About

Maurice Bensadoun joined the water division of transnational water, waste and energy management company Veolia as chief of legal and insurance counsel in 2011, responsible for a team of 200 lawyers spread over 45 countries. Bensadoun sits as a board member on the Association Francaise des Juristes d’Entreprise (AFJE), the first professional organisation of corporate lawyers in France, and plays a significant role in helping to develop France’s community of corporate counsel through his regular involvement in a number of industry forums. He began his career at Texas Instruments in 1979 before moving to the French nuclear company Framatome in the 1980s. At Framatome he was responsible for negotiating nuclear contracts in a number of jurisdictions across Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. He also created the company’s first training programme on contract negotiations and third person liability, which was subsequently completed by more than 300 people, including three quarters of the legal team. In 2001 Bensadoun played an integral role in Framatome’s merger with divisions of Siemens, a deal valued at over €1bn to consolidate 13,000 staff which led to the creation of Areva (now Areva NP). He served as deputy general counsel and chair counsel for the newly formed Areva, directing a global team before leaving the nuclear industry after 25 years to teach an international programme for trainees at Université de Montpellier in 2004. In 2005, he joined Assystem Group, a multi sector engineering group listed on the Paris stock exchange, as director of legal and insurance. During his time at Assystem, Bensadoun helped to develop a strong legal team and grow the business through mergers, overseeing an increase in the company’s sales from €50m to €900m. For his many achievements he is recognised as one of France’s leading in-house lawyers and is singled out for his ‘international experience, strong skills and charisma’ by one senior nominator. Bensadoun left the company in early 2016 to become the director of the French Association of Corporate Lawyers.