About Hervé Israel
Three decades. Five vantage points. One direct line of advice.
Hervé Israel International was founded to offer the calibre of discreet, cross-border tax counsel usually found only in major international firms, with the agility, independence and personal attention of a senior-led practice.
Clients turn to Hervé Israel when the tax issues are too important, too international or too sensitive for ordinary advice. The work often involves structuring, mobility, private wealth, real estate, transactions and situations where future scrutiny matters as much as present efficiency.
Career Milestones
Career milestones that shape the advice
Milestone 1 | French Tax Authorities An early foundation in how tax scrutiny begins, how risk is assessed and how positions are reviewed from the authority side. | |
Milestone 2 | Academic and teaching background A strong grounding in tax law as a discipline, with an approach that combines technical rigour and clear reasoning. | |
Milestone 3 | DLA Piper Exposure to international tax structuring, transactions, and sophisticated cross-border matters within a major international law firm environment. | |
Milestone 4 | Hogan Lovells Senior tax advisory work on complex matters involving private clients, transactions, finance, and international structuring. | |
Milestone 5 | HFW Leadership-level practice combining strategic tax judgement with sector understanding, particularly where international, financial, or real asset issues intersect. | |
Milestone 6 | Founder, Hervé Israel International An independent practice built for clients who value discretion, direct access and senior advice without dilution. | |
A rare perspective in international tax
Seen from every angle
Few advisers in this field have worked inside the tax authorities, taught tax law, led tax practices at elite international law firms and then chosen to advise independently. That combination produces a broader kind of judgement: more strategic, more realistic, and more defensible.
The value of that background is not only technical depth. It is the ability to see the full picture: how a structure looks when designed, how it is understood by other advisers, how it may be perceived by a tax authority, and how it should be explained if later challenged.
Seen from every angle
The strongest advice comes from seeing
the full picture.
The strongest tax advice rarely comes from technical knowledge alone. It comes from understanding how tax decisions are made, implemented, challenged and defended.
Authority-side understanding
Experience from within the French tax administration brings a clearer sense of how facts, motives and structures are examined under scrutiny.
Law firm leadership
Years spent leading tax functions in major international firms bring practical judgement, high standards and experience across sophisticated client matters.
Independent advisory
Today's practice is deliberately selective and partner-led, allowing clients to receive direct, senior attention on matters that require discretion and clarity.
Why clients and other advisers get in touch
Direct access.
Senior judgement.
Many matters require not just a tax opinion, but coordination with other decision-makers: transactional counsel, private bankers, trustees, family offices, finance teams or personal advisers. The role is often to bring structure, judgement and coherence across those moving parts.
International scope
Matters that are international
by nature.
The matters handled are often international by nature, whether through ownership, residence, asset location, financing, transactions or family arrangements. Advice is structured to reflect how these elements interact across jurisdictions.
Frequently involved jurisdictions may include France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Jersey, Mauritius, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and other international structuring centres depending on the matter.
Areas of practice
International structuring
Private wealth and succession
Real estate transactions and holding platforms
Corporate and transaction tax
Tax risk, scrutiny, and disputes
Professional standing
Paris Bar admitted
Member of the International Fiscal Association
Member of IACF
Former Head of Tax at leading international law firms
Qualifications
A professional background combining tax authority experience, major international law firm leadership, academic rigour, and decades of cross-border advisory work.
Working languages
French& English
All client work is conducted in French or English according to preference.
© 2026 Hervé Israel International · Paris Bar admitted