Stéphane BONIFASSI was born in 1963 in Paris, France.

He graduated from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris in 1984 and he received his law degree from the Université Paris II – Panthéon-Assas in 1989. He was admitted to the Paris Bar in 1991 and subsequently joined the Paris law firm Lebray & Associés, where he is now a partner.

Stéphane specializes in white-collar crime litigation as well as complex commercial litigation often involving criminal or quasi-criminal conduct. He regularly represents individuals and corporations which are either accused of, or victims of, white-collar crime. His practice is international and often involves issues of mutual legal assistance.

Stéphane has also developed a strong practice in the field of anti-corruption compliance programs, whistleblowing processes and internal investigations.

Stephane was President of the Criminal Law Commission of the Union Internationale des Avocats (“UIA”) and was the co-chair of the Business Crime Committee of the International Bar Association (IBA). He is the French representative of Fraudnet, a network of lawyers specializing in fraud and asset recovery established by the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”) to assist fraud victims.

In 1994, he was elected Premier Secrétaire de la Conférence of the Paris Bar. Each year, twelve young lawyers are elected Secrétaires de la Conférence after a one-year competition. It is their duty and honor to defend during the following year all those accused in the most serious criminal cases who cannot afford to pay for a lawyer.

He regularly speaks at conferences on issues such as corruption, fraud, money laundering, mutual legal assistance and asset recovery.