FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Thierry Marembert, Cécile Labarbe and Céline Serpagli, Kiejman & Marembert
1.4 Legal Representation in Court With limited exceptions, only qualified attorneys may represent parties. The right of appearance is extended to attorneys who are registered with a European Union State Bar. Lawyers who are qualified in a non-EU state must pass a special exam. Certain exceptions exist, such as labour dis- putes or small civil claims. 2. Litigation Funding 2.1 Third-Party Litigation Funding Third-party litigation funding is new in France and, except for international arbitration, is still undeveloped compared to countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany or Australia. This might be explained partly by the fact that, besides the lack of punitive damages, litigation in France is less costly and class actions have a limited scope. So far, third-party funding remains unregulated and relies on general principles of French law and lawyers’ ethical rules, including: • contractual freedom (Article 1102 of the Civil Code); • freedom of payment (Article 1342-1 of the Civil Code); and • Article 11.3 of the National Regulation of Law- yers (French lawyers’ code of conduct), which provides that lawyers may only collect fees from their client “or from their client’s agent”. The Interpretation of Third-Party Funding in France In the absence of a specific legal framework, scholars and legal professionals have discussed whether third-party funding agreements could
judges elected from among both businesspeo- ple and employees. The other courts consist of “professional judges” (ie, holding professional credentials). The Paris Appeal Court has special jurisdiction over decisions of the French antitrust authority ( Autorité de la Concurrence ) and the financial markets authority ( Autorité des marchés finan - ciers ). The Paris Commercial Court and the Paris Appeal Court also have international chambers intended for transnational commercial disputes, which may be designated by a jurisdiction clause in a commercial contract. Before these international chambers, English may be used in oral arguments if both parties agree. The timeframe of a trial can vary significantly based on factors such as the number of parties involved, the complexity of the case, and the need for expert opinions or additional procedural steps. However, the average time between the start of the proceedings and the final hearing is typically between one and two years. 1.3 Court Filings and Proceedings As a matter of principle, trials are held in public and judgments are issued in public. There are limited exceptions where secrecy is required to protect certain interests – eg, issues involving minors, family matters such as divorce, some insolvency-related proceedings or when privacy or commercial secrecy are at stake. Court filings are not accessible to the public.
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