, telephone number, IP address — non-exhaustive list);
  • the rights they have in relation to such data;
  • the identity of the Controller and the contact details available;
  • the persons or entities to whom the collected data may be disclosed.

This policy supplements the Website’s Legal Notice, available at the following address: https://www.leading-individuals.com/terms-conditions and, where applicable, the agreements entered into with LI&P’s clients.

The processing of personal data is governed by:

  • French Law no. 78‑17 of 6 January 1978 on information technology, files and civil liberties, as amended (hereinafter the “French Data Protection Act”);
  • Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016, effective as of 25 May 2018 (hereinafter the “GDPR”).

1 - Definitions‍

  • "Candidate" means any natural person identified, approached, assessed or introduced by LI&P to a Client for the purpose of recruitment or collaboration within the Firm or any related entity, whether or not such person is ultimately hired.
  • "Client" means any legal entity (including law firms, professional entities or in‑house legal departments) that requests, engages or benefits from the services of Leading Individuals & Partners, as well as the natural persons acting on its behalf or for its account in this context.
  • "User": means any person who accesses and browses the Website.
  • "Controller": means the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body within LI&P which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data.

References to “Articles” are to the Articles of this Privacy Policy, unless otherwise specified.

Any reference to the singular includes the plural and vice versa.

Any reference to one gender includes all genders.

2 - Principles relating to the collection and processing of personal data

‍In accordance with Article 5 of the GDPR, personal data must be:

  • processed lawfully, fairly, and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject;
  • collected for specified, explicit, and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes;
  • adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed;
  • accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date; every reasonable step must be taken to ensure that personal data that are inaccurate, having regard to the purposes for which they are processed, are erased or rectified without delay;
  • kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed;
  • processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of the personal data, including protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction, or damage, using appropriate technical or organisational measures.

Processing of personal data is lawful only if and to the extent that at least one of the following legal bases applies:

  • the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes;
  • the processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party, or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract;
  • the processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the Controller is subject;
  • the processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person;
  • the processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the Controller;
  • the processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the Controller or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require protection of personal data.

LI&P does not implement any automated individual decision‑making producing legal effects concerning data subjects, nor any profiling within the meaning of Article 22 of the GDPR.

3 - Categories of personal data collected
LI&P collects the following categories of data, in particular via the Website’s contact form and during exchanges with law firms and in‑house legal departments (“Clients” or “Prospects”):

Identification data:

  • Name of the firm
  • City of the firm is located
  • Size of the firm
  • First name and last name, position and level of responsibility of the contact person
  • Email address
  • Telephone number

Data relating to the firm / organization:

  • Name of the firm or organization;
  • City / country;
  • Size of the firm or team;
  • Practice areas, target markets, team organisation, remuneration models, where applicable.

Data related to the project and recruitment needs:

  • Nature of the recruitment (position sought, seniority level, team concerned);
  • Area of practice sought;
  • Strategic context (office opening, team strengthening, repositioning, etc.);
  • Indicative timeline;
  • Information contained in engagement letters, meeting minutes, email exchanges and assignment follow‑up reports.

As part of its contractual relationship with Clients, LI&P also processes:

  • Identification data of the legal representative or authorised contacts (first name, last name, position);
  • Data required for invoicing and payment: billing address, bank details of the entity (IBAN, BIC, potential accounting contact person), payment terms;
  • Information relating to the management of the contractual relationship and performance of services (assignment history, correspondence, any disputes or claims).

As part of its Executive Search activities, LI&P processes data concerning Candidates (whether identified via the Website, by direct approach, referral, spontaneous applications or via professional platforms). Such data mainly include:

  • First name, last name, position and level of responsibility of the Candidate;
  • Professional data (bar admission, career background, experience, practice areas, working languages, publications);
  • Current remuneration and expectations, and its structure (fixed, variable, fee‑sharing arrangements, benefits);
  • Professional references and feedback from referees.

When browsing the Site, the following data may be collected:

  • IP address and date/time of access
  • Information sent by the browser or device (type and version of browser, operating system, browser language, time zone, screen resolution, HTTP headers);
  • Session identifier and information strictly necessary for the security of the Website and the proper display of pages.

Detailed information on the use of cookies and configuration options is provided in the “Cookies” section below.

Data marked with an asterisk (*) in the forms are mandatory to enable LI&P to process the request or perform the service. Any data not marked as mandatory are optional and help improve service quality. If the mandatory data are not provided, LI&P will not be able to act on the request.

4 - Purposes and legal bases of processing
Personal data are processed for the following purposes:

Management of incoming requests and the Client / Prospect relationship

  • Receiving and handling requests sent via the contact form or by email;
  • Analysing Clients’ strategic and operational recruitment needs;
  • Drafting and monitoring engagement letters and Executive Search assignments;
  • Managing the commercial and contractual relationship with Clients.

Executive Search activity and management of applications

  • Identifying, approaching, assessing and selecting Candidates;
  • Presenting Candidates to Clients;
  • Organising interviews and interactions between Candidates and Clients;
  • Monitoring recruitment assignments, reporting and keeping records of exchanges.

Website management and service improvment

  • Ensuring the proper technical functioning of the Website;
  • Measuring Website traffic and performance;
  • Improving content, user journeys and services offered.

Administrative and financial management

  • Preparing quotes and issuing invoices;
  • Monitoring payments;
  • Managing unpaid amounts and reminders;
  • Keeping accounting records.

Compliance with legal obligations and management of disputes

  • Keeping accounting records;
  • Responding to requests from administrative or judicial authorities;
  • Managing claims and disputes (handling complaints, managing pre‑litigation and litigation, defending LI&P’s rights).

The above processing activities are based, as applicable, on:

  • the performance of pre‑contractual measures or a contract (management of Executive Search assignments, client relationship);
  • LI&P’s legitimate interests in organising and managing its business, developing its services and ensuring the security of its systems, while respecting the rights and interests of the data subjects;
  • consent (in particular for certain electronic marketing activities or the use of non‑essential cookies);
  • compliance with legal obligations (accounting, management of GDPR rights, responses to authorities, etc.).

5 - Recipients of the data
Personal data are accessible, within the limits of each recipient’s remit and needs, to the following recipients:

  • LI&P’s internal teams (consultants, support teams, administration, IT, communications);
  • Clients, where the data concern Candidates presented in connection with an assignment;
  • Technical service providers acting as processors, in particular:
       * Webflow and Cloudflare (hosting and delivery of the Website);
       * IONOS (hosting of professional email addresses);
       * Axeptio (cookie consent management);
       * HubSpot (CRM and client/prospect relationship management);
       * Google (audience measurement services and hosting of certain services);
  • LI&P’s external advisers (lawyers, chartered accountants, etc.) and administrative or judicial authorities, where necessary.

LI&P does not sell personal data to third parties.
In any event, a detailed list of the main processors is available on request by contacting: privacy@leading-individuals.com.

6 - Transfers outside the European Union
Some of LI&P’s service providers are located outside the European Union, in particular:

  • Webflow and Cloudflare (Website hosting and CDN);
  • Google (audience measurement services, hosting of certain services and infrastructure used by Axeptio);
  • HubSpot (CRM).

In such cases, LI&P ensures that these transfers are governed by appropriate safeguards within the meaning of the GDPR (adequacy decision, European Commission standard contractual clauses, Data Privacy Framework or equivalent mechanisms).

Axeptio relies on infrastructure hosted in particular on Google servers located in Belgium, with any transfers to the United States also governed by these mechanisms.

Further information on these safeguards can be obtained by contacting privacy@leading-individuals.com.

7 - Data retention periods
Personal data are retained for a limited period, not exceeding what is necessary in light of the purposes pursued, and are then deleted or anonymised.

By way of indication:

  • Clients / Prospects: data are retained for the duration of the contractual relationship, then for 3 years from the last active contact or the end of the relationship, for business development and relationship management purposes.
  • Candidates: data are retained for 3 years from the last active exchange with the Candidate, unless the Candidate objects or requests deletion.
  • Accounting data: retained for the statutory periods (generally 10 years).
  • Browsing data / cookies: retained for a maximum of 6 months (or the period configured in the tool, in line with CNIL recommendations).

Certain data may be retained for longer periods where required by law (in particular in accounting, tax or anti‑money‑laundering matters) or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

8- Rights of data subjects
In accordance with the GDPR and the French Data Protection Act, each data subject has the following rights:

  • Right of access to their data;
  • Right to rectification of inaccurate or incomplete data;
  • Right to erasure, under the conditions provided for by the GDPR;
  • Right to restriction of processing;
  • Right to object to processing based on legitimate interests, on grounds relating to their particular situation;
  • Right to data portability for the data they have provided, where the processing is based on consent or on a contract and is carried out by automated means;
  • Right to define instructions regarding the fate of their data after their death.

These rights may be exercised by writing to:privacy@leading-individuals.com

Or by post to : Leading Individuals & Partners, 60, rue François Ier, 75008, Paris, France.

Where necessary, LI&P may request proof of identity.

In case of difficulty, the data subject also has the right to lodge a complaint with the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) at (www.cnil.fr).

9 - Cookies and trackers
When visiting the Website, cookies or other trackers may be placed on the User’s device.

They may serve the following purposes:

  • Cookies strictly necessary for the operation of the Website (display, security, session management);
  • Audience measurement and statistics cookies (Google Analytics 4), which provide insight into Website traffic and usage;
  • Cookies related to consent management (Axeptio).

The Website uses Google Analytics 4 exclusively for audience measurement. Subject to the User’s consent, Google may collect browsing information such as: IP address (possibly truncated), browser and device characteristics, approximate location, pages viewed, date and time of visit, interactions with the Website (clicks, scrolling, time spent), cookie identifiers and other technical data.

When the User is logged in to their Google account while browsing, this data may be matched with information from their Google profile (for example, demographic data and interests), in accordance with that account’s settings and Google’s privacy policies.

No other advertising pixels or trackers (for example Meta, LinkedIn, etc.) are used.

On their first visit to the Website, Users are invited to express their choices via a dedicated banner. They can accept, refuse or configure non‑essential cookies and can change their preferences at any time via the consent management module.

For more information about cookies and how to configure them, Users can visit the CNIL website (www.cnil.fr).

10 - Security
LI&P and its processors implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure the security and confidentiality of personal data, in particular to prevent destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or unauthorised access to data.

These measures include, in particular, hosting the Website with providers offering appropriate guarantees, restricting access to authorised persons only, using secure protocols and regularly updating systems.

11 - Amendments to this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time, in particular to take account of changes in legislation and regulations or in the processing carried out by LI&P.

The applicable version is the one published on the Website on the date of consultation.

Date of last update: [03/23/2026].