David Ybert de Fontenelle and Virginie Cadouin are partners in Bruzzo Dubucq. Based in Southern France, the firm is specialized in restructuring, commercial disputes, tax law, the firm and strategic consulting in transactional M&A operations.
“Closd allows us to bring the firm into the present and to simplify our lives considerably.”
Closd: Could you please introduce us to Bruzzo Dubucq, its clients and the matters it handles?
David-Ybert de Fontenelle and Viriginie Cadouin: We are partners in Bruzzo Dubucq, a business law firm based in Aix-en-Provence. The firm, which now counts 30 partners, was created in 2015 by Philippe Bruzzo and Cédric Dubucq.
The firm is divided into three main practice areas: commercial litigation, tax law, and corporate engineering, which includes M&A and corporate, and which we are pleased to co-manage. We assist business owners of all types of companies (groups, SMEs, growing companies, family-owned companies, startups, etc.) in their legal operations: transfers of control, restructurings, external growth operations, etc.
What were the main challenges before adopting Closd?
Like many law professionals, the main challenge was to organize signing sessions: matching schedules, lack of flexibility, high number of photocopies…
We were already using platforms to organize data rooms for example, but they didn’t offer an experience and reliability as solid as Closd. We also needed a tool to perfectly organize and track our closings.
Why did you choose Closd and what needs does the platform meet?
Like many other lawyers, we have been confronted with the various changes that the legal sector has undergone over the last few years, in particular its digitalization. We tried to anticipate it as well as possible, and therefore audited different software that could be perfectly integrated into our internal processes and facilitate time-consuming tasks. In particular, we needed a solution to organize electronic signatures and save time.
There were several solutions, and we finally opted for Closd for two main reasons: first, the UX of the platform is very good; especially regarding the organization of the signing sessions, the tagging system, the possibility to automate the sending, etc. It is a secure solution, which allows us to easily organize the signing sessions with our clients, our colleagues and different parties.
Then, another major advantage of the platform is the quality of customer service, whose availability is absolutely outstanding. Their reactivity allows us to keep up with our clients’ needs. It sometimes happens that technical problems appear: a customer who can’t sign, for example. In these cases, Closd’s teams react very quickly.
Could you describe the operations you carry out thanks to the platform?
At the beginning, we mainly used the platform for M&A operations from start to finish: organization of the data room, signing, closing…
We now also use it for transactional matters and to sign various business documents (powers of attorney, asset and liability guarantees, deeds of transfer, etc.
We use Closd for about 90% of our files, and for almost 100% of our M&A and corporate files, either remotely to get parties to sign abroad for example, or even face-to-face to avoid excessive photocopying.
We also use the checklist part in the classic M&A process, to validate follow-ups before the closing or the waiver of conditions precedents for example.
Are your clients and interlocutors satisfied with the use of the platform?
Our clients are very happy with the platform, because it brings them flexibility compared to the physical closing, which leaves little room for uncertainty. A client who cannot make it to a scheduled closing in the morning will have more flexibility to sign the documentation remotely during the day using Closd.
The platform also allowed us to automate our signing sessions, which is a very powerful and practical feature.
Our customers are delighted because Closd provides them with a new digital experience: they want to be able to sign remotely thanks to the electronic signature, access the documents online, automatically receive the documents once the signature is done, etc.
Closd allows us to bring the firm into the present and to simplify our lives considerably. Moreover, it is a great collaborative tool.
How would you assess your experience with Closd? What are the main strengths of the plaform?
The results are very positive, we will definitely keep using it!
Our firm having had to manage a strong growth in recent years, the flexibility regarding the management of our subscription allowed by Closd is, in my opinion, a strong competitive advantage compared to other platforms.
And once again, we have to mention the user experience, and the user-friendliness of the platform. Also, the team is very helpful, it’s nice to know that there are humans behind the code.
The platform’s security commitments are also critical to us.
Any final word?
We encourage Closd to keep developing its user experience and offering. Even if there is always room for improvement, the tool is complete and has been perfectly adopted by our team. Thanks to the whole Closd team for this collaboration!
Thanks to Mr Ybert de Fontenelle and Mrs Cadouin for their testimony. If you want to learn more about Closd, schedule a demo now!
