FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Thierry Marembert, Cécile Labarbe and Céline Serpagli, Kiejman & Marembert
Awards of attorney’s fees are generally limited to lump sums and may not cover all the legal fees incurred by the prevailing party. 11.2 Factors Considered When Awarding Costs The award of costs is at the court’s discretion. The behaviour of the parties as well as fairness may be taken into consideration. 11.3 Interest Awarded on Costs Any award of compensation shall bear interest at the legal rate from the date of delivery of the judgment, unless the court decides otherwise. This is applicable to attorney’s fees. 12. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) 12.1 Views of ADR Within the Country The most popular ADR methods in France are media- tion and conciliation, which are structured processes in which the parties aim to reach an agreement for the resolution of a dispute with the help of a third person. The main difference between mediators and concili- ators is that judges may themselves be conciliators if they decide so, whereas a mediator is always a third party. Moreover, mediators receive fees from the par- ties, while conciliators are volunteers. Mediation and conciliation may be suggested either by the parties themselves or by the judge. Parties may also contractually agree to use the Procédure partici- pative (participatory procedure), in which they under- take to work jointly and in good faith for an amicable resolution. To enforce an ADR agreement, the parties may refer it to the judge for approval. Since 2022, an ADR agree- ment may even be enforceable when countersigned by the parties’ lawyers and with a visa from the court’s registry. The popularity of judicial ADR methods is increasing as they offer advantages such as confidentiality, flex- ibility and the saving of significant time and money. Courts often encourage parties to initiate ADR. In
certain matters, it has become standard practice for some courts to suggest mediation at the beginning of the proceedings and to recommend names of media- tors. According to the Centre for Mediation and Arbitration of Paris (CMAP), the success rate of mediation cases in France was 63% in 2024, but only 14% were initi- ated by both parties. 74% of mediations in 2024 were conducted in commercial cases. Parties may include mediation or conciliation clauses in contracts (this is known as conventional mediation or conciliation). 12.2 ADR Within the Legal System Generally, neither mediation, conciliation nor the Pro- cédure participative is compulsory: they are based on consent and must be accepted by all parties. By exception, an ADR attempt is mandatory before initi- ating certain proceedings, such as labour law disputes or divorce proceedings. An ADR attempt may also become compulsory due to the willingness of the parties. If they have provided for mandatory conciliation or mediation in their contract, they must use it first, before initiating litigation. If they fail to do so, the defendant can assert that the claim is inadmissible (except in proceedings of interim relief depending on emergency situations). In recent years, the judge’s power to ask the parties to use mediation at every step of the proceedings has widened, even during pre-trial or specific proceed- ings where it was previously prohibited (divorce and judicial separation). A mandatory ADR proceeding was also introduced for disputes with low financial stakes (under EUR5,000) and neighbourhood dis- putes, except in certain cases (for example, in the case of legitimate grounds or for consumer or mort- gage loans). Since 2025, the judge may enjoin the parties to attend a preliminary meeting with a judicial mediator for infor- mation purposes – the parties are hence compelled to attend this meeting, where the mediator explains the principles and benefits of mediation. Failure to comply without legitimate reason may result in a civil fine of up to EUR10,000. However, each party remains free to refuse to take part in mediation.
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