FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Thierry Marembert, Cécile Labarbe and Céline Serpagli, Kiejman & Marembert
Before serving it on the defendant, the claim- ant must submit a draft summons to the court registry and ask for a first hearing date to be mentioned in the summons. 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 proce- dure” (usually before commercial courts) or up to the closure of the written phase for a “written procedure” (before tribunaux judiciaires ). 3.5 Rules of Service Before tribunaux judiciaires , the claimant must ask a bailiff to serve the summons to the defend- ant in person. Upon service, the judicial pro- ceedings have not yet begun, and it remains up to the claimant to file the suit before the court within two months or else the claim shall be null and void. Before certain courts, such as labour courts, the claimant must file the initial complaint and it is the responsibility of the court to summon the parties. 3.6 Failure to Respond If the defendant fails to take part in the proceed- ings, the court may try the case relying solely on the writings and evidence provided by the claimant. The ruling may be either “by default” or “deemed adversarial”, depending on the cir- cumstances. The judicial remedies available to the defendant may take the form of either an opposition in the first case (which enables the defendant to extin- guish the judgment and reopen the debate) or a regular appeal in the second case.
When the defendant fails to take part in the pro- ceedings because the initial complaint has not been served in person, the ruling must be noti- fied 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 rep- resentative actions for the defence of collective interests. In recent years, class actions have also been introduced in certain areas, such as consumer law, health law, discrimination in the workplace, environmental protection, personal data and housing tenancy. Only certain specific associations may bring class actions, which are always opt-in proceedings. A bill formulated by the French National Assembly in December 2022 is currently being examined by the legis- lature, seeking to simplify access to the group action procedure, ensure better compensation for victims and reduce the time taken to reach judgment. 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 describ- ing the fee calculation 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.
4. Pre-trial Proceedings 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions
During the phase where parties exchange writ- ings and before the final hearing takes place, it is possible to make an interim application by seiz- ing the judge in charge of monitoring the cases. Before tribunaux judiciaires , for instance, a pre-
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