FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Thierry Marembert, Cécile Labarbe and Céline Serpagli, Kiejman & Marembert
due to their nature or if the amount at stake is higher than EUR10,000. Regarding territorial jurisdiction, the claimant may choose either the court where the defendant lives or the court of the place: • of delivery or performance of the contract; • of the event causing liability or where the damage was suffered; or • where real property is situated. 3.4 Initial Complaint In civil matters, the summons ( assignation ) must con- tain the following mandatory information: • the jurisdiction; • the factual and legal grounds of the claims; Before serving it on the defendant, the claimant must submit a draft summons to the court registry and ask for a first hearing date to be mentioned in the sum- mons. Once served, the claimant must register the final summons with the court registry at least 15 days before the hearing date and at the latest two months after communication of the hearing date. The legal reasoning and claims may be amended later – up to the final hearing for an “oral procedure” (usu- ally before commercial courts) or up to the closure of the written phase for a “written procedure” (before tribunaux judiciaires ). 3.5 Rules of Service Service is the responsibility of the plaintiff, who must ask a bailiff to serve the summons to the defendant in person, except for labour proceedings, where it is the responsibility of the court to summon the parties. Upon service, the judicial proceedings have not yet begun, and it remains up to the claimant to file the suit before the court within two months; otherwise, the claim shall be null and void. • the remedies sought; • the list of exhibits; and • the designated chamber, if any.
A party located outside France can be sued in France, which implies that service can be made through the central authority of the foreign country pursuant to the
1965 Hague Convention. 3.6 Failure to Respond
If the defendant fails to take part in the proceedings, the court may try the case relying solely on the writ- ings and evidence provided by the claimant. The ruling may be either “by default” or “deemed adversarial”, depending on the circumstances. The judicial remedies available to the defendant may take the form of either an opposition in the first case (which enables the defendant to extinguish the judg- ment and reopen the debate) or a regular appeal in the second case. When the defendant fails to take part in the proceed- ings because the initial complaint has not been served in person, the ruling must be notified to the defendant within six months, or else it becomes null and void. 3.7 Representative or Collective Actions Certain groups and associations may bring represent- ative actions for the defence of collective interests in certain areas, such as consumer law, health law, discrimination in the workplace, environmental pro- tection, personal data and housing tenancy. On 30 April 2025, French law was reformed to improve the effectiveness of group actions, notably by unifying the various existing regimes and by expanding their scope and the list of potential claimants. 3.8 Requirements for Cost Estimate There is no legal requirement to provide clients with a cost estimate of any potential litigation at its outset. However, it is mandatory for attorneys to sign a fee agreement with their client describing the fee calcu- lation method (hourly rates, flat fees, success fees). During the course of their work, lawyers must regularly inform their clients of the evolution of their fees and costs.
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